Technical Communication

Fundamentals of Communication
Unit 1
The first executive function is to develop and maintain a system of effective
communication. In the words of Allen, Communication is the sum of all the things one
person does when he wants to create understanding in the mind of another. It is a bridge
of meaning. It involves a systematic and continuous process of telling, listening and
understanding.

Communication is an integral element of interpersonal behaviour in organisations.

Human beings interact with one another through communication. It is the ability to
communicate effectively that has enabled people to build organisations and societies
for survival and better living.
Communication is a skill that you can learn. It is like riding a bicycle or typing. If you
are willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life.
-Brian Tracy

1.1 Communication (Business Commu, Bovee, Pearson Education, 2003, p.3)(Prof.

Commu., Dr. Tyagi, 2011, p.3-4)
⚫ The word communication is of latin origin, derived from the latin word
communicare, which means to share or exchange information, news and views etc.
⚫ According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, the word communication
means the process of expressing ideas and feelings or of giving people information.
It can be called an act of transferring an idea from one person to another.
⚫ According to Pauley and Riordan, Communication is the act of transmitting an idea
from one person to another person. Communication always requires at least two
people, the sender of the message and its receiver.
⚫ According to Keith Davis, Communication is the transfer of information and
understanding from one person to another person. It is a way of reaching others
with facts, ideas, thoughts and values.
⚫ It is a process of sharing information.

Communication is important not only in an organisation but also in daily life. In

everyday life, you will find that communication occurs everywhere. It is an integral part
of daily activity. When your alarm clock goes off, it is communication through sound
and urges you to get out of bed. You watch the morning news on T.V.-communication.
You say goodbye to your family as you leave home-communication. You retire to bed
and dream- also a communication.

Communication is an integral part of every person’s life. Effective Communication is

important part of our professional life. Communication is also important for social
relationships, international contacts when people verbally or non verbally, in speech or
in writing share with other persons their views, interests, opinions and so on. This type
of communication which is not specific is termed as general communication.
1.3 Features of Communication/ Principles of Communication (Business
Communication, Sathya S. Debashish, 2009, p.50-53) (Business Commu, Bovee,
Pearson Education, 2003, p.5)
⚫ Accuracy
⚫ Clarity- The communication cycle begins with the generation of an idea to be
transmitted by the transmitter. A great deal of clarity is needed on part of the
transmitter at this stage. If the beginning is jumbled, it may put an adverse effect
on the whole process of communication. Use simple words and short sentences.
⚫ Completeness- The message should be complete with respect to thought as well
as content. Incomplete message will create confusion in the mind of the receiver
and he will be forced to seek clarifications from the sender. You should organise
your message in such a way that the receiver has no doubts about anything
contained in it.
⚫ Brevity/ Conciseness- A reader’s time valuable. Don’t make him feel that he is
simply wasting his time in going through your unnecessarily lengthy matter. Be as
brief as possible to attract the readers’ attention. Include only relevant facts and
avoid repetition.
⚫ Consideration- We must show consideration in our letters for the reader. Though
we are primarily concerned with ourselves, but, to make the letter acceptable and
readable we must write letters to others considering their point of view. So to make
our letter effective, we must avoid I and we and have as many you’s as possible.
We should not forget reader’s point of view in the technical documents.
⚫ Courtesy- In business we must create friendliness, to improve our goodwill, with
all those to whom we write. Courtesy demands a considerate and friendly
behaviour towards others. It is general practice to answer a letter on the same day
it is received. If you have overlooked or failed to do something, express your
regrets promptly and sincerely.
⚫ Correctness- You should be sure that you are transmitting correct facts in correct
language. All messages must be transmitted and responded on appropriate time.
⚫ Circular flow
⚫ Goal oriented
⚫ Two way process
⚫ Consistency- The business communication should be consistent with the plans,
policies, programs and objective of the enterprise. Above all the communication
should also be consistent. Inconsistency in communication may reduce the
effectiveness of communication and sometimes it does not remain reliable due to
inconsistency.
⚫ Continuity- This means that communication system in the organisation should be
kept always alive. There must be free flow of information across all levels and the
departments of the organisation.
⚫ Effective listening- A communicator must be a good listener too. Developed
listening skills can help a person to become a supportive companion, a more
sophisticated communicator. It is suggested that the sender of the message should
emphasize on the receiver or the attentive listening at the time of delivering the
message.
⚫ Cooperation/ Coordination- In order to make communication influensive, it is
necessary to have cordial relations based on trust and mutual faith in the
organisation. Lack of trust between management and workers, fails communication
in evolving positive response.
7 C’s of Business writing:

1. Clarity
2. Conciseness
3. Courtesy
4. Consideration
5. Completeness
6. Correctness
7. Concreteness
8. Cooperation

1.4 Types of Communication

⚫ Oral and written communication
Oral communication Written communication
It is expressed through spoken words. It is expressed in writing.
It takes less time. It takes more time.
It is informal in nature. It is formal in nature.
It may be taken casually. It is generally taken seriously.
It may not be verifiable. It is verifiable from the records.

⚫ Verbal and non verbal communication

Verbal communication means when we use words in order to convey our message or
information. Verbal is further sub divided into two. i.e. oral verbal and written verbal.
Non verbal communication means when we don’t use words. We use gestures or our
body language to convey our message. Non verbal is also divided into two. i.e. oral non
verbal and written non verbal.
Anthropologists theorize that long before human beings used words to talk things over,
our ancestors communicated with one another by using their bodies. They gritted their
teeth to show anger, they smiled and touched one another to indicate affection.
Although we have come a long way since those primitive times, we still use non verbal
cues to express superiority, dependence, dislike, respect, love and other feelings. Non
verbal communication is less structured, so its more difficult to study. You can’t pick
up a book on non verbal language and master the vocabulary of gestures, expressions
and inflections that are common in our culture. Other types of non verbal
communication, such as the meaning of colours and certain gestures, vary from culture
to culture.
⚫ Internal and external communication
⚫ Formal and informal communication
Formal communication Informal communication
It follows the officially established chain of command. It is independent of authority
Slow moving process. Fast moving process.
Easy to pinpoint the responsibility not easy to pinpoint the responsibility
Message is accurate and authentic message cannot be considered authentic.
It can be oral and written. It is mostly oral.
It serves organisational needs. It serves organisational and social needs
Order and systematic unsystematic and erratic
Work related matters work related as well as social
Task oriented people oriented
⚫ General and technical communication
Flows of Communication ([Link]., Malti Agarwal, p.12-14)

To succeed, an organization shares information with people both internally and

externally. Each organization has a formal channel for the transmission of official
messages. In today’s fast paced e-commerce environment, organizations cannot limit
themselves to the decision taken by the top officials, rather they depend on team work
and collaborative efforts in order to make the fast decisions in the global and
competitive market place.
To function in a team based organization information flows from upward, downward
and horizontal in an organisation’s formal hierarchy. Managers and co-workers have to
exchange the information and ideas to one another. In the network of formal
organisational communication structure, there are four types of directional flow:
Downward flow
Upward flow
Horizontal flow
Diagonal flow
Grapevine flow

Downward Flow- Main decisions in an organization are usually taken by the top
officials and then they flow down to the subordinates who will carry out them. The
information passes through written orders, rules, manuals and directives from the
seniors to their juniors in the organizational structure. For example, the president of an
organization has vice president of finance, vice president of marketing, vice president
of research and development and so on. The orders flow from the president to these
vice presidents who further filter the orders to their respective departments. Such as
vice president of marketing communicates with sales manager, communication flows
downward to special project supervisor.

President

Vice president

Sales manager

Project supervisor

Purpose of downward communication-

1. To provide instructions how to do the job
2. To provide information which gives a rationale for the assigned job.
3. To provide information about organizational policies and practices.
4. To provide feedback on performance to the subordinates
5. To provide information regarding the organisation’s mission which the
organization wants to achieve
Limitation of downward communication-
1. When information flows from one level of an organization to the successive
lower levels, the real spirit of message is lost. Sometimes it results in the loss of
message also.
 2. When the message is transmitted orally, the danger is that message may be
distorted or mis-communicated. This is more when the message load is more
than the handling capacity of the lower level staff members.

Upward flow- To help the employees and make worthwhile decisions president or a
top official must be able to know what is going on in the organization. A manager
cannot be everywhere at once. An executive, therefore, has to depend on his subordinate
staff that can furnish him information regarding different problems. As an employee,
you are in a position to observe things that your supervisors cannot see: a customer’s
first reaction to a product display, a supplier’s brief hesitation before agreeing to a
delivery date. Managers need their little gems of information in order to do their jobs.
If you do not pass that information along, nobody will become aware of that. Upward
flow is the opposite of downward flow.
It includes the proposals, reports, requests, suggestions and some feedback.
President
Vice president

Sales manager

Purpose of upward communication-

1. To develop faith for the superiors in the hearts of the subordinates so that they
can communicate freely.
2. To provide a feedback
3. Sharing information of a organization helps to achieve organisational goals.

Limitations of upward flow-

1. Generally the subordinates highlight only the positive points of a survey. They
ignore the negative points which may lead to some problems in the long way.
2. The subordinates are reluctant to communicate upward, which turns into
ineffectiveness of the upward flow. Reason for this reluctancy is the
subordinate’s fear that his report may displease his superior and he will miss his
chance of promotion.

Horizontal Flow- Communication in an organization flows from one department to

another either horizontally or diagonally. Since organizations use teams and
collaborative work groups, horizontal communication becomes indispensable.
When employees of the same work group, of the same level or of the same status share
information with each other, in business world it is called as the horizontal flow of
communication. For example, the special project supervisor and the advertising
production chief work in the same section- Advertising and Promotion Department.
These two officials exchange their message and thus work smoothly. This horizontal
flow of communication is termed as a bridge or gangplank by Henry Fayol.
This form of communication takes place among peer groups. Such communication is
often necessary to facilitate coordination, save time and bridge the communication gap
among various departments. They are informally created to bypass the formal
hierarchical channels. They can also create conflicts when formal vertical channels are
bypassed by employees in order to accomplish their goals, or when superiors find out
that they had not been consulted before certain decisions were taken.

Purpose of Horizontal communication-

 1. It helps employees to share information.
2. It makes the coordination among peers possible.
3. Whenever a department comes across with some problem, it may contact
another department of the organization for its possible solution.
4. It is essential for effective functioning.

Limitation of Horizontal flow-

1. Misunderstanding and jealousy may be natural outcome of this channel of
communication.
2. This may result in blocking continuous flow of information or in the congestion
of modes of communication.

Diagonal Flow- Another flow of communication is known as the spiral or diagonal

flow in which people of different status and different departments share information in
pursuit of achieving the organizational goals.
Diagonal communication flows in all directions and cuts across functions and levels in
an organization. E.g. when a sales manager communicates directly with the vice
president, who is not only in a different division but also at a higher level in the
organization, they are engaged in diagonal communication. Though this form of
communication deviates from the normal chain of command, there is no doubt that it is
quick and efficient.

Grapevine Communication- There is an informal communication network in every

organization. This informal communication network, known as grapevine, carries
information unofficially. It is an important source of information that supplements
official channel. The employees at a work place often have casual conversations with
their colleagues in an organization. Most of these conversations deal with personal
matters, about 80 percent of the information that travels along with grapevine pertains
to business. This grapevine can be used to spread and receive informal messages.

Advantages:
1. It is not expensive.
2. Rapid
3. Multidirectional
4. A measure of public opinion
5. If carefully cultivated, is capable of resolving conflicts
6. Voluntary
7. Promotes unity
8. Serves as an outlet for anxieties, worries
Disadvantages:
1. Reveal some degree of error
2. Be harmful in case it is baseless or imaginary
3. Not be reliable
4. Lead to misunderstanding because of incomplete information
5. Cause damage to the organization because of its excessive swiftness at times.

Communication Networks- (Technical Communication, Meenakshi Raman, p.15-17)

Formal Network Models Informal Network Models

Chain Network Single Strand
Y Network Gossip
Wheel Network Probability
Circle Network Cluster
All Channel Network

Formal Network Models:

1. Chain Network- The chain network represents a vertical hierarchy in which
communication can flow only upward or downward. We can find this type of
network in direct line of authority communications with no deviations.
2. Y Network- The y network is in effect a multi level hierarchy and a
combination of horizontal and vertical flow of communication. If we turn the Y
upside down, we see two subordinates reporting to one senior, with two levels
of authority above the latter.
3. Wheel Network- The wheel network refers to several subordinates reporting to
a superior. This is a combination of horizontal and diagonal flow of
communication. But here though the subordinates are of equal rank, all of them
report to one superior, and without any interaction between themselves.
4. Circle Network- The circle network allows employees to interact with adjacent
members but no further. Look, for example, at this three level hierarchy. There
is vertical communication between superiors and subordinates, and horizontal
communication only at the lowest level.
5. All Channel Network- The all channel network, which is least structured,
enables each employee to communicate freely with the others. There are no
restrictions on who can communicate with whom. All are equal as no one
employee formally or informally assumes a leading role. Hence, everybody’s
views are equally and openly shared.
Finally, for effective use of communication networks, we need to remember the
following:
• No single network is suitable for all occasions.
• The wheel and all channel networks are preferred if speed of
communication is a priority.
• The chain, Y and wheel networks serve best when accuracy is crucial.

Informal Network Models:

Besides flowing through the formal networks, communication in an organisation also
travels along an informal network- the grapevine. This informal network is very active
in almost every organization. In fact, some organizations consciously use it to great
effects, to develop their human resources and in turn their productivity.

1. Single Strand- This is the way in which most people view the grapevine. Here,
the message is passed from one person to another along a single strand.
2. Gossip- In the gossip network one person passes information to all the others.
3. Probability- In the probability type of network, each person tells others at
random.
4. Cluster- This is the most popular pattern of grapevine communication, refers
to that flow of information in which some people tell a selected few of the others.
Which individuals are active on the grapevine often depends on the message.
For example, a message that sparks the interest of an employee may stimulate
him or her to tell someone else.
Noise- When you communicate, you desire that the message received should be the
same as the message sent. But you might notice that this is not always the case.
Sometimes, this is due to the presence of noise. Noise is defined as any unplanned
interference in the communication environment, which causes hindrance in the
transmission of the message. Noise distorts interpretation of the communication process.

Noise can be classified as channel and semantic. Channel noise is any interference in
the mechanics of the medium used to send a message.e.g. noise in telephone lines, too
high volume from loudspeakers, faulty background. In written communication, illegible
handwriting can be termed as channel noise. Channel noise develops externally.
Semantic noise is generated internally, resulting from errors in the message itself. It
may be because of the connotative meaning of a word allowing the meaning to be
interpreted differently by the sender and the [Link] sentence structure,
faulty grammar, misspellings, incorrect punctuation.

Barriers to Communication- (Technical Communication, T.N. Chhabra)

1. Semantic or Language Barriers-

i. Round about style
ii. Unclear message
iii. Faulty translation
iv. Specialist language
v. Unclarified assumptions
vi. Poor vocabulary
vii. Bypassed instructions
viii. Poor grammar
ix. Lack of common language
x. Use of words with different meaning
xi. Deceptive tactics
2. Physical or Mechanical Barriers-
i. Noise
ii. Distance
iii. Time
iv. Information overload
v. Gender
vi. Age
3. Socio-psychological Barriers-
i. Emotions
ii. Differences in perception
iii. Differences in attitude
iv. Closed minds
v. Inattention
vi. Abstracting
vii. Distrust
viii. Premature evaluation
ix. Cultural differences
x. Resistance to change
4. Organizational Barriers-
i. Status relationship
 ii. One way flow
iii. Structure of the organization
iv. Rules and regulations
v. Distance
vi. Poor listening
5. Interpersonal Barriers-
i. Attitude of superiors
ii. Poor health
iii. Lack of confidence in subordinates
iv. Bad listening
v. Goal conflicts
vi. Filtering of information
vii. Message overload
viii. Lack of time

Elements of Communication/ Components (Prof. Communication, Dr Tyagi, p.17-

21)

Components means the different parts needed to complete the communication process.
Following are the components or elements of communication:
Sender
Medium
Message
Receiver
Feedback

Sender-------Medium-----Message------Receiver-----Feedback

Communication Cycle

Communication is an interaction between two or more than two people i.e sender and
receiver. Communication takes place in a well defined set up. This is called the
communication environment. A classroom is the communication environment when a
teacher delivers lectures to students.

Sender---message encoded---Message---Medium---Receiver--decoding--Feedback

Sender- The sender has an idea in his mind and want to share it. The sender encodes
the idea. When you put your idea into a message that your receiver will understand, you
are encoding it. You decide on the message’s form, length, organisation, tone and style-
all of which depend on your idea, your audience and your personal style.
Message- The information which the sender send to the receiver is known as message.
The sender has to send the complete information.
Medium- The sender transmits the message. To physically transmit your message to
your receiver, you select a communication channel (verbal or non verbal, spoken or
written) and a medium (memo, e-mail, letter, telephone, report and face to face
interaction). This choice depends on your message, your audience’s location, your need
for speed and the formality required.
Receiver- The receiver gets the message. For communication to occur, receiver must
first get the message. If you are giving a speech, your listeners have to be able to hear
you and they have to be paying attention. The receiver decodes the message. The
decoded message must be stored in the receiver’s mind. If all goes well the receiver
interprets your message correctly, assigning the same meaning to your words as you
intended and responding in the desired way.
Feedback- After decoding the message, the receiver responds in some way and signals
that response to you. This feedback enables you to evaluate the effectiveness of your
message. If your audience does not understand what you mean, you can tell by the
response and refine your message.
The communication process is repeated until both parties have finished expressing
themselves. Moreover, effective business communicators don’t over crowd too much
information into one message. Instead they limit the content of a message to a specific
subject and use this back and forth exchange to provide additional information of details
in subsequent message.

Communication Process-

There have been several attempts by scholars to explain the process of communication.
Depending on their background and objectives, different scholars have viewed the
process of communication differently and have developed different models. You may
have formed the impression that communication is difficult, if not impossible, to study
and understand. If it is ongoing, how do we stop it? If it has no beginning or end, how
do we get hold of it? Although the task is difficult, it is possible.

Communication establishes relationships and makes organizing possible. Every

message has a purpose or objective. The sender intends — whether consciously or
unconsciously — to accomplish something by communicating. In organizational
contexts, messages typically have a definite objective: to motivate, to inform, to teach,
to persuade, to entertain, or to inspire. This definite purpose is, in fact, one of the
principal differences between casual conversation and managerial communication.
Effective communication in the organization centers on well-defined objectives that
support the organization’s goals and mission. Communication is the process of passing
information and understanding from one person to another. The communication process
is a system that involves an interrelated, interdependent group of elements working
together as a whole to achieve a desired outcome or goal. We can study communication
in much the same way we study biological systems within our own bodies.
We can determine the elements involved (circulatory and digestive systems, for
example), analyze how those elements affect one another, and thus determine the nature
of the process as a whole. Applying this approach to the communication process, we
find eight elements (1) a source /encoder of communication, which sends (2) a message
(3) through a channel to (4) a receiver/ decoder, which (5) responds via
feedback with (6) possibilities of communication breakdowns (Barrier) in each stage
of communication. However, these elements must be understood and analyzed in
relation to (7) the situation or context, and (8) the System (such as relationship), which
is created and maintained at some level by the communicators.

The Source/Encoder
The sender begins the communication process by forming the ideas, intentions and
feelings that will be transmitted. As the sender, you are required to filter out the details
that are unimportant and focus your energy on the most relevant information. The
source, or encoder, makes the decision to communicate. The source also determines
what the purpose of the message will be to inform, persuade, or entertain. You may ask
how the message gets from the source to the receiver. First, the source must encode, or
create, a message. That is, the information that the source wishes to convey must be put
into a form that can be sent to the receiver. The source generates a message through his
or her past experiences, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings. Every ounce of your being
may tell you that you are in love, but until you code those feelings into a form that can
be sent to the person you love, communication cannot take place.

Message
The second element of the communication process is the message, or that information
which is being communicated. The source encodes an idea and then determines whether
or not to inform, persuade, or entertain. After deciding what message to send, the source
uses symbols to get the message across to others. These symbols stand for other things.
The eagle, the flag, and Uncle Sam are all symbols of the United States, for example.
But the most important symbols are words, which can represent objects, ideas, and
feelings. These words permit us to share our thoughts with other members of our species.
Important as words are to us, they can be tricky. We must remember that words are
symbols. They represent things, but are not the things themselves. That lanky, bearded
old man we call Uncle Sam represents the United States, but he is not the United States–
–in fact, he doesn’t even exist. The letters a-p-p-l- e p-i-e represents an All-American
pastry, but they are not an apple pie.

To increase the likelihood of successful communication, the source must try to encode
in a way that the receiver understands, so that the receiver can properly decode
(interpret) the message. For example, many American tourists in Paris have discovered
that even though their command of French is minimal, it is sometimes easier to
communicate in halting French than in English. Some Parisians, despite their fluent
knowledge of English, refuse to decode an “inferior” tongue.

Channel
Channels are the means (that is, pathways or devices) by which messages are
communicated. Channels may be described and analyzed in two different ways. The
first involves the form in which messages are sent to receivers. Forms include both
verbal and nonverbal channels of communication. We use our five senses to receive
messages from others. We may hear a call-in talk show on the radio, watch a soccer
match on television, smell fresh break baking as we drive past the local bread industry,
taste the flavors in a fresh cappuccino, or hug a friend to console him when his dog died.

Channels may also be described according to the manner of presentation employed in

communication. The source may speak face-to-face with the receiver, use a public
address system to talk with a hundred listeners, or talk over radio or television to million
of receivers. Each of these examples would demand different manners of presentation.
Depending on the situation, the source would concentrate on verbal and/or nonverbal
channels of communication. If the speaker were on radio, physical appearance wouldn’t
matter, but if he or she were performing on a cable network program or before a live
audience, personal appearance could easily influence the reception of the message. For
example, when we go to watch a circus, we expect the clowns to have painted faces and
appropriate costumes. If they were dressed in regular street clothes, their performance
wouldn’t be as effective. Whatever
channels of communication are used, the source must learn to adapt the message to
make use of the most appropriate channels available for the situation.

Receiver/Decoder
The person (or persons) who attends to the source’s message is the receiver. The act of
interpreting messages is called decoding. Receivers decode messages based on past
experiences, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings. We receive messages through all our
senses, but most often we decode messages by listening or seeing. We first have a
physiological reception of stimuli (a noise causes sound waves to hit our eardrum or a
movement catches our eye). We then pay attention to both the verbal and nonverbal
stimuli and reduce all the stimuli bombarding us to one or two we can cope with more
easily. Next, we try to understand the stimuli and interpret them into messages (we
decide that the noise is a telephone bell or that the movement is a friend waving to us
across campus). Finally, we store this information for later use so that next time we will
be able to respond to the stimuli more quickly. It is important to remember that receivers
make immediate decisions about what they will respond to in a given situation.
During a lecture, an audience member may decide to take a nap. During an argument
with your boyfriend or spouse, you may listen only to negative comments. During a
crowded party you may watch the nonverbal behaviors of your date (yawning, standing
off in a corner alone, and so on) to decide when it’s time to leave. As sources of
communication, we need to learn to analyze our prospective receives to determine
which communication messages will be most effective. Of course, all of us are both
encoders and decoders; that is, we are capable of both transmitting and receiving
messages. When we receive a message, we must interpret it and then encode a response.
The response may be silent, noisy, or somewhere in between, depending upon the
situation and the existence of any barriers to communication.

Feedback
Another element in the communication process is feedback. Each party in an interaction
continuously sends messages back to the other. This return process is called feedback.
Feedback tells the source how the receiver has interpreted each message. For example,
if at the airport you ask your departing friend about his itinerary, and he replies that he
didn’t pack one, you know your message has not been understood. This kind of
feedback, which conveys lack of understanding, is known as
negative feedback. Positive feedback, on the other hand, indicates that the receiver has
understood the source’s message.

It does not necessarily mean that he or she agrees with the source, just that the message
was interpreted accurately. Feedback can also be ambiguous, not clearly positive or
negative. “I see” and “mm-hmm” can be examples of ambiguous feedback. The
effective communicator is always sensitive to feedback and constantly modifies his or
her messages as a result of the feedback received. After a discreet pause, for example,
you might ask your friend not about his “itinerary” but about the cities he plans to visit.
Feedback doesn’t have to come from others. We can and do get feedback from our own
messages. The fact that we can hear the words we speak and see the sentences we write
sometimes lets us correct our own mistakes.

Code and Content of Communication skills

Any human communication system involves the production of a message by someone
and the receipt of that message by someone else. To encode a message, one must
possess the necessary coding skills. Languages are codes. A code may be defined as
any group of symbols that can be structured in a way that is meaningful to another
person. The English language like any other language, is a code- it contains element
that are arranged in a meaningful order. A code has a group of elements (vocabulary)
and a set of procedures for combining these elements meaningfully (syntax).

A code has a group of elements (vocabulary) and a set of procedures for combining
these elements meaningfully. It is an arrangement of changing the words in a message
with some other words or symbols, so that information remains confidential and no one
can comprehend it unless one knows the system.
• A code may be defined as any group of symbols that can be structured in a way
that is meaningful to another person.
• In a way all languages are codes.
• It contains elements that are arranged in a meaningful order.

Content is the message that is selected by the source to express its purpose. It has
element and structure. It is the main subject matter or information in form of a magazine,
story, website etc. The topic or subject decides the content of the message.
• When more than one piece of information is to be presented, they should have
some order or structure.

Stimulus means to electrify a response. It is a force that leads to a response. The plural
form of stimulus is stimuli. It is anything that a person receives through one of his
senses.

Meaning of Technical Communication- (Prof. Commu., Malti Agarwal, p.3-4)

(Lesikar, Business Communication)

The word technical refers to something connected with the practical use of machinery,
methods etc in science and industry. It means the transmission of facts, figures, ideas
and all sorts of scientific and technical information from one individual to another.
Technical communication may be spoken as well as written. The technocrats may
conduct their professional jobs sometimes through oral communication which is
performed through speech while sometimes written communication which depends on
the written words. Hence, the technologist has to be proficient in both types of technical
communication- oral and written.
All communication, general or technical, involves two persons in the process in which
one is a speaker or a writer and the other is a listener or a reader. At the beginning, the
speaker or a writer encodes a concept which he wants to communicate. At the second
stage, that message is decoded by the listener and converted into meaning. At this stage
of decoding, the receiver analyses and interprets the meaning of the message so that
any confusion can be avoided. However, the technical communication can be internal
or external.
All the writing that deals with technical, scientific and professional subjects, for every
practical purpose can be defined as technical writing. All business documents, reports,
proposals, notices are the examples of technical writing.
Features of technical communication- (Business Communication, Lesikar)
1. Specific and technical content
2. Formal in style
3. Objectivity
4. For specific audience
5. Technical vocabulary
6. Precision
7. Brevity
8. Accuracy
9. Directness
10. Simplicity
11. Use of active voice sentences-
12. Use of familiar and easy words- Technical writing does not require verbose
style or circumlocution. Hence, the writer should not use too many words where
few would do. He should use familiar words.
13. Use of clear sentences- The writer should place the main idea at the outset. He
should follow normal word order (subject-verb-object). In this word order, the
first sentence is the topic sentence in which the main idea is presented.
14. Use of sentences of moderate length- Experts are of the opinion that sentences
should be of moderate length. Too much short or too much long sentences make
the writings either too simple or too difficult. Generally, sentences of 12 to 25
words should be written.
15. Avoid redundant phrases
16. Avoid inaccurate expressions
17. Logical division of paragraph
18. Avoid noun clusters
19. Avoid acronyms and abbreviations

Importance of Technical Communication-

1. Exchanging of information- In government or semi government, schools, offices
and hospitals and different business establishments people have to supply and also
receive information through an official document. All the information is circulated
in the organisation with the help of communication. The success of any
organisation is largely recognised by the quality and quantity of information
flowing through its personnel. An organisation becomes an organised whole
because of its communication. It is this communication which enables employees
to work together. It is the vehicle through which management performs all its
functions. It is impossible for an organisation to survive without communication,
for all its activities would come to a standstill. Therefore, its importance can never
be ignored.
2. To instruct- Technical communication is also used in order to instruct.
Technocrats give instructions for using equipments or for performing duties.
Technical communication plays a pivotal role in an organisation, whether it is a
business enterprise, an industry or an academic institution. All managerial or
administrative activities involve communication, be it planning, organising,
recruiting, coordinating or decision making. When you read reports, give
instructions or read brochures and manuals, you are involved in the process of
 communication.e.g. papers published by research and development organisations
bring to light their progress.
3. Persuasion- A technocrat uses the technical writing for persuasion also. He may
prepare a document to persuade readers to do certain things. Communication helps
in persuading or convincing someone for a desired response. Written as well as
oral communication is used to influence others.
4. Counselling- Seniors counsel the subordinate staff from time to time whenever
they face some difficulty at their work place.
5. Coordination- Communication is indeed an effective tool in coordinating the
working of the employees of different departments or positions. Mutual
understanding, joint consultation, seeking suggestions etc are all possible through
formal or informal communication. It leads to sharing ideas freely and in building
up a tension free atmosphere.
6. Education- Business firms frequently use effective methods of communications to
educate workers and consumers. They train and direct their employees for greater
productivity and educate consumers about the quality and uses of products. Good
communication helps in moulding employees’ behaviour favourably. It will lead
to better industrial relations and go a long way towards achieving greater
acceptance of new ideas. Professional communication must be studied by the
students of management so that they are able to do their business correspondence
with confidence.
7. Motivation
8. Extension of one’s interpersonal skills- Technical communication helps in
extension of one’s interpersonal communication skills. Technical writing conveys
your power of thinking logically even to the readers.
9. Business Correspondence- Technical writing conducts business. Through
technical correspondence instructions are maintained, technical description and
specifications are prepared, summaries and resumes are prepared and sites on the
worldwide web are prepared which inform the world about one’s companies
product. Communication and business activity cannot be separated.

Communication system plays the same in an organisation as the nervous system in the
human body.
Difference between General communication and Technical communication-

General Communication Technical Communication

Ornamental simplicity
Verbosity brevity
Obscurity lucidity
Circumlocution rationality
Subjectivity objectivity
Fancies facts
Both formal and informal style formal style
Artistic motive practical motive
Active and passive voice sentences active voice sentences
Extemporisation(without planning) pre planned and organised
Mirrors life as a whole mirrors business, trade and commerce
Pertains to society pertains to profession
purpose-amusement Purpose-inform, instruct & explain
[Link], newspapers e.g. reports, business letters
Prose and poetic prose
Feelings, emotions logical

Communication Skills for Career Building

Unit 2

Job Application Letter-

Job application letters are written when someone needs a job. Since the applicant seeks
to sell his services, an application letter is a kind of sales letter and all the guidelines
useful in writing sales letters are applicable here.

The first objective of an application letter is to obtain an interview. So the letter must
be distinguished enough to attract immediate attention and to arouse interest. There are
two types of job application letters:

Solicited job application letters are written in response to an advertisement. Unsolicited

job application letters are written at the writer’s initiative. In both cases, a resume of
the writer’s own education, extra curricular activities and experience must be given.
Such a resume may form part of the letter itself or it may be written on an enclosed
separate sheet called cv.

⚫ Also called a cover letter

⚫ Written to apply for a specific position

It is a persuasive message that sells the applicant’s talents to a prospective employer. It

persuades the reader to believe in his/her suitability for a particular position. It is
basically a self promotion instrument used by the applicant to boost his/her professional
value and career prospects. The basic objective of every job application is to draw a
clear connection between the job one is seeking and one’s qualifications. It serves
several purposes. It;
⚫ Introduces the applicant to the hiring organisation
⚫ Introduces the applicant’s resume
⚫ Highlights the applicants positive personal traits and achievements
⚫ Emphasizes how the applicant is right for the job by matching the requirements of
the the job with his/ her qualifications
⚫ Asks for an opportunity to be interviewed by the organisation

Resume

A resume is an abstract or selective record of one’s professional and educational

achievements like formal education, work experience, qualifications, abilities and so
on. It refers precisely to one’s professional skills and educational qualifications, work
experience and other relevant information. It highlights a person’s suitability for a job
he is seeking for. In modern world of science and technology, resume writing has
become an art hence it must be inculcated among the young professionals who are
starting their professional life.

A resume reflects the complete achievements of a person in various fields. It enables

the employer to form some ideas about the proficiency of the applicant hence a resume
should be written cautiously, highlighting the best possible virtues of an applicant. A
resume is prepared according to the employment a person seeks. Your resume must
include details of what you are, what the potential employer is looking for and what
your employment goals are. Your resume must be well planned that means your
purpose and your audience should be well analysed. It is of one or two pages not more
than that.

We can say that resume is selling your skills or resume is a form of advertising. It is
intended to stimulate an employer’s interest in you and learning more about you. Thus,
the purpose of writing resume is to create interest- not to tell readers everything about
you.
Types of Resume-
Chronological resume
Functional resume
Hybrid resume
Electronic resume

Chronological resume- The chronological resume emphasizes your education and

work experience and is most effective when such experience clearly relates to the job
you are seeking. If you are a recent graduate, listing your education in a reverse order
make sense. The chronological approach is the most common way of organising the
information in a resume and it is preferred by most employers. It is appropriate if you
have a strong employment history.

Name
Address
Career objective
Experience
Education
Skills
Personal details

Date
Place (Name)

Functional resume- The functional resume features the skills you bring to the job
(organiser, researcher, manager etc.). This type emphasizes individual fields of
competence and is hence used by applicants who are just entering the job market, who
want to redirect their careers or who have little continuous career related experience. It
demonstrates the applicants’ ability to handle the position they are applying for. This
pattern stresses individual areas of competence.

Name
Address
 Career objective
Skills
Education
Experience
Personal details

Date
Place (Name)

Hybrid resume- This includes the best features of the chronological and functional
resumes. This type is not popular or not commonly used as it tends to be very long. It
turned out to be repeatative also.

Name
Address
Career objective
Experience
Education
Skills
Personal details

Date
Place (Name)

Electronic resume- These resumes are becoming more and more popular these days.

Biodata:
The biodata or personal record sheet, gives a detailed information about the personal
qualities, education, experience etc of the applicant. It refers to the biographical details
of somebody. It may include information about one’s background, educational
qualifications, skills, abilities, hobbies, interests and other particulars of the like nature.

Curriculum Vitae:
A curriculum vitae is a record of one’s professional and educational achievements it
refers to one’s professional skills and educational qualifications, work experience and
other relevant information. It is of many pages. It means that in cv a person discusses
in detail about his profession and educational qualification.
It is a detailed synopsis of one’s skills, education and experience.
Cv is a latin name. It means course of life.
It is used for academic positions and it is longer than resume.

Guidelines for writing good resumes:

The main function of a resume is to attract the employer hence the following guidelines
should be followed:
⚫ The resume should be well written, sentences and paragraphs should be short and
simple.
⚫ Use of jargon should be avoided
⚫ It should be typed
⚫ It should provide all necessary information, relating to the applicant’s education
and experience.
⚫ Adapt your resume to your receiver
⚫ It should be laid out well and visually appealing
⚫ Concise and honest
⚫ Focus on the employer’s need
⚫ Complete in all respects
⚫ Any personal information which is not directly related to the job target should not
be included.

Write a job application letter for the post of lecturer in an esteemed organisation.
Invent necessary details.

10th June, 2017

HR Manager
IPEC, Ghaziabad

Subject- Application for the post of Lecturer (English)

Dear Sir,

With my five years’ experience as the Lecturer in Maharaja Surajmal Institute, I feel I
am quite suitable for the post that you advertised in ‘The Hindu’ dated 1st June, 2017.

The enclosed resume gives you details about my academic achievements, teaching
experience and interest is extra curricular activities. May I have a personal interview at
your convenience so that I can substantiate my statements and answer any other
questions you may like to ask?

Yours’ faithfully
Sign
(Name)

Enclosures: 1. resume

Name
Address
Career objective
Experience
Education
Skills
Personal details

Date
Place (Name)

Interviews
Meaning
The word ‘interview’ is derived from ‘intrevue’ which means ‘sight between’. It is a
face to face conversation between a person in his individual capacity and another one
representing some organization or between one individual and other group members
and vice versa. It is a process of assessment of one participant by another.
Objectives
• To provide students enough exposure to the preparation of employment
interviews by exercises on burning issues.
• To promote skills of interviews by exposing them to the techniques of
interview presentation.
• To train them in proper display of body language during the interview.
• To help them master communication skills.

Methodology
• The teacher will acquaint students on the concept of employment or general
interviews.
• The teacher imparts lessons on the art and techniques of interviews on
individual to individual basis.
• Teacher will answer to the relevant queries of students pertaining to form and
contents of successful presentation.
• Mock interviews will then be arranged by the teacher for students.

Types of Interviews (Personality Development and Soft Skills, Mr. Barun K. Mitra)

1. Patterned Interview

This is generally used to screen applicants. In this type of interview, usually the same
type of questions is asked to each candidate. The intent is to compare the answers and
thus evaluate the suitability of a candidate for a particular job.

2. Non-directive Interview

In this type of interview, generally open ended questions are asked to give an
opportunity to the candidates to open up and express what they feel about a certain
matter. Questions such as—‘Please tell us about yourself.’ Or ‘What prompted you to
apply for this job?’ serve this purpose. Proper answers to such simple questions give a
peek into the personality traits of the candidate.

3. Stress Interview

Handling stressful situations plays an important role in industry. Sometimes seemingly

awkward questions such as ‘Why did you leave your last job?’ or ‘What were you doing
when at a particular period, it seems, you were not attached to any organization?’ may
cause discomfort. He may feel nervous or irritated. But a candidate who is full of self
confidence, would be able to confront such questions with ease.
4. Behavioural Interview

The intent of this type of interview is to ascertain the behavioural pattern of working in
the mind of a candidate. This is based on the principle- ‘the present or future behaviour
of a person can be ascertained from his past behaviour. How a candidate faced a crisis
of any type- for example, a conflict amongst the employees of a company and
successfully resolved it- could be a possible question. Other questions could probe
events that the candidate is most proud of, or felt he could have done better.

Responses to these questions reflect the personality of a person, which is likely to show
itself in future scenarios too.

5. Telephone Interview

6. Exit Interview

Pre-interview
1. Photocopy of cv and documents
2. Employer research- website, news and media coverage, alumni network, social
circle, first hand experience
3. Mock interview

During the interview

1. Relax and be positive
2. Reach the location of your interview before scheduled time
3. Dress properly (formals)
4. Before entering the interview hall, always knock the door and ask the
permission to enter
5. Greet the interviewer
6. Make eye contact. Be friendly and courteous.
7. Attitude is the key.
8. Never speak negatively
9. Be attentive and answer relevantly
10. Speak clearly and concisely

Post-interview
1. Wait for an email from the side of an employer
2. Thanksgiving email, if got selected

Job Interview Questions

Often, those who will interview you for a job have already read your resume, and they
know about your academic background. The reason they want to see you, in a personal
interview, is so they can evaluate what kind of person you are, whether you will fit into
the professional environment, and whether the quality of your English is up-to-
standard.

The questions during an interview generally fall under the following categories:
• Open-ended- Elicits your opinion/ position about some issue
 • Critical- Makes you analyse a point stated
• Probing- Stretches your grasp/ understanding of the issue discussed
• Leading- Dares you to justify and propose a viable plan for implementation
• Challenging- Dares you to defend your view by suggesting something opposite

Few questions with answers:

1. Tell me something about yourself.
Certificates, achievements (highlight the positivity), family background, sports,
qualifications, strengths (positive sense), do not disclose weakness unless it is asked
2. Why do you want to join the company?
Good company, good salary
3. What is your salary expectation?
As a fresher do not talk about salary (numbers), not in a position to bargain, as per
industry standards, salary is not a constrain, no profit or loss, must get for my
expenditure, I do not want to take the money from my parents, I only want the
experience.
4. Strength and weakness
Action plan to overcome your weakness, highlight your strength
5. How do you want to see yourself after 5 years?
I want to grow, want to go to the next level, I want to get promotion if everything goes
well by the grace of god.
6. Hard work or smart work
Both are required
7. Why should I hire you?
Better company look for better candidate, better candidate look for better company, I
am hard working, leader and will take steps to bring the changes. I will work for the
betterment of the company.

They can ask you anything they want, but the usual sort of questions are as follow:

Why do you want to become an auditor (or whatever)?

What makes you think you will be a good auditor?
What personal qualities would make you an asset to the company?
What do you know about our company?
How did you find out about our company?
Have you had any previous experience in this field?
Do you like working on your own or in a team?
Are you a responsible person? Give an example.
Do you have a sense of discipline? Give an example.
What do you want from the company?
What sort of salary do you expect?
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Do you want to further your formal education?
Did you contribute to student life at university?
Tell us something about your family.
What do you do in your free time?
What kind of magazines do you like to read?
How do you normally spend your weekends?
What are your strong points?
What are your weak points?
Who is your role model and why?
Whatever they ask you, start speaking right away. Do not show any hesitation or
confusion. Be yourself and speak freely and openly and may be you will be exactly
what they are looking for. They already have a certain profile in mind, and if you fit
that profile, you will probably be accepted.

Evaluating Your English

Often, when you have passed the first job interview, the company will ask you come
back for further interviews, for example, with your potential boss or department head,
or even those with whom you would work in a team. If you get through that, and are
put on a short-list, you may have to do a final interview with an expert in English who
will make an impartial evaluation and submit it to the Human Resource Department. If
this is going to be the deciding factor, it would be helpful for you to know more about
how such an interview might be conducted. In this interview, the evaluator is only
testing your command of English, so there is no way of know in advance what you may
be asked, but he/she may listen to your answers and fill in a form something like the
one below. The candidate with the best score gets the job.

English Evaluation Sheet

Name of candidate: ………………………………..
excellent very good good fair weak

1. Skills evaluated
2. Loudness/clarity
3. Grammar/vocabulary
4. Accent/pronunciation
5. Body language
6. Confidence
7. Logic/organization
8. Content

a) What was good?

b) What could be better?
c) Other helpful comments:

Group Discussion

Meaning
• Group Discussion is a modern method of assessing students’ personality.

• It is both a technique and an art and a comprehensive tool to judge the

worthiness of the student and his appropriateness for the job.

Objectives
The main objective of carrying out drill on group discussion lies in preparing them
efficiently for employment. Many public sector and private sector organizations have
prescribed G.D. tests.
One of their representatives sit through the group discussion and evaluates the
candidates’ group performance, mental ability, creative approach, aptitude of problem
solving, group harmony, power of tolerance, the capability to lead from the front and
group decorum. These qualities are analyzed and personality traits are confirmed.
Group discussions also afford an opportunity to promote communication skills. Regular
practice will lead to confident and natural speaking in a peer group. It does instill among
professionals a sense of courage to face any situation and to rationally put forth one’s
point of view. It will remove nervous uneasiness in course of official meetings, group
conferencing and individual articulation.

Methodology
Following methods can be adopted to sharpen group discussion skills of students:
• They will be trained in proper listening of what is being said by others.
• They will be put to intense argumentative conditions and their responses will
be recorded. They will be promoted to articulate words in speech clearly and
distinctly with required intonation and rhythm.
• Proper pause is necessary to send the message effectively.
• Frequent mumbling occurs when students are not well trained in group
discussion skills. Practice will aim at removing this handicap.
• The power of tolerance and decency in group will be cultivated keeping in
mind balanced approach while engaged in group activity. The ability of poise
and composure will be imparted to students.
• They will be taught the why and how of group decorum so that, group
discussion does not turn out to be noisy.

Types of GD:

1. Topic based group discussion- In this type of discussion general topic

based on current affairs are given. These discussions are time bound.

2. Case study-based group discussion- in this type of discussion students

are given situations and judged on how they reach a solution to the
problem. They will be required to analyse the situation and give their
views.

3. Abstract group discussions- This kind of discussion gives no outline of

the topic, which means no one knows which direction to take. The
participants must use innovative strategies and ideas to steer the
discussion. The topic could be one word or a sentence.

4. Fish Bowl Technique- The fish bowl activity is used to manage group
discussion. The general idea is that rather than a large group having an
open discussion about something, which can be difficult to handle and
often only benefits a few active participants, a smaller group (ideally 3
to 6 people) is isolated to discuss while the rest of the participants
(maximum of 50 people) sit around and observe without interrupting.
Facilitation is focused on the core group discussion.
 Fishbowls are useful for ventilating hot topics or sharing ideas or
information from a variety of perspectives. When the people in the
middle are public officials or other decision makers, this technique can
help bring transparency to the decision making process and increase
trust and understanding about complex issues.

Statement of Purpose for admission in Higher Studies

A Statement of Purpose (SOP ) is a crucial essay discussing applicants’

academic records, experiences, accomplishments and skills. It helps the
admissions committees assess the suitability of candidates for their programs.
Unlike MBA and other programs, SOPs for MS courses mainly revolve ar ound
academic prowess and the reasons behind choosing a particular program.

SOP Sample for MS

The dynamically advancing world of Computer Science has always attracted me.
I started learning how to code from the seventh grade itself and ventured directly
into advanced computer programming at 14. As they say, the rest is history. I
was hooked on developing applications of various types throughout high school
and even in college. I naturally took up a B. Tech course in Computer Science
and graduated with flying colours. I participated in numerous coding
competitions at my institution and online too. I have also completed online
certifications in Python, ML (Machine Learning), and AI (Artificial
Intelligence) to quench my insatiable thirst for knowledge in the field.

I have been involved in hosting and organizing multiple events and seminars on
programming and data science at my institution. I decided to apply for an MS
in Computer Science after graduation. Even though I lack professional
experience, I have ranked in the top 2% of my class throughout my
undergraduate course while also serving as the secretary at the coding society
of my institution named Coders Unlimited. I have also pursued multiple
internships and projects throughout the final two years of my course. I have
interned at a data science company and another IT major in my third and fourth
years. These internships have helped me apply my programming, coding, data
science, and analysis knowledge to solve real-world problems. I have always
viewed Computer Science as a spectrum with many gaps, untapped zones, and
well-known sub-categories which have unfathomable future potential. I also
helped one of my professors with a special project on Artificial Intelligence (AI)
and its application to customer interaction at financial institutions. My passion
for Computer Science is visible through my academic record, internships,
projects, and certifications.

Pursuing an MS in Computer Science, I would like to go deeper into the field

and gather more advanced skills while building up my research skills
simultaneously. I aim to eventually become an entrepreneur and build my
ecosystem of problem-solving applications for daily life. The master’s program
at your institution will help me with the skill sets and knowledge I require for
fulfilling my career goals. The world-class faculty, intellectually stimulating
atmosphere, and progressively inclined curriculum attracted me to your
esteemed institution. I would be grateful if deemed worthy of admission into
your university. I am confident about meeting the high standards of your
institution.

SOP Sample for MS

I have always been fascinated by robots from childhood and how they simulated
human beings’ activities and brain functions. I chose Computer Science as my
elective in high school. It helped increase my passion for Artificial Intelligence
(AI) and Data Science and enlightened me about the massive future potential of
these fields in almost every sector of the industry and even daily life. AI
(Artificial Intelligence) will have a transformational and disruptive impact on
every segment of the mainstream industry, right from healthcare and medicine
to mobile technologies and even education. It is what spurred my interest in
artificial intelligence and its universal applicability.

I went ahead with an undergraduate degree in Computer Science after

completing high school. This decision was driven by my interest in technology
and data science. I chose Artificial Intelligence (AI) after that as the
specialization for my master’s program. I headed the AI and Data Science
Society during my undergraduate courses, where we participated in several inter
and intra-college events and contests. I also helped develop multiple artificial
intelligence tools and devices for several projects in college while winning
numerous laurels at college competitions on data science.

Studying MS in Artificial Intelligence will help me equip myself with more

advanced skill sets and knowledge regarding this emerging area of study and
contribute to productive research at your institution. My long-term objective is
to build the foundation for a successful research career in Artificial Intelligence
and focus on applying it to solve pressing problems of modern life. The (course
name) at your institution will help me gain the insights and further training
required to build a successful career as a researcher. The favorable environment
for research, top-class laboratories, project work, and innovative curriculum are
major reasons behind choosing your institution. I would be grateful if you
choose me for admission into your esteemed institution’s (course name). I am
confident that I can live up to the high standards maintained by your university.

Seminar- An occasion when a teacher, expert or a group of people meet to study and
discuss something. A seminar is a discussion in a small group. Its objective is to share
knowledge. Participants get their name registered. They are experts or knowledgeable
persons from different fields and places who come to exchange view or share
knowledge on a particular topic. It plays a significant role in business organizations.
Seminars are organized on a regular basis in organizations.

Conference Paper Writing- An event sometimes lasting a few days at which there is
a group of talks on a particular subject or a meeting in which especially business matters
are discussed formally. The term conference means to confer which means to discuss,
to converse or to consult. It is a sort of discussion in a large group. Its range or scope
of participants is wider than seminar. It is a large gathering having particular area of
interest. Conferences disseminate information. A theme is there and exchange of
information takes place. It ends with some conclusion, solution and suggestion. One
has to register for attending in the conference. The aim is to exchange the information.

Purpose of organizing seminar, workshop or conference:

1. They provide a podium for the cross fertilization of ideas.
2. They provide an opportunity to coordinate various activities.
3. They help in solving problems.
4. They help in reaching to a conclusion, after much healthy discussion.
5. Discussions held in seminars and conferences help in the successful layout of a
project/ plan.

Communication Skills for Presentation

Unit 3

Report Writing-

The word report has been derived from the Latin word’ reportare’ which means to carry
back. A report, generally, means to give an account of something seen, heard, done etc.
A business report is an orderly and objective communication of factual information that
serves a business purpose. The objective quality of a report makes the reporter to seek
truth and avoid human biases.

➢ A report is a formal statement of facts or information or an account of

something
➢ It is formal in nature
➢ It is presented in a conventional form
➢ It is written for a specific audience
➢ It includes information about the procedure of collecting data and the
significance of such data
➢ It contains conclusions reached by the writer
➢ It often includes recommendations

A report differs from other compositions in as much as it is written in a more or less

conventional form to meet a specific need or requirement. It is not an outburst of
powerful feelings or an expression of recollected emotions. A report writer should
examine and present objectively the data collected. His conclusions and
recommendations are strictly based on the facts included in the report.

Report writing has assumed tremendous importance in the modern democratic set up
and also in complex business organizations. The meetings are held, the commissions
are set up and the committees are formed to attend some special business where several
resolutions are passed, decisions are taken and the policies are laid down. The members
of these meetings, commissions and committees have to submit their reports on all the
proceedings. Today report writing has been developed into a technical art. A report can
be defined as a systematic account of facts for information, action and analysis to
achieve a definite business objective. A report may be either oral or written. An oral
report is simple and easy to present. But a written report is always preferred. It enjoys
several advantages over the oral one:
➢ An oral report can be denied at any time. But a written report is a permanent
record.
➢ An oral report tends to be vague whereas in a written report, the writer tries to
be accurate and precise.
➢ A written report can be referred to again and again.

Importance of reports

➢ Reports reflect the competence of an engineer at work

➢ Reports help in solving problems and taking decisions
➢ Reports serve as a good feedback since oral feedback is not sufficient
➢ Reports serve as major measures of progress and success of an organization
➢ Reports enable the engineers to communicate to their superior with greater
confidence and accuracy
➢ Reports sharpen the analytical acumen ship of the engineers

Features of a report-

These are some of the features of a report:

1. Precision- Effective reports clearly reflect their purpose. Precision gives unity and
coherence to your report and makes it a valuable document.
2. Factual details- Your report should be very detailed and factual. The point of your
report is to go into details, the kind of details your specific audience needs. The
scientific accuracy of facts is very essential to a good report. Since reports invariably
lead to decision making, inaccurate facts may lead to disastrous decisions.
3. Relevance- The facts presented in a report should be not only accurate but also
relevant. While it is essential that every fact included in a report has a bearing on the
central purpose, it is equally essential to see that no relevant information is excluded.
Irrelevant facts make a report confusing.
4. Reader orientation- A good report is always reader oriented. While drafting a report,
it is necessary to keep in mind the person who is going to read it. A report meant for
laymen will be different from one meant for technical experts.
5. Objectivity- If recommendations are made at the end of a report, they must be
impartial and objective. They should come as a logical conclusion to analysis. They
must not reveal any self interest on the part of the writer.
6. Simple language- A good report is written in simple; unambiguous language. It is a
document of practical utility; hence it should be free from various forms of poetic
embellishment such as figures of speech. It should be clear, brief and grammatically
accurate.
7. Clarity- A good report is absolutely clear. Clarity depends on proper arrangement of
facts. Report writers must proceed sytematically. They should make their purpose clear,
define their sources, state their findings and finally make necessary recommendations.
They should divide their report into short paragraphs with headings and insert other
suitable signposts to achieve greater clarity.
8. Brevity- A report should be brief. It is difficult to define brevity in absolute terms.
All that can be said is that a good report is as brief as possible. Brevity should not be
achieved at the cost of clarity. Nor should it be at the cost of completeness. Sometimes
the problem being investigated is of such importance that it calls for a detailed
discussion of facts. Include everything significant and yet be brief.
9. Grammatical accuracy- It is one of the basic requisites of a good report as of any
other piece of composition.
10. Special format- The technical paper or report uses a rather involved format
including cover, title page, table of contents, appendices. These have to be prepared
according to a set standard.
11. Illustrations- Most technical reports contain illustrations which may be tables,
maps, graphs, drawings, charts or photographs.
12. Homogeneity- Your report should deal with one topic at a time. All the sections of
your report should focus on that topic.
13. Documentation- Technical reports acquire more value when adequately
documented by acknowledging sources of information in an appropriate style. Reports
form an essential part of official, managerial and professional activity.

Steps to be kept in mind while writing a report-

The following five steps are suggested to write a report:

➢ Investigating the source of information- The first step to write a report is to
decide the sources from where the facts or information can be collected.
➢ Taking notes- Second step in report writing is to note down the relevant point
of information.
➢ Analyzing the data- Third step is to analyse the collected data. A lot of data
will have to be rejected while a need might be felt to collect more data.
➢ Making an outline- Once the data is analysed and the relevant data is collected.
The data collected should be organized preparing an outline. In this outline the
problem is stated, the facts are recorded, they are briefly analysed and the logical
conclusion is aimed at.
➢ Writing the report- The last stage is that of writing the report. First a rough
draft of the report is prepared. Then it is revised, polished and a fair report is
prepared.

Formats or layouts of report-

There are three ways in which a report can be organized:

➢ Letter form
➢ Memorandum form
➢ Letter text combination form

Letter form:
The brief informal reports are written in letter format. The arrangement of the parts is
that of business letter. The main parts of such reports are:
➢ Title/Heading (name, address, phone no., email id of the sender)
➢ Date
➢ Inside address (receiver’s address)
➢ Salutations
➢ Body (introduction, findings, conclusion)
➢ Complimentary close
➢ Signature
➢ Designation

Heading/Title
Date

Receiver’s address

Salutation

Body (introduction, findings, conclusion)

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

Complimentary close

Signature
Name
Designation

Memorandum form:

Very brief reports are written in this format.

Heading/Title

Date

To:

From:

Subject: Topic of report

Body (introduction, findings, conclusion)

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Complimentary close
Letter text form:

In this format we divide the content of report into three different sections:
➢ Front matter
Cover page
Front page
Title page
Copyright note
Forwarding letter
Preface
Acknowledgement
Table of contents
Illustrations
Abstract or summary
➢ Main body
Introduction
Description
Conclusion
Recommendations
Appendix
➢ Addenda or back matter
References
Bibliography
Glossary
Index
PRELIMINARY PARTS

The preliminary parts of a report consist of the cover, title page, copyright notice,
acknowledgements, authorization letter, table of contents, list of illustrations, and
synopsis or executive summary. In certain cases, the synopsis is called abstract.

COVER

For cover, you can use your company’s standard cover imprinted with logo and the
company’s name. If the company does not insist on using a prescribed cover, then you
are free to choose your own cover. Nonetheless, you cannot use flowery and gaudy
covers. You should use a heavy paper or light coloured card for cover.

The basic purpose of a cover is to prevent the manuscript from regular wear and any
kind of damage. It carries the title with the writer’s name, the submission date,
classification (confidential, secret, etc.), and a number, if required. The inside of the
front and the back of cover is left blank.

THE TITLE PAGE

The title is placed on the first right hand page of a report. When the reader opens the
report, the title page is seen on the first right hand side. It contains detailed/additional
information of data presented on the cover. Thus, it gives the full title and/or adds the
subtitle. This is followed by the name and the address of the author; the name of the
authority who sanctioned the contract, the project number, approvals, distribution list
(to whom it should be circulated), and date.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

In present times, where people use Wikipedia for the first quick reference, copying is
done without any qualms. Literally, students cut and paste information from on line
sources and attach their names as authors. Thus, copyright, that is, the author’s
privileged ownership, is misread as the right to copy! However, when you have
produced something originally, then, you have the right to own the copyright, where
a future user needs to take your permission for quoting or reproducing your material
 in any other form. Besides permission, the user has to pay royalty to the original
producer of a work.
Copyright is marked by the sign © and presented along with the name of the author
or the person who owns the product. You will find the copyright notice on the back
of this title page as, for example:

© 2014 Sunita Agarwal

This will be further detailed with the following note:

All rights are reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced in any form or by
any means without permission in writing from the publisher.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

You need to acknowledge the people who helped you write the report. So, here you
make a list of the names of persons and organizations that helped you in the production
of the report. You should include the libraries that you consulted, the librarians who
helped you, researchers who shared their materials, and so on.

AUTHORIZATION LETTER

The authorization letter refers to the written authorization either in the form of a letter
or in the form of a memo (short for memorandum). This letter specifies the problem,
the scope, the duration (that is, the time in which it should be finished—six month, one
year, two year, five year project), the budget restriction, specific instructions (related to
the methodology that has to be followed, the statistical information that has to be
collected) and the dead line (the final time in which it should be submitted).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Often the table of contents are simplified to contents. The contents outlines the coverage,
the sequence, and significance of information in the report. It will be usually mentioned
in the form of chapters: chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter
6. And it begins with preface, acknowledgments, etc., and ends with the back matter
containing conclusion, recommendations, glossary, and index.
Nonetheless, the contents are required only if the report exceeds ten pages. As it gives
a bird’s eye view, the reader can identify easily a specific topic and choose to read the
item that interests him/her.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The list of illustrations details all the figures, images, visual aids, pictures, graphic
designs, photographs and tables. In case the list becomes longer than a page, then the
tables are separated from the figures.
SYNOPSIS OR EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The ‘synopsis or executive summary’ is also synonymous with ‘Abstract’. You can also
use abstract to indicate the condensed content of the report. It tells in concentrated form
what the report is about. The extent of coverage is also mentioned here, and in summary,
it tries to give the substance of the report. Overall, it presents the report in a nutshell
without any illustrations and explanations. It often includes the method of analysis, the
significant findings, important conclusions and major recommendations.

MAIN TEXT

The main text comprises introduction, body that deals with discussion and description,
conclusions and recommendations.

INTRODUCTION

The introduction offers a good starting point by telling the reader what the report is
about. It updates the reader by informing about previous works and highlights the new
grounds covered in the present study. Thus, it sets the scene and prepares the reader to
follow and comprehend the information. It includes: the historical and technical survey,
the scope of study (specifying its limitations and relevance), methods of collecting data
and their sources, and definition of special terms and symbols.

BODY

The major component of the main text of report is the body, which contains the
discussion or description part of the report. In terms of length, this is the lengthiest part
of a report because it contains the central ideas and arguments of the report with all the
illustrations and tables. The body presents the data in an organized form, discusses their
significance, and analyzes the results. If the data is too much, it is not presented in the
main body; but it is given in the appendix. You can also find footnotes or parenthetical
statements in the body. While presenting the ideas, the backward order is used. This
means, it begins with the end result; what was found than with how it was found.

CONCLUSION

The main text ends with the concluding remarks by the author, which will actually
summarize the main idea and highlight the recommendations. If the writer wants to
reemphasize an important point that s/he thinks that the reader should not miss, this is
one more time where s/he can reiterate that important point and then summarize
succinctly. The conclusion will also suggest the course of action for the reader to take.
All conclusions must be supported by what has gone before, nothing new should be
added at this stage. If the results and findings of the conclusions are large, they may be
itemized in the descending order of importance.
RECOMMENDATION

Recommendation specifically suggest future course of action. However, if they are very
few then they are merged with conclusions. Sometimes only this part of the report is
frequently referred to and seriously read for taking decisions. Recommendations are
given only if they are expected or the nature of the report demands them.

SUPPLEMENTARY PARTS

The supplementary parts contain the following five components: appendixes,

references, bibliography, glossary, and index. Although they are the back matter of the
report, they are equally important because they give the scientific evidence of the fact
that you really conducted an objective report.

APPENDIXES

An appendix contains materials related to the report; but they are too detailed or lengthy
to be included in the main text. The reader can safely omit reading it without any loss
of understanding of the contents or feel disconnected from the main thought flow.
Whether to give certain material in an appendix or not is decided on two factors. One:
whether it sustains the theme and forms an essential and integral part of the report. Two:
whether it would interrupt the train of the reader’s thought if included in the main body.
All appendixes should be referred to in the text; whether they are questionnaires or
statistical data. They must also be labeled as for example:

Appendix A: Questionnaire

Appendix B: Statistical Data

LIST OF REFERENCES

In the list of references, the report writer gives credit to the works referred to or quoted.
This is done by citing such works in the text and listing them in alphabetical order at
the end. If their number is small, they can be mentioned in the form of footnotes at the
bottom of the page on which they are cited. The foot note is numbered sequentially by
superscript font or by simply superscribing an asterisk or star mark [ 1 *]. It gives in
detail the author’s name and title in full, and the details about publication (the place,
the name and the year), and the page numbers.
For example:
1
Alan Warner, A Short Guide to English Style, Oxford University Press, London,
ELBS Edition, 1964, pp. 40-42.
This is a typical example of a reference where commas are used to separate items and
the author name is arranged with the first name followed by the surname. However, in
a bibliography, the items will not be separated by commas but by full stops.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography literally means the list of books that you have referred to. By extension,
it refers to the articles or any kind of work that you have referred to. It is alphabetically
arranged list of published/unpublished works, consulted before or during the
preparation of the report. You need to keep the following in mind; one, the order of
writing the names and surnames of authors; two: the sequences of details; three: the
punctuation marks, and four: the layout.
In bibliography, the second name or surname is placed first. All the items are separated
by full stops. The edition comes before the place of publication. Similarly, the place of
publication comes before the name of the publisher and the ear of publication. The
second line and the subsequent ones are intended.
For example:

Warner, Alan. A Short Guide to English Style. ELBS Edition. London: Oxford
University Press, 1964.

GLOSSARY

Glossary is a list of technical words used in the report and their explanations. It briefly
explains jargons and unfamiliar terms in the form of a small dictionary format. If the
number of entries is small, it can be explained in footnotes. The inclusion of it depends
on the level of understanding and background of the readers.

INDEX

Index is intended to serve as a quick guide to the material of the report. It enables the
reader to locate easily any topic, sub-topic or important aspect of the contents. Key
words are entered and arranged in alphabetical order, and then, cross referenced. All
page numbers on which information about an entry is available are mentioned against
it. For example:
Reports
audience for, 121, 156-157
characteristics of, 131-132, 148

CITATION METHOD

The citation method, which is sometimes called style sheet, varies as follows:
Types of reports-

➢ On the basis of nature, scope and length:

(i) Formal reports- A formal report is one which is prepared in a prescribed form and is
presented according to an established procedure to a prescribed authority.e.g. annual
reports, project reports, technical reports.
(ii) Informal reports- An informal report is usually in the form of a person to person
communication. An informal report is usually submitted in the form of a letter or a
memo form.e.g. lab reports, daily production reports, trip reports.

➢ On the basis of the frequency of issue:

(i) Periodic or routine reports- Such type of reports are prepared and presented at regular
prescribed intervals in the usual routine of business. They may be daily, annually, semi
annually, quarterly, weekly, monthly.
(ii) Special reports- Such type of reports are related to a single occasion or situation.
Special reports deal with non recurrent problems.e.g. thesis, dissertation.

➢ On the basis of function of a report:

(i) Informative report- If a report merely presents facts pertinent to an issue or a
situation, it is informative.e.g. seminar reports, conference reports.
(ii) Analytical report- If a report goes into the causes of facts and analyze them and
comes up to some conclusion and state some recommendations it is analytical report.e.g.
project report, market research report.

➢ On the basis of the nature of the subject dealt with

(i) Problem determining- Reports that try to determine the causes underlying a problem
or to ascertain whether or not the problem actually exists.
(ii) Fact finding- Reports that try to determine the reasons that give rise to a problem.
(iii) Performance- Reports that state the progress or decrease of output at a certain time
limit.
(iv) Technical- Reports dealing with the practicality of a concept.
➢ On the basis of the number of persons entrusted with the drafting of reports:
(i) Report by individual- Report submitted by one individual about a department is
called individual report.
(ii) Report by committee- Report submitted by association of more than one person. In
such cases committees and sub- committees are formed to draft a report. These reports
are formal in style and impersonal in tone.

Write a report on the negative effects of internet facilities.

MEMO REPORT
Modern Institute of Technology
Jaipur (Rajasthan)
Interoffice Memorandum

To: Dean, Students Welfare Division

From: Chief Warden
Date: 15 October 2005
Subject: Negative Effects of Internet Facilities

Please refer to your letter [Link]/IM/2003 in which you have asked me to study the
negative effects of internet facilities provided by the institute. I would like to present
my findings and recommendations.

The data for the report was collected by interviews with wardens, mess managers and
the chief of information processing centre. Also, the medical records of the students
were collected from the office of the chief medical officer.

A preliminary look into the medical records shows that about 75% of the students
owning a computer and regular users of the IPC have complained about some physical
problem or the other during the past one year. Dr R.K. Sen, chief medical officer, told
me that these were the symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), a deadly disease
that affects many computer users all over the globe. He also explained that these were
due to excessive time spent in front of the computer, improper sitting posture and the
lack of physical exercise amongst the students. Also lack of proper sleep is a cause of
this fast growing disease.

Another disturbing trend has been the decline in academic standards of the student.
Most of the wardens and teachers have complained about the declining academic output
of the students since the facility was provided to the students. The most common use is
for chatting and watching movies over the web.

The food habits of the students have also been a cause of concern lately. Most mess
managers agree that the attendance for meals has gone down considerably since the last
year, after the introduction of the computer centre.

Given below are a few suggestions which may help in tackling the problem in question:
➢ The amount of time spent by a student in the computer lab should be fixed to no
more than 4 hours
➢ Undesirable sites should be blocked
➢ The computer lab must be shut down between 12pm and 9 am to give students
proper rest
➢ Student participation in sports and cultural activities must be encouraged to shift
their attention from computers

I hope that this report will give you an insight into the nature of the problem and also
its possible solutions. I would be glad to provide any additional information required in
this regard.

(Amit Chauhan)
Chief Warden

Technical Research Paper Writing

A technical research paper is a form of written technical communication. Today is an

age of science and technology. There is revolution in the field of writing also. Technical
research paper is intended to communicate to a specific audience a specific purpose. Its
aim is to provide technical knowledge for future growth. These are essential to all fields
of science, technology, humanities and management. They add to the existing
knowledge and understanding of a particular topic or subject.
Technical paper writing skills help in achieving academic and occupational goals by
establishing the authors’ presence in the professional world. It also gives a high degree
of professional satisfaction and help in career advancement.
The components are:
1. Title
2. Name of the author
3. Abstract
4. Key words
5. Introduction
6. Objectives
7. Methodology
8. Findings
9. Inferences/ Results
10. Conclusion
11. Appendix
12. Bibliography
13. References

Synopsis Writing

A synopsis is an in depth summary of a written work that describes the content of that
work from beginning to an end. Unlike a summary which just gives a general overview
of a story, a synopsis contains all the details including the end. Synopsis is submitted
to publisher or agents after you have written a novel, screen play, thesis or any other
long work. It is of 10 to 15 pages.
The components of synopsis are:
1. Title page
2. Topic
3. Introduction
4. Review of literature
5. Objectives
6. Methodology
7. Facilities available
8. References
9. Bibliography

Project

A project is written on a designed plan completed in an industry, Business Company

and in the institution itself. The project may be written under the supervision of a senior
faculty or under the joined supervision of an industry expert. It is also submitted as a
thesis or a dissertation under the guidance of a supervisor. First, a brief report is
submitted on the topic which the students undertake. It is also called a synopsis. This
includes the outline of the project to be done. It is a form of written communication
prepared by a researcher.
The components of project are:
1. Cover page
2. Title page
3. Certificate of approval by Supervisor
4. Preface
5. Acknowledgement
6. Table of contents
7. Table of illustrations
8. Abstract
9. Introduction
10. Review of literature
11. Methodology
12. Results
13. Conclusion
14. Appendix
15. References
16. Bibliography
17. Index

Thesis Writing

A thesis is longer and more detailed than a dissertation. It may span over a period of
three to five years. You may present extensive research on a particular topic in the form
of a thorough analysis, supported adequately by statistical data, survey findings,
experimental results and the like. Thesis is a long research report. It is done for the
award of doctoral degree in any discipline. There are certain stages through which a
researcher passes before he finally writes the thesis.
First of all the researcher selects a topic appropriately to focus on one aspect of the
subject. The research guide helps the scholars in the selection of topic availability of
the materials required. Then the research scholar tries to collect both printed and
electronic resource materials and relevant reference books. Further he takes notes from
reliable and useful resources. Finally the researcher has to organize his ideas and
accumulated research material into a logical, fluent and effective paper. He should be
aware of the MLA style sheet.
The components of thesis are:
1. Cover page
2. Title page
3. Certificate of approval by Supervisor
4. Preface
5. Acknowledgement
6. Table of contents
7. Table of illustrations
8. Abstract
9. Introduction
10. Review of literature
11. Methodology
12. Results
13. Conclusion
14. Appendix
15. References
16. Bibliography
17. Index

Stages in writing thesis:

1. Selecting the problem

2. Delineating the problem
3. Determine the need of the audience
4. Collection of source material
5. First draft
6. Final draft

Technical Proposal-

The word proposal is derived from the verb propose that means to offer. Proposal means
something proposed: plan or scheme. It is often defined as a plan or scheme that
persuades its readers to accept the writer’s ideas. The proposal is a suggestive plan of
future task where the proposer aims at getting the acceptance of the authorities. A
proposal is a special type of analytical report designed to get products, plans or projects
accepted by others.

Proposals can be made by individuals or organisations with some specific purpose.

They can be made by an organisation or some government agency. Proposals can be
submitted to government agency as bids for grants. University teachers submit
proposals to university grants commission, New Delhi.

A proposal is often defined as a plan or scheme that persuades its readers to accept the
writer’s idea. Proposals are often written by one firm as a response to a request from
another firm. Sometime proposals are written in order to secure contracts for firms. The
proposal should also present the financial implications of the proposed work; the
expenses involved and the gains expected. It must state the benefits that are likely to
result from it as well as the risks.
Proposals are made for several purposes: research, development, expansion,
improvement etc.

A proposal is a systematic, factual, formal and persuasive description of a course of

action or set of recommendations or suggestions. It is written for specific audience to
meet a specific need. The main objective of a proposal is to persuade the reader to
accept the proposed course of action. It explains and justifies what it proposes.

Features of Proposal-

➢ Aim should be to convince the reader

➢ Polite tone
➢ Persuasive manner
➢ Analyze the priority level of readers
➢ Use of simple language
➢ Precise and well organised
➢ Must state the benefits and the risks clearly

Importance of proposals-

➢ Provide fresh ideas

➢ Initiate new projects
➢ Solve problem
➢ Reinforce innovative strategies
➢ Financial returns
➢ Help promote various research activities

Types of Proposals-

Proposals can be classified on various grounds. According to structure, nature of the

audience, source of origin, objective:
➢ According to structure:
Formal- Long proposals with elaborate description and discussion.
Informal- Short proposals involving small projects

➢ According to nature of its audience:

Internal- addressed to readers within an organisation.
External- communicated to people outside an organisation.

➢ According to source of origin:

Solicited- written in response to a request for proposal.
Unsolicited- written without any request.

➢ According to objective:
Sales- Are also known as business proposals. They are sent outside the company to
potential clients or customers.
Research- Are usually academic in nature and mostly solicited.

Division of Formal Proposal-

Generally all proposals have three main divisions:
➢ Prefatory parts
Title page
Letter of transmittal
Draft contract
Table of contents
List of tables
Summary
➢ Body of proposal
Introduction:
Problem
Need
Background
Objective or purpose
Scope and limitations

Technical procedures:
Method and sources
Plan of action

Managerial procedures:
Sequence of activities
Equipments, facilities, products
Personnel qualification

Cost estimate

Conclusion
➢ Supplementary parts
Appendices
References

IFB and RFP (meaning and difference)

➢ IFB (Invitation for Bid)

⚫ More rigid in terms and conditions
⚫ More specific about its standards, price, delivery, schedule
⚫ Terms cannot be negotiated
➢ RFP (Request for Proposal)
⚫ Not so specific about the details of its requirements
⚫ States a problem and invites solution to deal with the problem
⚫ Flexible as far as it can be feasible

Write a Proposal for financial support for modernization of the concern. Invent
necessary details.

Sender’s Address
Date

Receiver’s Address

Subject- Proposal for financial support for modernization of the concern

Dear Sir,

In order to improve the functioning and efficiency of our concern we are in need of
funds. We, therefore, request you to consider our proposal for a modernisation plan.

Kindly let us hear from you soon.

Yours’ faithfully

(S.K. Chatterjee)
Manager

Enclosure-proposal

A proposal
For
the modernisation of the (topic)
commercial section

By
S.K. Chatterjee (writer)
Manager

Siddartha Machinery Works (writer’s company)

Unnao
August, 2017 (date)
 Summary

1. Project Title
2. Name and Designation
3. Address of the proposer
4. Name of the organisation where the project is to be carried out
5. Date of commencement
Duration
6. Amount required
7. Proposal summary
8. Introduction
9. Technical procedures
10. Managerial procedures
11. Cost estimate
12. Conclusion

Difference between report and proposal-

[Link]. Report Proposal

1. Factual description Proposing suggestions
2. Narration of events Initiate new projects
3. No place for fantasy or imagination Fantasy may or may not be used
4. Subjective and objective Objective
5. Written in past Always written in present for future
time

Presentation strategies-

The way you say or do things is called presentation. Constant practice is the key to
acquire this skill of presentation. Presentation is a way of communicating ideas and
information to a group. A presentation carries the speaker’s personality better and
allows immediate interaction between all the participants.

Features/ Fundamentals of presentation-

⚫ Purpose- The purpose of presentation decides the content and style of presentation.
⚫ Analysing audience- The nature of audience has a direct impact on the strategy
you devise for your presentation. Hence it is necessary to have prior knowledge of
the audience’s aspects (likes, dislikes, age, gender, background, attitude, degree of
knowledge)
⚫ Locale- The beforehand knowledge of the environment is necessary for the
preparation of presentation. According to the setup, surrounding and environment
the final presentation is prepared.
⚫ Organising content- Some tips to organise the content of your presentation:
➢ Prepare more material than required. This helps feel confident.
➢ Start with a smile and pleasant tone by making eye contact.
 ➢ Organise the content in three sections.i.e. introduction, main body and
conclusion.
Introduction- Opening of presentation is the introduction section. Try to start your
presentation by greeting or quotation.
Main body- In this section the main points pointed in introduction are expanded. Any
of the following method can be adopted to expand the points.
➢ Chronological- expand according to the order in which event occurs according to
time, date.
➢ Categorical- the whole of the content is expanded by dividing it in into topics and
sub topics.
➢ Cause and effect- expanding by first mentioning the cause and than its effect.
➢ Problem solution- this method divides the content into two parts, problem and its
solution.
Conclusion- In this section review the main points started in introduction and expanded
in main body. Do not add anything new.
⚫ Preparing an outline- An outline is a mechanical framework in which are fitted
the pieces of presentation material. It seems as a guide to show you the right path
for presentation.
⚫ Visual aids- Due to the limitation of spoken words; speech often need strong visual
support like handouts, chalk boards, flip charts, slides, computer, tables, pictures,
graphs etc.

Importance of visual aids in presentation-

⚫ Increases audience interest

⚫ Illustrates key points
⚫ Easily understandable
⚫ To involve audience
⚫ To involve all the senses
⚫ Increases the impact of message
⚫ Help listeners retain information
⚫ To save time and avoid putting information on a board.
⚫ To avoid turning your back to the audience when writing on a board

Modes of presentation-

⚫ Extemporaneous- In this mode of presentation notes are prepared beforehand and

rehearsed. No efforts should be made to memorize the speech.
⚫ Manuscript- In this mode of presentation, presentation is written on a piece of
paper and the presenter reads it out from the paper to the audience.
⚫ Impromptu- This is a sort of informal presentation without preparation almost on
the spot.
⚫ Memorization- In this mode of presentation speech is written out beforehand, then
committed to memory and finally delivered from memory.

Nuances of delivery/ Tools of presentation-

By nuances of delivery we mean the factors that distinguishes your presentation on the
factors responsible to make your presentation effective.
Kinesics- Kinesics in the name given to the study of the body’s physical movements.
It is the way the body communicates without words i.e. through various movements of
its parts. Nodding our head, blinking our eyes, shrugging shoulder, waving the hands
and such other physical activities are all forms of communication.

It is true that words are the main medium of conveying one’s idea or expressing
ourselves. But in face to face communication, words are not the only medium. Here
communication takes place on two levels simultaneously. One is verbal that is through
words and the other is non verbal, which takes place through kinesics. For example, if
a person is congratulating two friends of his on their success in their exams and while
uttering the word ‘congratulations’ he extends his arm with a big smile on his face. The
appreciation would have more impact than the words is isolation. This smile and the
handshake are non verbal means of communication which enhance the impact of verbal
communication.

Kinesics or body language can be divided into the following sub parts:

Personal appearance- This includes clothes, hair, jewellery, cosmetics, shoes etc. It
carries a lot of importance because people see you before they hear you. One should be
clean and well groomed according to the need of the occasion. Appearances
communicate how we feel about ourselves and how we want to be viewed.

Posture- It refers to the way we hold ourselves when we stand, sit or walk. Body shape
and posture play a very important role in non verbal communication.

Gesture- Gesture is the movement made by hands, arms, shoulders, head etc. They are
important because they add to the impact of a speech. Gestures should be natural and
spontaneous. Irritating and offensive gestures should be avoided.

Facial expressions- The face is the most expressive part of the body. A smile stands for
friendliness, a frown for anger, raised eyebrows for disbelief etc. Facial expressions can
be used in a variety of ways.

Eye contact- Eye contact is a direct and powerful medium of non verbal communication.
Looking directly at listener build rapport. Eye contact is especially important when we
start the presentation and at the beginning of each new section.

Chronemics- It is the study of how human beings communicate through the use of their
time. In order to use time as an effective communication tool, we need to understand
the impact it has and then act accordingly. In the professional world, time is a valuable
commodity. If one gets late for an appointment people react negatively. If one arrives
too early he is considered either over eager or aggressive. So being on time is important.
Through time people communicate subtly and explicitly.

People have their own time language and this varies from culture to culture. Good
timing is crucial and one should achieve a formal presentation until it is underline,
because staying within limits is a mark of courtesy and professionalism.
The shorter the time allowed, the more difficult the task. The more difficult the task,
the greater the need not just for careful planning and effective visual aids but also for
diligent rehearsal.

Chronemics stands for time management during presentation. Try to reach at the proper
time (before 15 min) of presentation. Try to wind up the presentation in given time.
Give proper time for questions also.

Proxemics- Distance between the speaker and listener is termed as proxemics. The
distance between the speaker and listener is divided into four distinct zones as following:

Intimate zone- This zone starts with personal touch and extends just to 18 inches.
Members of family, relatives and parents fall under this zone.

Personal zone- This zone stretches from 18 inches to 4 feet. Close friends, colleagues,
peers fall in this zone.

Social zone- This zone falls from 4 feet to 12 feet. Official relationships fall in this zone.

Public zone- This zone starts from 12 feet and may extend to 30 feet or to the range of
eyesight and hearing.

Paralinguistics/ Dimensions of Oral Communication/ Paralinguistic features of

voice- Paralinguistic features are non verbal communication that help you to give
urgency to your voice. The following characteristics of voice are considered under the
paralinguistic nuances.

Accent Neutralisation
Stress
Pitch
Pause
Eye contact
Intonation
Rhythm
Volume
Speed
Pronunciation
Voice modulation
Syllable

Accent Neutralisation- When one learns a foreign language, one faces certain
difficulties caused due to the interference of one’s mother tongue. The learner has to
pass through a process of accent neutralisation by giving up his old habits of
pronunciation and accentual pattern. Thus accent neutralisation may be defined as a
process of neutralising regional accent while learning a foreign language. In learning a
second language, the learner has to make conscious efforts in order to understand the
grammar and the written and the speech forms of the second language since, learning
of foreign language is greatly influenced by the first language or the mother tongue.
A native speaker need not to make any artificial or conscious efforts to learn his mother
tongue. His rich and constant exposure to his language helps him to acquire that
language naturally because the child learns the framework of spoken language through
imitation. But in learning a second language, the learner has to make conscious efforts
in order to understand the grammar and the written and the speech forms of the second
language since the learning of foreign language is greatly influenced by the first
language or the mother tongue.
The problem arises at the phonological level, the morphological level, the grammatical
level and the semantic level. Prof. B.D. Sharma points out certain mistakes, committed
by the non native speakers due to the interference of the mother tongue. At the
phonological level, the learner tries to substitute the sounds of the foreign language
with the sounds resembling them in his mother tongue. For example, a hindi speaker
replaces the english speech sounds by the hindi sounds because they closely resemble
them.
Dr. R.K Bansal points out that the Indian speakers do not make any distinction in the
pronunciation of ‘v’ and ‘w’ which leads to confusion. The result is that the distinction
between vest and west, vine and wine is lost. Moreover Indians often have faulty
accentual patterns which eventually leads to many errors. They commit mistakes of
intonation or modulation of voice.
Thus in order to make their English intelligible, the non native speakers should learn
the correct accentual pattern for which they do the practice exercises regularly. It is
difficult for an alien speaker to learn the right pattern of stress, intonation and
pronunciation of the foreign language but it is no way impossible to acquire the skill to
use the foreign language correctly.
English has become a global language and whether at home or abroad, at his workplace,
a professional should be quite fluent in speaking correct English otherwise he finds
himself unable to perform quite simple everyday transactions such as answering in
English to a colleague’s questions.

Stress- The word stress means force or pressure. Stress means a greater breath force,
greater muscular effort and greater vibration of the vocal cords in producing certain
sounds. In the words of Daniel Jones, ‘Stress may be described as the degree of force
with which a sound or syllable is uttered.’ It has a meaning and by changing the stress
pattern of an utterance one can change its meaning completely. For example, if import
is used as a noun, the stress will be on the first syllable while the stress shifts to the
second syllable, if it is a verb.
The stress is said to be mainly of two types:
Primary stress or strong stress
Secondary stress or weak stress
Primary stress is marked with a vertical bar above and in front of the syllable to which
it refers. Secondary stress is marked with a vertical bar below and in front of the syllable
to which it [Link]. The accentual pattern or word stress changes
according to its function. It depends on whether the word is used as a noun, an adjective
or a verb.
Rules for accentual pattern:
⚫ Accent doesn’t not fall on the weak prefixes.e.g. across, apart
⚫ In words of more than two syllables, accent is placed on the third syllable from the
end.e.g. fortunate, separate
Pitch- Pitch denotes the degree of acuteness in a sound. In a melody, the pitch can be
high or low according to the vibrations per second. In speech, the higher pitch requires
a tightening of the vocal cords by the larynx. A lower pitch means less of that tightening
of the cords.

Pause- When we talk, we talk in group of words. These group of words may be uttered
either with or without a pause. Sometimes we use marks of punctuation such as full
stops, commas, colons and semi colons in order to divide the utterance into tone groups.
But if an utterance or a group is very short or of intermediate length, the speaker need
not pause. This dividing the utterance into tone groups is known as tonality.
Short tone groups-
Yes
No
Thank you
When the group of words is long, we need to pause in order to take breath. That is why
often the tone groups are known as breath groups.e.g. when I went to see her, she was
ill. When a word group is long, the speaker has to pause at appropriate places so that
meaning can be preserved. That is why tone groups are also known as the sense groups.
One cannot be absolutely sure about the number of tone groups in an utterance and one
speaker can divide an utterance into two tone groups while another can divide it into
three. For example, when I called to him, he was reading in the library. This sentence
can be divided into two tone groups-
i. When I called to him
ii. He was reading in the library
Or this sentence may be divided into three tone groups, namely when I called to him
and he was reading and in the library
Punctuation can correlate quite closely with breath pauses and can help in marking the
beginning and ends of groups.

Eye contact- Eye contact is an important means of maintaining immediate contact with
the audience. Face is an index of mind and primarily eyes of a person reveal whether
he is excited or angry or annoyed. Regular eye contact of a speaker and listener helps
in two ways. First it keeps up the interest of the listener and second it works as a
feedback. The speaker is able to know the response of the listener only by looking at
his face. The speaker can easily know how the listeners are reacting to what he says.
Thus eye contact is of paramount importance and plays a prominent role in oral
communication.

Intonation- Intonation is the term used for the level of pitch or the relative height of
the voice in a sentence. When we talk about intonation we include the rising of voice
or the fading of the voice into silence at the end of an utterance. The term intonation
refers to pitch patterns that are part of the structure of sentences.

The type of utterances also determines the choice of one intonation pattern. Whether a
sentence is merely a statement or a command or a request, it determines the intonation
pattern.

The speakers’ mood and his attitude to what he is saying determine the intonation
pattern. There are infinite moods and variations in mood so there can be several tunes
or kinds of intonation patterns. In English, words may have almost any intonation
depending on the context or the situation. Intonation is something which is added to the
utterance, whether a whole sentence or merely a single word said by itself, to give it a
special personal colouring or meaning.

Thus, intonation is greatly affected by the speaker’s emotions and the degree of
intensity he brings to bear on what he is saying. Generally, the more a speaker is
involved with what he is saying, by way of anger, grief, excitement, self importance
and so on, the greater will be the range of pitch and the amount of pitch change he uses.
Pitch often fluctuates in correspondence with the mood of the speaker whether he is
kind or angry, calm or excited, light or dignified.

Rhythm

Syllable- A syllable is that part of a word which is pronounced by a single effort of the
voice. It may consist of a vowel or a consonant. It can be described as the shortest unit
of sound. Words can have any number of syllables according to the pronunciation. E.g.
go, beauty.
Go-monosyllabic word
Beauty- bisyllabic word

The syllable is a unit adopted for the analysis of speech. It can be defined in terms of
pulmonic air stream mechanism. When we make use of this mechanism in speech, the
air from the lungs does not come out in a regular and continuous flow. The muscles of
the chest contract and relax alternately and thus the air is pushed out in small puffs at
the rate of approximately five times per second. Each such movement of the muscles,
called a chest pulse, corresponds to a syllable. Sometimes the muscular action is more
powerful than usual. This produces a reinforced chest pulse and a stronger puff of air.
Syllable may be defined as a unit of pronunciation consisting of a vowel alone or a
vowel with one or more consonants. On the basis of the numbers of syllables, the words
are classified into monosyllabic, bisyllabic and polysyllabic words. E.g. pen-cil, po-pu-
la-tion.

Pronunciation

Phonetics
Phonetics is the science of human speech sounds. It studies the defining characteristic
of all human, vocal noises and concentrates its attention on those sounds which occur
in the world’s language. It might have been derived from the Greek word phone which
means sound or voice. Phonetics is the study of speech. The production, transmission
and reception of speech sounds are covered under phonetics.
Phonetic studies have gained importance in recent times because of the large number
of people learning to speak second languages, and also because of the introduction of
various mechanical and electronic devices such as the gramophone, the radio, the tape
recorder and the telephone.
Phonetic alphabets
These are the symbols used to represent sounds. e.g. │ᴂ│, │m│. There are 44 sounds
in the phonetics, comprising of 20 vowels (12 pure vowels and 8 dipthongs) and 24
consonants.
Phonemes
Phonemes are the minimum meaningless distinctive units of sound. By distinctive we
imply that each phoneme is distinctive from the other. e.g. consider a word like cap
│kᴂp│. K is distinct, meaningless and is minimum. This word consists of three sounds.
When we say that each one of them is a distinctive unit, what we mean is that if we
substitute the sound │p│ by the │t│ the meaning of the word will be changed as it will
become a different word cat. Thus each sound is distinctive in nature, because the
substitution of one sound with the other sound will bring above a change in the meaning.
Phonetic transcription
Transcribing or changing the spoken sounds into written form is known as phonetic
transcription. e.g. Cat can be written as │kᴂt│.
Speech mechanism
It is the set up of inter relation and interaction between the manner of the functioning
of various speech organs for the purpose of articulating speech sounds. Speech is the
result of air stream mechanism. Air plays an important role in the art of speaking.
Organs of speech

Organs involved in the production of speech are called organs of speech. They can be
divided into three groups as mentioned below:
(i) The respiratory system (lungs, wind pipe, trachea)
(ii) Phonetory system (larynx, pharynx, vocal cords)
(iii) Articulatory system (nose, lips, mouth, tongue, teeth)

Vowel and Consonant Sounds

It is usual to divide all speech sounds into two broad categories- vowels and
consonants. In the production of vowels the air comes out freely through the mouth.
There is no closure of the air passage and no narrowing of the passage that would
cause audible friction. All other sounds are called consonants.
 Some Basic Sounds
sound example word internal final
ae A Ape aye A-train payday gay pray
be B Because beet bee husband maybe Toby
see C Big-C cleat Sisi faced fancy fantasy
dee D Detail divide daddy buddy freely fancy
eee E Evil e-mail easy been maybe sorry
eff F Jeff effort effect effort leaf beef
ghee G Jesus G-man garbage bungle bungee purgery
aa ch H H-bomb hate heat hurt pot rot
eye I Tie Ibex index high sky bonzai
jay J Jail Jay James injure storage forge
kay K Kay K-mart kid kitten forgotten forgiven
ell L elbow lot let below bell tell
em M Emmy emblem meet summer problem bathroom
en N Enable entry note fender fasten seen
oo O Oh oh only bone cone stone
pee P Pea peach please applause impression imprint
cue Q Queue queen quack baker clique boutique
are R Are rat rut murder rare scare
ess S Escape stress space best express depress
tee T Tea tee top better street delete
you U You unity union bluebell review due
vee V Vee Vera very every sleeve eve
double-U W we were why shower Harvey humvee
ex X PX extra express Dexter sex apex
why Y While YMCA where Hawaiian wai Thai wai
Zed(Br) Z Zee(Am) zero zone Disney crazy lazy
Simple Vowel Sounds
We can often, but not always, make basic vowel sounds using the letters of the
alphabet.
Aaeiou
B bad bed bid bog bud
C cad cod cud
D dad dead did Dodd dud
E
F fad fed fit fog fu
G gad get gin got gun
H hat her hit hot hut
I
J jab jet jinn jot jut
 K kit
L lat let lit lot lug
M mat met mutt moss mug
N Nat net nut not not
O
P pat pet pin pot put
Q quit quote
R rat red rid rot rut
S sat set sit sot sum
T tab Ted tit tot tug
U
V vat vet von
W wan wet wit woe
X
Y yap yet yin yon you
Z zap zip zoo
Alphabet Sounds
Just repeat these words to get your tongue around the sounds.
A ate await afraid age
B be bomb because better
C cat cot can comb
D delight debug destroy detonate
E easy eatery beacon devotee
F fee feel fail fair
G get got gate gun
H Hit hot hat hate
I in is ink injure
J jail James Jeer joke
K kale keel kull Ken
L Live love let lease
M my may might must
N no nay never now
O open order oven onto
P pit pot page pepper
Q quick quite quiz queen
R rat rot race rubber
S see saw sun sum
T tree tool take talk
U us unto utter urban
V very vast veer vest
W where why west waste
X extra exit export expo
Y you yours Yankee yahoo
Z zone zoom zest Zing
Haptics- concept of touch

Oculesics- eye contact

Artifacts- related to accessories

Speech Delivery/ Public Speaking/ Presentation/Extempore

The first step of pitching your innovative and entrepreneurship idea is to know your
audience. Who are you talking to? What are their needs, goals, challenges, and interests?
How can your idea help them solve a problem, create value, or improve their situation?
The Pitch Competition is a unique experience that encourages engineering students to
think like an entrepreneur and move beyond the optimization of a technology for
performance.

An elevator pitch is about getting a potential employer to want to learn more about
you and the value you can bring to the table. 99.9% of the time it will not land you the
position, but rather get you the opportunity to apply. The name elevator pitch comes
from the idea that you should be able to deliver it while on an elevator ride—roughly,
in 30 to 60 seconds.

An elevator pitch is short, concise and meant to be delivered verbally. Its purpose is to
capture interest and get the message across within 30 to 60 seconds. A pitch deck is a
more detailed presentation that provides more information and context. Pitch decks are
most commonly used in formal settings, such as investor meetings, board presentations
or pitch competitions. They are suited for situations where you have a dedicated time
slot for a detailed presentation. a presentation that provides a brief but informative
overview of your business. It should cover the key points of your business plan, the
products and services you provide, high-level financial projections, and funding needs.
The pitch deck should work well on its own as a visual document, but it will primarily
be used as a tool to tell the story of your business, primarily with a view to securing
business from a prospective client.

Elevator pitch: a ‘lift’ speech, or elevator statement is a short description of an idea,

product, or company that explains the concept in a way such that any listener can
understand it in a short period of time. This description typically explains who the thing
is for, what it does, why it is needed, and how it will get done. When, explaining an
individual person, the description generally explains one's skills and goals, and why
they would be a productive and beneficial person to have on a team or within a company
or project. An elevator pitch does not have to include all of these components, but it
usually does at least explain what the idea, product, company, or person is and their
value. An elevator pitch can be used to entice an investor or executive in a company,
or explain an idea to a founder's parents. The goal is simply to convey the overall
concept or topic in an exciting way. Unlike a sales pitch, there may not be a clear buyer–
seller relationship.
Presentation: any collection of ‘slides’, created in a presentation application like
Powerpoint, Google Slides or Keynote, used to share or present information to others,
electronically (remotely) or projected onto a large screen at a meeting venue.

Here are examples of elevator pitches for engineers:

1. Hello, my name is John. I’m currently a software engineer at Cisco Systems and
have a wide breadth of experience researching and designing software programs
that solve real-world problems. I’ve developed new architecture for network
equipment systems, from routers to voice-enabled network applications. I’ve
been a huge fan of your company for years, and saw that you had an opening
for a principal software engineer manager. What kind of skills do you look for
in the employees you hire?
2. Hi, I’m Sally Smith. As a civil engineering manager for the past two years, I’ve
led multiple cross-functional teams in conceiving, designing, and maintaining
large infrastructure projects in the public and private sectors. Notably, utilizing
my geotechnical engineering experience, I was recently able to move forward
on developing a large chip manufacturing facility for a major company. What
types of employees do well within your organization?
3. Hi, my name is Tom. I’m a sophomore at Lasa High School with an interest in
tech writing. I’ve freelanced for a handful of journals and covered topics from
the latest local election to a rooftop garden feeding the community. With copy
editing knowledge and experience interviewing under my belt, my interests lie
in getting tangible reporting experience and further expanding my writing and
editing skills. Who would be the best person to contact for internship
opportunities?

When developing your 30-second pitch, keep the following elements in mind:

1. Purpose
2. Audience
3. Locale
4. Your specific career interest or goals. If the person you’re speaking with can’t
help you reach those goals, maybe they can connect you with someone who can.
(If they like your pitch enough!)
5. How you are already working toward reaching your goals. If you want to
be a photographer, saying “I spend 3 hours after class each day taking photos”
doesn’t hold as much weight as “My photos have appeared in art exhibitions on
campus.” Even if it’s a small example in your broader career trajectory, it’s
worth mentioning.
6. Why you are qualified. This is where you can mention your achievements,
leadership work, skills, and strengths. If you’re an engineering student, maybe
you led a group on a really exciting project that won a tech competition or
maybe you taught yourself how to code last year.
7. Don’t forget to practice. When you finally have a pitch that you’ve nailed
down to one minute max, practice again. While you don’t want to sound robotic,
you should have your pitch down enough that you can pivot as needed and
connect with the person you’re speaking to. But don’t give them too much, you
want them to be interested in knowing even more about you once you’ve
finished.
You didn’t just perfectly pitch yourself for nothing, so don’t let the conversation end
here. At the end of your pitch, you can ask the person about internships at the company,
open job positions, or related programs. Instead of asking, “Does your company offer
internships?”, you may ask, “If your company offers internships, would you be able to
put me in contact with the person in charge of that program?” Or you could say, “Would
it be possible to put some time on the calendar to meet again to discuss available
opportunities for students?”

Communication and Leadership Development

Unit 4

Thinking

Thought (or thinking) encompasses an aim-oriented flow of ideas and associations that
can lead to a reality-oriented conclusion.

Positive thinking is an emotional and mental attitude that focuses on the good and
expects results that will benefit you. It’s about anticipating happiness, health and
success – essentially, training yourself to adopt an abundance mindset and cultivate
gratitude for your own successes and those of others.

How important is the power of positive thinking? It can make or break an individual.
Your thoughts affect your actions. Your actions, in turn, translate into whether or not
you succeed in your field, as well as influence the quality of your personal relationships
and how you view the world at large. The power of positive thinking can’t be
understated.

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what
to believe. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. It is
an objective process of examining and evaluating the facts and figures presented to
make judgements based on these and other inputs. It requires reasoning and being an
active learner rather than a passive recipient of information. Critical thinkers identify,
analyse and solve problems systematically rather than by intuition or instinct. It is a
crucial process that helps individuals develop a deeper understanding of an issue or
situation and make more informed decisions.

Someone with critical thinking skills is able to do the following:

• understand the logical connections between ideas

• identify, construct and evaluate arguments
 • detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning
• solve problems systematically
• identify the relevance and importance of ideas
• reflect on the justification of one's own beliefs and values

Critical thinking is not a matter of accumulating information. A person with a good

memory and who knows a lot of facts is not necessarily good at critical thinking. A
critical thinker is able to deduce consequences from what he knows, and he knows how
to make use of information to solve problems, and to seek relevant sources of
information to inform himself.

Critical thinking should not be confused with being argumentative or being critical of
other people. Although critical thinking skills can be used in exposing fallacies and bad
reasoning, critical thinking can also play an important role in cooperative reasoning and
constructive tasks. Critical thinking can help us acquire knowledge, improve our
theories, and strengthen arguments. We can use critical thinking to enhance work
processes and improve social institutions.

The importance of critical thinking:

Critical thinking is a domain-general thinking skill. The ability to think clearly and
rationally is important whatever we choose to do. If you work in education, research,
finance, management or the legal profession, then critical thinking is obviously
important. But critical thinking skills are not restricted to a particular subject area.
Being able to think well and solve problems systematically is an asset for any career.

Critical thinking is very important in the new knowledge economy. The global
knowledge economy is driven by information and technology. One has to be able to
deal with changes quickly and effectively. The new economy places increasing
demands on flexible intellectual skills, and the ability to analyse information and
integrate diverse sources of knowledge in solving problems. Good critical thinking
promotes such thinking skills, and is very important in the fast-changing workplace.

Critical thinking enhances language and presentation skills. Thinking clearly and
systematically can improve the way we express our ideas. In learning how to analyse
the logical structure of texts, critical thinking also improves comprehension abilities.

Critical thinking promotes creativity. To come up with a creative solution to a

problem involves not just having new ideas. It must also be the case that the new ideas
being generated are useful and relevant to the task at hand. Critical thinking plays a
crucial role in evaluating new ideas, selecting the best ones and modifying them if
necessary

Critical thinking is crucial for self-reflection. In order to live a meaningful life and
to structure our lives accordingly, we need to justify and reflect on our values and
decisions. Critical thinking provides the tools for this process of self-evaluation.

Good critical thinking is the foundation of science and democracy. Science requires
the critical use of reason in experimentation and theory confirmation. The proper
functioning of a liberal democracy requires citizens who can think critically about
social issues to inform their judgments about proper governance and to overcome biases
and prejudice.

Analytical Thinking

It breaks down complex issues or concepts into smaller, more digestible pieces. It is a
logical process to solve problems in various aspects of life, including science,
technology, society, business and management. Unlike critical thinking, analytical
thinking involves focusing on oneself to analyse an issue rather than looking outside of
oneself to assess a problem.

The core activities of analytical thinking include concentrating on facts and evidence,
analysing data or information, dissecting data, reasoning, breakdown, eliminating
extraneous data and analysing trends. With analytical thinking, individuals can
approach complex problems logically.

Boosting Analytical and Critical Thinking

• Help your child recognize logical fallacies

• Teach them to explore all sides of an issue
• Challenge your students’ ideas, then let them respond with better ideas
• Ask your students to define their own problems and create solutions for
themselves
• Give frequent feedback on assignments, papers and tests to reinforce the skills
you want them to develop in class and at home
• Be a continuous learner
• Make the right decision for the majority
• Listen and consider unconventional opinions
• Avoid analysis paralysis
• Analyse yourself

Discourse Competence

Discourse competence is generally a term referring to the ability to understand and

express oneself in a given language. Experts point out that there are different varieties
of discourse competence that measure different aspects of communication. An
examination of this subject shows how well an individual can communicate in a given
context. The word “discourse” is a general one that covers conversations and other
kinds of communication involving multiple parties.
One kind of competence in discourse is often called textual competence. This is
basically a measure of how well an individual can read different texts and understand
them. Different kinds of text include fiction and nonfiction, narratives, instructional
guides, and other types of written communications, like transcriptions of recorded
conversations or technical materials. The better readers can understand these texts, the
more textual discourse competence they have.
Another very common type of competence related to discourse is rhetorical or effective
discourse competence. This is often defined as how well an individual can contribute
to a conversation. This kind of discourse ability, or competence, also includes multiple
components. One is how well the individual can understand what is being said by a
range of speakers. Another is how well the individual can interject his or her own
opinions, and how well that person can express ideas to an audience within a general
scenario.
There are many different components to overall discourse competence. For example,
those who are examining this kind of skill or competence might study how individuals
process many different phrases or verbal ideas, such as those that announce narratives,
those that express specific emotions or feelings, or any of the wide range of idiomatic
or slang phrases that are frequently used in a particular language. When measuring
discourse competence in real-time, it can be helpful to note whether an individual
struggles with a specific kind of phrase or idiom.

Many experts contend that there’s also an element of timeliness in assessing discourse
skill or competence levels. Those at the top of the spectrum of ability are able to express
themselves quickly and effectively, which helps them to inject their own ideas into a
continuing discourse. Others might struggle with these tasks, and be placed lower on a
scale of conversational discourse competence. All of this helps linguists and other
experts to study how people build language skills over time, or to assess the progress
of a certain student or other individual.

Sociolinguistic competence refers to the mastery of the cultural rules of use and rules
of discourse that are at play in different languages. With respect to cultural rules of use,
the emphasis is on appropriateness of communicative acts and the naturalness of speech
within given socio-cultural contexts. Sociolinguistics takes language samples from sets
of random population subjects and looks at variables that include such things as
pronunciation, word choice, and colloquialisms. This data is then measured against
socio-economic indices such as education, income/wealth, occupation, ethnic heritage,
age, and family dynamics to better understand the relationship between language and
society.

Sociolinguistics is considered a branch of both linguistics and sociology. However, the

broader study of the field may also encompass anthropological
linguistics, dialectology, discourse analysis, ethnography of speaking, geolinguistics,
language contact studies, secular linguistics, the social psychology of language, and the
sociology of language. Sociolinguistic competence means knowing which words to
choose for a given audience and situation to get the desired effect. For instance, say you
wanted to get someone's attention.

In language proficiency competence and performance is the basic thing. Underlining

this communicative competence is important to perform well as per the target language.
Communicative competence is a combination of language knowledge and other aspects
of language use with skill essential for communication (Canale & Swain, 1980; Canale,
1983 cited in Altun, 2015:16). The aim of communicative language teaching is to
improve the communicative competence of students (Meenakshi, 2015). So, in
communicative competence there are four components which are grammatical
competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence and strategic
competence. Canale and Swain (1980) cited in Tarone (1983:122) have shown that
communicative competence incorporates at least three: grammatical competence,
sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence.
Although different scholars have explained strategic competence in different ways,
there is no big difference among their explanation. Some of their explanations are as
follow: “Strategic competence refers to the ability to get one’s meaning across
successfully to communicative partners, especially when problems arise in the
communication process. As Bachman (1990:102) puts it, the function of strategic
competence is to process the new information with relevant information available and
thus achieve the most efficient use of language abilities.

Empathy

Empathy is the ability to accurately put yourself "in someone else's shoes"– to
understand the other's situation, perceptions and feelings from their point of view – and
to be able to communicate that understanding back to the other person. It is a
critical skill for an individual to be as a leader.

It is the ability to recognize emotions in others, and to understand other people's

perspectives on a situation.

Leadership

Leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act toward achieving a common
goal. In a business setting, this can mean directing workers and colleagues with a
strategy to meet the company's needs.

A leader is someone who can see how things can be improved and who rallies people
to move toward that better vision. Leaders can work toward making their vision a reality
while putting people first. Just being able to motivate people isn’t enough — leaders
need to be empathetic and connect with people to be successful. Leaders don’t have to
come from the same background or follow the same path.

Leadership is the process of influencing others towards the accomplishment of goals. It

is the ability of a manager to induce subordinates to work with confidence and zeal. A
key to effective leadership is helping followers to achieve their respective essential
goals as well as their maximum potentialities. Dynamic leaders, therefore, should have
the ability to awaken in others, the desire to follow a common objective in a given
situation.

Leadership can be an important modifier of behaviour of people working in the

organization. Effective leadership is necessary for inspiring the people to work for the
accomplishment of given objectives. It provides a cohesive force, withholds the group
intact and develops a spirit of cooperation. Effective leadership is also essential for
efficient direction of human efforts towards the predetermined goals.

Features and characteristics of leadership are as follows:

1. Leadership is a personal quality. It is the ability to form a group of followers
voluntarily without the use of coercion.
2. It pre-supposes the existence of a group of followers.
3. It is the process of interpersonal influence by which leader influences the followers.
4. It involves the sharing of interest between the leader and his followers.
5. It is a continuous process of influencing behaviour.
6. It is situational. It is exercised in a particular situation at a given point of time and
under a specific set of circumstances.
7. It not only influences the group also influences the leader. In a way it is a reciprocal
relationship.

Functions of a leader:
1. Leader is a representative of subordinates
2. Leader is an appropriate counselor
3. Leader develops team spirit
4. Leader manages time
5. Leader strives for effectiveness

Leadership traits:
Intelligence
Maturity
Sound physique
Self confidence
Objectivity
Empathy
Foresightedness and vision
Decisiveness
Responsibility
Human relations approach
Communication skill
Conceptual skill
Social skill
Counselling skill
Planning skill
Technical skill

Leadership Styles:

1. Autocratic Style- The autocratic leader assumes full responsibility for deciding on
the group’s projects by assigning tasks to members and permitting no participation in
decision making process. He centralizes authority and decision making in him and
exercises complete and full fledged control over his subordinates. He sets group goals
and structures the work. He gives orders and the subordinates are expected to obey them.
The manager expresses decisions by the use of rewards and the fear of punishment.
Communication tends to be one way i.e. downwards.

The fundamental problem with this type of leadership style is that subordinates are
made aware of what to do but not why. Tasks are assigned, facilities provided and
directions given without consultation with the individual carrying out the work.
Subordinates are compelled to follow directives of the leader even though they may be
wrong. If the leader is weak and inefficient, the followers will also be weak and
inefficient.

2. Democratic Style- It is widely known as participative or employee oriented

leadership style. The essence of this style is the consultation. The leader consults the
subordinates before arriving at decisions. Participative leadership style takes into
consideration the wishes and suggestions of the subordinates as well as those of the
leader. All members of the group are seen as important contributors to the final decision.
The communication is a two way – upward as well as downward.

3. Free Rein or Laissez Faire Style- It goes a step further of democratic style and turns
the entire problem over the subordinates. Subordinates may be asked to set their own
goals and to develop plans for achieving them. Thus, in this type of leadership style, a
manager avoids power and relinquishes leadership position. The leader is a silent
spectator. In essence, this approach is characterized by the absence of any active
leadership by the leader. It is the total abdication of responsibility. The leader merely
functions as a group member, providing only as much advice and direction as is
requested. There is very little control or influence over group members of the leader.

Free rein leadership ignores the manager’s contribution approximately in the same way
as the autocratic leadership ignores that of the group members. It fails to give the group
the advantages of leader’s inspired motivation. The leader completely abdicates his
leadership position, gives all responsibility and most of the work entrusted to him to
the group which he is supposed to lead, limiting his authority to maintain the contact of
the group with persons outside the group. This mode of direction can produce good and
quick results if the subordinates are highly educated and brilliant people who have a
sincere desire to go ahead and perform their responsibility.

4. Paternalistic Style

It is a managerial approach that involves a dominant authority figure who acts as a

patriarch or matriarch and treats employees and partners as though they are members
of a large extended family. In exchange, the leader expects loyalty and trust from
employees as well as obedience.

Tact

It is an ability to deal with difficult or embarrassing situations carefully and without

doing or saying anything that will annoy or upset other people. E.g. setting the dispute
required great tact and diplomacy.

Intelligence is a person’s ability to gain knowledge and skills and the ability to use
them.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotions are the reactions that human beings experience in response to events or
situations. That are determined by circumstances that triggers the emotion.

In 1990, the first formulation of a concept called emotional intelligence was a new way
of thinking about the ingredients of life success. The concept has become widespread
ever since the publication of Daniel Goleman’s best seller Emotional Intelligence. It
was then that EI became a recognized term.
Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to recognize, understand and manage one’s
own emotions and effectively navigate relationships with others, fostering empathy and
collaboration.

e.g. How are you? I am fine.

Do we express all the emotions?

Types of emotions: Happiness, Sadness, Fear, Anger, Disgust, Surprise

Wheel of emotions- interest, rage, joy, ecstasy, admiration, trust, acceptance,

amazement, annoyance, optimism, grief, anger, acceptance

Annoyance-anger-rage

Every emotion solves the problem. The balance of emotions is very important. The self
awareness of our emotions are required. The mental intelligence and emotional
intelligence are required in a balanced manner.

Johari window and EI (self awareness)

The Johari window is a technique designed to help people better understand their
relationship with themseleves and others. It was created by psychologists Joseph Luft
and Harrington Ingham in 1955 and is used primarily in self help groups and corporate
settings as a heuristic exercise.

Open Self Blind Self

Information about yourself that you and information you don’t know but others know
others know about you

Hidden Self Unknown Self

Information you know about yourself
But others don’t
Information about yourself that neither
you or others know

Components of EI

[Link] awareness- The knowledge of one’s own thoughts, feelings and motivations

[Link] regulation- The ability to regulate emotions and actions in a variety of environments

[Link]- The capacity to empathize and appreciate another perspective

[Link] making- The ability to make responsible choices and accept their outcome

[Link] skills- Being able to create and maintain healthy relationships

6. Stay Positive

7. Listen to feedback

8. Understand your motivations

9. Networking

Communication and Personality Making

Unit 5

Social Media

Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of
information and ideas through virtual networks. These are interactive web 2.0 internet
based applications. User generated content such as text, posts or comments, digital
photos or videos and data generated through all online interactions is the lifeblood of
social media. Users create service specific profiles for the website or app that are
designed and maintained by the social media organisations. Social media helps the
development of online social networks by connecting a user’s profile with those of other
individuals or groups.

The term social in relation to media suggests that platforms are user centric and enable
communal activity. Social media enhances social connectivity. Social media outlets
differ from traditional media (magazines, newspapers, tv and radio) in many ways in
terms of quality, reach, frequency, usability, relevancy and permanence. The expansion
of internet and digital media bring a revolution and drastic change in the process of
exchanging of information among the persons.

Social media is used to document memories, learn and explore things, advertise oneself,
for friendships along with the growth of ideas from the creation of blogs, podcasts,
videos and gaming sites. This changing relationship between humans and technology
is the focus of the emerging field of technological self-studies. Some of the most
popular social media websites are twitter, facebook, wechat, telegram, viber, quora,
Microsoft teams etc.

Effective and Ethical use of Social Media

Email writing

Electronic mail, popularly known as email, came into existence in the late 20th century.
The factors that have made email writings as a means of communication:
• Fast, cheap and easy to operate- They are easy, prompt and fast to use. Once
you compose a mail, you can send it to as many people as required. The data,
 large files, spreadsheets, detailed proposals and anything else that you wish your
readers to read anywhere in the world. Because of its universal reach and
accessibility, it is preferred.
• Capture the spirit of the age- Advancements in science and technology have
added frantic pace to our lives. Today, all of us are so busy in our professional
and personal lives that we tend to feel irritated and impatient with anything that
consumes even a little more of our time than required. We hate waiting in long
queues for our turn to come. In this fast paced life, anything that saves time for
us is certainly most welcome and becomes desirable.
• Emails offer flexibility in tone and style- Since emails are used not just
professionally but also personally, a sense of informality starts creeping into our
style the moment we set ourselves into composing an email. A small amount of
informality may add warmth and vigour to your writing, but an exaggerated
sense of informality can actually get you across to your reader as an immature.
However, you need to carefully observe the email etiquettes both in terms of
content and style.
• Emails are legal and valid- Emails are now regarded as a valid and tenable
proof to someone’s claims legally. It is a written message sent over to the reader
electronically. The change of medium thus does not take away the essential
presence of the receiver and the sender in the process of communication.
Moreover, since the delivery of an email message is immediately confirmed, the
recipients can never pose as though they never received the mail in the first
place.

Limitations of Email Writing

• Privacy is lost- Since emails are sent through an internet facility, a system
administrator can always reach your mails. If required, a company’s system
operator can intercept our mails, disclose our mail to others and can read
whatever we regard as secret and personal. A more serious fallout of this
vulnerability of the system can present itself in a misfortune, as some hacker
may get into our computer system and can send some undesirable mails from
our account.
• Casualness creeps in- Owing to an implied sense of informality that we tend
to experience while communicating through an online means, a sort of
casualness creeps in our attitude as soon as we plan to send an email message
to someone. Though this casualness may at times be purposeful and intended,
not every message we compose online can afford to sound casual or informal
in tone.
• Ambiguity impairs communication- With the enormous popularity of the
electronic medium of expression, the number of people writing and reading
emails in their day-to-day professional interactions has grown manifold in the
recent past. However, since there are no universally or traditionally accepted
conventions in email writings, people tend to write the way they want.
Therefore, most of us end up writing casually, informally, colloquially and
hence ineffectively when faced with the task of composing a mail. This habit
of casualness is further bolstered as sending messages through mobile has also
become a way of life.
 • Virtue is sacrificed to convenience- Language is an expression of a culture
in communication. Since the online culture promotes a racy, pushy and jerky
way of self-expression, we come across emails that seem to move without a
compass. Since many of the email writers are quite used to short, quick and
abbreviated versions, they find it difficult to write in an elaborate sentence
structure and we come across messages which hardly seem to make sense to
us. Moreover, since a proper convention has not yet emerged in email writings,
people write in acronyms, abbreviate their subject lines beyond a point of
comprehension; forget to add courteous salutations in the beginning; or add a
complementary close at the end and make the entire piece of communication
seem like a jigsaw puzzle.
• Junkyard is always full- An undesirable offshoot of email communication,
that is, receiving solicited and unrelated emails, is a very common nuisance
that people encounter. Since sending an email does not take time, circulating
a copy also becomes an easy option. Since everything is just a click away,
many writers unmindfully send a copy of their messages even to those people
who are not concerned with the information in any way.

Guidelines for the composition of emails

• Avoid being abrupt
• Use subject lines effectively
• Start courteously
• Add a warm up sentence
• Avoid all capital letters
• Use proper spellings
• Avoid acronyms
• Take care of punctuation marks
• Use salutations and complimentary close
• Identify yourself

Etiquettes
• Reply immediately
• Avoid circulating emails to everyone
• Avoid attaching unnecessary attachments
• Answer all queries
• Avoid immoral or offensive language
• Be aware of email jargon
• Keep your mailbox uncluttered
• Read and edit your mails

Webinars

A seminar conducted over the internet is known as webinar.

Podcasts
A podcast is an audio file similar to a radio broadcast, that can be listened to on a
website or app on your phone, computer, etc.

Blogs

Blogs are a type of regularly updated websites that provide insight into a certain topic.
The word blog is a combined version of the words “web” and “log.” At their inception,
blogs were simply an online diary where people could keep a log about their daily lives
on the web. They have since morphed into an essential forum for individuals and
businesses alike to share information and updates.

As the publishing world has evolved, and more of it has moved online, blogs have
come to occupy a central position in this digital content world. Blogs are a source of
knowledge, opinion and concrete advice. While not yet posed to replace journalism as
an art form, people increasingly look to trusted blogs to find answers to their
questions, or to learn how to do something.

Blogs are always evolving both in terms of how they're created and what they are
used for. They can be a vehicle for creativity and for marketing. They're also
increasingly created and read on mobile apps, as mobile blogging also comes into its
own.

Personality

The term personality derived from latin term persona which means mask. According to
Fred Luthans, ‘Personality means how a person affects others and how he understands
and views himself as well as the pattern of inner and outer measurable traits, the person
situation interactions.

Factors affecting the personality:

-Denotes psychological characteristics
-Influence behaviour towards goal achievement
1. Heredity- Physical structure, facial attractiveness, gender, temperament, muscle
composition, reflexes etc.
2. Brain
3. Physical Traits- External appearance, good appearance
4. Emotional temperament- Degree to which one responds emotionally
5. Interest- Organization should provide opportunities like job rotation, special training
program to satisfy the interest
6. Motives- Inner drives of an individual
7. Social factors
8. Situational factors
9. Family factors
• Socio-economic level of family
• Family size
• Birth order
 • Race
• Religion
• Parent’s educational level
• Geographic location

Types of personality

Maslow

Abraham Maslow came up with hierarchy of needs he believed that these five needs
engage in major role of motivating personality, behavior, security, socialization,
physiological and esteem needs are deficiency necessities that arise to deprivation.
Satisfying the lower- level desires of the pyramid are important in order to avoid
unpleasant consequences and emotions. Maslow created the highest- level of the pyramid
as growth needs, that the individual does not lack something, but rather from a desire to
develop as a person. Maslow identified some key characteristics of self- actualization
individuals, acceptance and realism, individuals that have realistic perceptions of
themselves, and the world around them, self- actualized individuals are deeply concerned
with solving problem not concerning themselves, but others and finding solutions to
problems in the world, mostly these individuals are motivated by sense of personal ethics
and responsibility.

The behaviour of an individual is identified by his need. If one need is satisfied efforts
are made to satisfy the higher need. According to him, there is a hierarchy of needs
being arranged.

1. Physiological need- Man’s needs are arranged in a hierarchal manner. At the

lowest level his physiological needs which include food, shelter, clothing,
medical aid etc. are there.
2. Safety needs- This need relates to both physical and emotional safety. Every
individual needs to protect his life to concentrate on his work. He requires to be
safe against all dangerous activities at the workplace including machine and
environment.
 3. Social needs- It includes the need of belonging, association for acceptance by
his followers, friendship, love and affection.
4. Esteem needs- The ego needs are of two types
(i) Need for self confidence, achievement, knowledge, power and
control
(ii) Need which is related to status, recognition, appreciation
5. Self actualization need- These are the need of realizing one’s own potential for
self development. It includes competence which implies control over
environmental factors both social and physical.

Maslow’s hierarchy of need theory has been critical due to the following points;
1. Order of need is arbitrary and not scientific
2. The whole concept is psychological in nature
3. Maslow has given highest point to self actualization need. Though every person
has to satisfy his need in some order, it is not necessary that the end will follow
4. There is a lack of direct cause and effect relationship between need and behaviour
5. The level of satisfaction will vary from individual to individual

Sigmund Freud

Freud's theory of personality involves mapping the id, the ego, and the superego. The
id is the unconscious, unreflecting part of the mind that desires. The ego involves
conscious thought and dealing with reality. The superego deals with conscience and
morality.

Psycho-analytical theory of Personality:

It is based on the notion that person is motivated more by unseen forces than by
conscious and rational thoughts. Major force which motivates a human being is his
unconscious framework. It includes:

Id (Pleasure principle)- Foundation of the unconscious behaviour. It is a source of

psychic energy that seeks immediate satisfaction of biological or instinctual needs. Id
has animalistic instincts of aggression, power and domination. It demands immediate
pleasure. As an individual matures, he learns to control id.

Ego(Reality principle)- Ego is conscious and logical part. It is concerned about the
realities of external event. The ego of a person keeps the id in check whenever it
demands immediate pleasure, with its logic and intellect.

Super ego (Ideal principle)- Higher level force to restrain the id and is described as
the conscious of a person. It represents the norms of an individual, his family, society
and is an ethical constraint on the behaviour.
Freud's Theory of Psychosexual Development

Sigmund Freud's Theory of Psychosexual Development suggests that human

personality develops through a series of stages, each of which is centered around the
satisfaction of certain physical or psychic needs. There are five stages in this theory -
oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital.

In the oral stage, the focus is on sucking and biting, which eventually develops into the
child's dependency on caretakers and the incorporation of different foods and objects.

In the anal stage, the focus shifts to toilet training and associated control issues, which
contributes to the development of the superego and personality traits such as
orderliness, cleanliness and stinginess.

The phallic stage is the most critical stage in terms of personality development and
centers around the child's sexual desire, especially towards his or her parent of the
opposite gender. Oedipus complex is a crucial component of the phallic stage, where
boys have a sexual longing for their mothers and hostility towards their fathers, which
contributes to the emergence of superego through resolution.

In the latent phase, sexual desires are repressed, and energies are focused on
developing skills. Finally, in the genital phase, the individual's core interest returns to
sexual satisfaction outside the family context.

The conflicts arising during the stages can cause various disorders and sexual
malfunctions influencing the development of personality. The theory can help to
identify the origins of psychological problems and guide us towards the proper
treatment of psychosexual disorders.
Swami Vivekananda

Faith, dutifulness, compassion, good thoughts, character, non-attachment, helping

nature, fearlessness, love, wisdom, spirituality, responsibility, truth, strength within, the
company of the good etc. are some traits which are recommended by Vivekananda
for personality development.

The five dimensions of personality development by Swami Vivekananda. The

dimensions are: 1. Physical self 2. Energy self 3. Intellectual self 4. Mental self 5.
Blissful self .

Physical Self:
As the name implies, it is the proper nourishment and growth of the physical body. A
healthy mind in a healthy body is the principle of the physical self. Body building and
proper exercise boosts not only one’s physical strength but also the moral strength.
Swami Vivekananda’s statement, ‘It would be better to play football than to read
the Gita’ indicates how strongly he felt about one’s physical self.

Energy Self:
Along with the physical self, the energy self is the one without which nothing can
sustain for long. The simple act of breathing manifests this type of energy. Well
regulated systematic breathing brings solace to the mind, and boosts energy. Feelings
of intolerance, impatience, anger and anxiety can be effectively controlled by the
energy self.

Intellectual Self:
Man has been endowed with the gift of intellect. This gift should be properly cultivated
and nurtured. Reading good books and literature that stands the test of time invigorates
the mind. The intellectual self is stimulated by the reading of books on philosophy,
moral science and biographies.

As Swami Vivekananda says, ‘Fill the mind with high thoughts, highest ideals, place
them day and night before you, and out of that will come great work.’

Mental Self:
A strong mental self is required for the grooming up of the personality. The mind by
nature is restless. It wanders here and there and makes us deviate from our objective.
Full control over the mind is a must for everybody. For this, calmness of mind and
concentration are necessary, and should be cultivated.

Blissful Self:
The blissful self, often called Anandamoy Kosh, is the ultimate goal of mankind. To be
a man of personality one has to reach this stage where only bliss or ananda prevails. He
who has reached this stage can face the world with a smile. Neither joys nor sorrow of
any kind stand in his way.

Personality Development & Vivekananda

Our personal development is more important that all other types of development
economic educational rural etc. because all these other kinds of development are
undertaken only for the benefit of man. Most of the people don't consciously develop
their personality as they are not aware of it. Our appearance, speech and actions become
apparent to us only through others as we don't see ourselves or our behaviour. Hence
study and development of personality is to be done with three things in mind 1)
Individual reflection 2) Social interaction and 3) Work. An individual with self
reflection interacting with others especially through work is in a position to analyse &
develop his / her personality. One must define a person first before talking of his / her
personality. A person has a body, a mind & has a level of energy: this is called body-
mind complex. All the three factors are changing and affect each other. However there
is a constant factor in everyone of us which runs as a thread running through a garland
of experiences. Some call it Soul or Atman the constant, the Real man behind the
changing person. The most obvious amongst personality is the Body of a person. It goes
without saying that the body structure is the most important factor in the first impression
of a person. Naturally a healthy, strong, proportioned body is an asset to a person.
Various books are available which deal with how to develop it. We suggest yogasanas
for body development. Wholesome food plenty of fresh water, regular exercise, timely
habits of daily choice of likes getting up, sleep, eating etc. help develop a healthy, strong
and well structured body. A body is covered with clothes for protection. With modern
technology clothes have become attractive and variety is available. Also changing
morality, & sensuality has brought in another dimension in common man’s dress. But
one must keep in mind that the weather conditions, social demands, occasions require
appropriate clothing & sober decent dress is what is appreciated, in the longer run.
Further the external appearance is judged by the actions and speech of a person. A
friendly and welcome personality has likeable postures, gesture, facial features, smile
to its credit. The whole external appearance interims of its social implication through
work & other interaction is judged by various bodily actions and reactions. Postures &
gestures can be perfected as an actor does with practice in front of a mirror and also
observing their impact on others. Co-ordinated movement of different limbs especially
hands, feet, head, and eyes (parts that move) can create pleasing appearance. Behaviour
& manners is a little deeper proposition. It is mainly dependent on the character of a
person and social customs put together. Behaviour & manners can't be same under
different time and place. Different cultures demand different manners. Story of Sir
Keshab chandra Sen is told that when dining in a banquet given by Queen Victoria in
his honor he mistook warm water with cut lemon brought at the end of a ten course
dinner as sharbat to be drunk, there by causing all including the Queen at the table to
drink it after the example of the Chief-guest. The Namaste done in India in greeting
others thus recognising the respectful divine in others is not one same as the handshake
offered being reminiscent of the friendliness of the wild cowboys, showing only lack
of enmity. Art of conversation is as old as civilisation. Languages developed for social
interaction. A command on many languages besides one’s mother tongue along with a
modulated voice carries a lot of weight. A person with narrow interests, with little
interest in others, showing great interest in talking about itself is a bore. Many people
are cynical, talk in monosyllable are either too loud or hearty thus causing bad
impression. In India people talk too much and monopolies conversation which is
considered bad manners. In gestures, postures, behaviour, manners and conversation
imitation should be avoided. Nowadays with high pressure advertisement young people
tend to copy actors, actresses & TV personalities. However whatever is original is
respectable. Imitation is entertaining but originality is enlivening. So act freely as every
individual is unique. In the body mind complex the mental makeup or character carries
greatest importance. Thinking, feeling, willing, imagination are some of the aspects of
mind. Thought is the only force in the world as Swamiji says, Through thought I judge
myself interact with the world. Hence mass thinking should be avoided. A habit of deep
original thinking based on well collected data and capacity to analyse with
concentration will go a long way in developing personality.

A person has to balance between his intellect and emotions as intellect is lame and
emotions are blind. Intellect is trained by reasoning and emotions by prayers, will power
is developed through taking challenges and the whole mind through continence. Life
becomes meaningful when it fulfills certain felt needs. Depression, aggression &
addiction is due to meaninglessness in life. The void can't by money power or position
which is clear from examples of the Western Culture. The hippies were children of
some of the richest people in the world. Drugs are taken by the affluent & powerful. So
life should be made meaningful where you will have 1) Deep sense of satisfaction and
contentment. 2) Whole hearted action 3) Creative dreaming 4) Love and care 5)
Appreciation of beauty 6) Wonder about the mystery of life 7) Innocent fun 8) Life
lived here & now. It is said that " One who is content in mind is the richest person.
However forced poverty can't be eulogised. Blind ambition is to be avoided. Fuelled by
passion it leaves you high & dry. All the work that you do should neither be an enforced
burden nor greed made visible but love made visible. For making work interesting one
must be aware of the value of it to oneself & society. He can, who thinks he can.
Nothing is impossible. Greater responsibilities must be taken in order to have greater
scope to use your increased ability. One has to create opportunities & not wait for them.
Within a short time remarkable results should be achieved. So efficiency is something
between feverish over work & lazy sluggishness. Effective use of time should be made.
Irresponsibility should be overcome and fear of failure should be removed. Dignity of
work is very important. Any work done to perfection is to be respected. Creative
dreaming was recently talked about by Leander Paes our only Olympic medal winner.
Combined with resolve, grit, perservence it can give you success & satisfaction. Sense
of imagination has to be inbuilt with an eye for beauty to create interest in work. The
whole attitude of mind however depends on how you look at life around you. With little
thinking and education one can appreciate creation around us and the hidden creator of
it all. Energy pulsates around us, all we have to do is open ourselves to it and recognise
it. Nature works through creation, preservation & destruction, through five elements
and three gunas.

People want affection in friendship. People want to be nice, truthful. Even a thief doesn't
want to be cheated by others. People are moved by emotions & not reason. Everyone is
careful of his reputation. People do not understand in general that their words and
behaviour affect others. Hence while living & interacting with people following points
are to be remembered and followed. Hence one must develop at least one good friend
who can be trusted to appreciate our good qualities understand bad and suggesting good
to replace the bad ones. Friends are of two kinds, living beings and those who live
without forms. Swami Vivekananda is such a voice without form and is a person always
ready to help those who are ready. Born and brought up in Hindu as well as western
samskaras he searches for deeper meaning in life and through his sincerity & intensity
came in tough with Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa. He epitomises the inner realisation
of the self, the changeless eternal within everyone and stand as a perfected personality
in all respects living a meaningful life full of intensity & creativity. He stands as a fully
developed person with attractive appearance, dynamic behaviour, artistic
conversational style, as a creative worker, accepted by millions as their leader, friend,
philosopher & guide. He took every opportunity to improve things around through
positive attitude, was ready to help others at his own cost, avoided injustice & partiality
with a composed mind, well integrated personality, thoughtful, concentrated, intense
and fulfilled.

Carl Jung Typology and Personality Assessment

Jung’s Model of The Psyche

Like Freud (and Erikson) Jung regarded the psyche as made up of a number of separate
but interacting systems. The three main ones were the ego, the personal unconscious,
and the collective unconscious. According to Jung, the ego represents the conscious
mind as it comprises the thoughts, memories, and emotions a person is aware of. The
ego is largely responsible for feelings of identity and continuity.

Like Freud, Jung (1921, 1933) emphasized the importance of the unconscious in
relation to personality. However, he proposed that the unconscious consists of two
layers. The first layer called the personal unconscious which is essentially the same as
Freud’s version of the unconscious. The personal unconscious contains temporality
forgotten information as well as repressed memories. Jung (1933) outlined an important
feature of the personal unconscious called complexes. A complex is a collection of
thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and memories that focus on a single concept. The more
elements attached to the complex, the greater its influence on the individual. He also
believed that the personal unconscious was much nearer the surface than Freud
suggested and Jungian therapy is less concerned with repressed childhood experiences.
It is the present and the future, which in his view was the key to both the analysis of
neurosis and its treatment.

Conscious

Conscious images are those that are sensed by the ego, whereas unconscious elements
have no relation with the ego.

Ego is the centre of consciousness, but not the core of personality.

Self, the centre of personality that is largely unconscious.

In a psychologically healthy person, the ego takes a secondary position to the

unconscious self.

Healthy individuals are in contact with their conscious world, but they also allow
themselves to experience their unconscious self and thus to achieve individuation.

Personal Unconscious

The personal unconscious, a concept developed by Carl Jung, refers to all the
information and experiences of an individual’s lifetime that have been forgotten or
repressed but continue to influence their behavior and attitudes on an unconscious level.
This aspect of the unconscious mind contains memories, perceptions and thoughts that
may not be consciously accessible but can potentially become conscious. It also
includes complex combinations of such contents, which Jung referred to as
“complexes”. These are emotionally charged associations or ideas that have a powerful
influence over an individual’s behavior and attitudes. For instance, a person might have
a fear of dogs due to a forgotten childhood incident. This fear, while not consciously
remembered, is stored in the personal unconscious and could cause an irrational
response whenever the person encounters dogs.

In Jung’s model of the psyche, the personal unconscious exists alongside the conscious
mind and the collective unconscious, the latter of which contains universal archetypes
shared among all humans. These three components interact with each other and
contribute to an individual’s overall personality and behavior. It’s important to note that
the contents of the personal unconscious are not always negative. They can also be
positive or neutral aspects of experience that have simply fallen out of conscious
awareness.

Collective Unconscious

The collective unconscious, a concept by Carl Jung, refers to shared, inherited

unconscious knowledge and experiences across generations, expressed through
universal symbols and archetypes common to all human cultures. The collective
unconscious consists of pre-existent forms, or archetypes, which can surface in
consciousness in the form of dreams, visions, or feelings and are expressed in our
culture, art, religion, and symbolic experiences.

These archetypes are universal symbols and themes that are shared across all human
cultures and epochs. Some examples of these archetypes include the Mother, the Hero,
the Child, the Wise old man, the Trickster, and so on. Each archetype represents
common aspects of human experience.

The collective unconscious is a universal version of the personal unconscious, holding

mental patterns, or memory traces, which are shared with other members of the human
species (Jung, 1928). These ancestral memories, which Jung called archetypes, are
represented by universal themes in various cultures, as expressed through literature, art
and dreams.

Archetypes

Jungian archetypes are defined as images and themes that derive from the collective
unconscious, as proposed by Carl Jung.

Archetypes have universal meanings across cultures and may show up in dreams,
literature, art, or religion. Dreams are the main source of archetypal material.
Hallucinations of psychotic patients also offered evidence for universal archetypes.

Jung (1947) believes symbols from different cultures are often very similar because
they have emerged from archetypes shared by the whole human race which are part of
our collective unconscious.
For Jung, our primitive past becomes the basis of the human psyche, directing and
influencing present behavior. Jung claimed to identify a large number of archetypes
but paid special attention to four.

Jung labeled these archetypes the Self, the Persona, the Shadow and the
Anima/Animus.

Persona

The persona (or mask) is the outward face we present to the world. It conceals our
real self and Jung describes it as the “conformity” archetype.

This is the public face or role a person presents to others as someone different from
who we really are (like an actor).

The Persona, as explained by Carl Jung, is the aspect of our personality that we present
to the world as a means of social adaptation and personal convenience.

The term originates from the Greek word for the masks that ancient actors used,
symbolizing the roles we play in public. You could think of the Persona as the ‘public
relations representative’ of our ego, or the packaging that presents our ego to the outside
world.

A well-adapted Persona can greatly contribute to our social success, as it mirrors our
true personality traits and adapts to different social contexts.

However, problems can arise when a person overly identifies with their Persona, unable
to differentiate between their professional role and their authentic self.

An example would be a teacher who continuously treats everyone as if they were their
students, or someone who is overly authoritative outside their work environment.

While this can be frustrating for others, it’s more problematic for the individual as it
can lead to an incomplete realization of their full personality.

The Persona is shaped during childhood, driven by the need to conform to the
expectations of parents, teachers, and peers.

This usually results in the Persona encompassing the more socially acceptable traits,
while the less desirable ones become part of the Shadow, another essential part of
Jung’s personality theory.
Anima/Animus

Another archetype is the anima/animus. The “anima/animus” is the mirror image of our
biological sex, that is, the unconscious feminine side in males and the masculine
tendencies in women.

Each sex manifests the attitudes and behavior of the other by virtue of centuries of
living together.

For men, there exists an Anima (a feminine inner personality), and for women, an
Animus (a masculine inner personality). These archetypes are derived both from
collective ideas of femininity and masculinity and from individual experiences with the
opposite sex, beginning with the person’s parents.

The Anima and Animus exist in the unconscious as counterbalances to a person’s

conscious sexual identity, serving to complement their experience and understanding
of their own gender.

Like the Shadow, the Anima and Animus are often first encountered through projection.
For example, the phenomenon of “love at first sight” can be explained as a man
projecting his Anima onto a woman (or vice versa), which leads to an immediate and
intense attraction.

Jung acknowledged that so-called “masculine” traits (like autonomy, separateness, and
aggression) and “feminine” traits (like nurturance, relatedness, and empathy) were not
confined to one gender or superior to the other.

Instead, he saw them as parts of a holistic psychological spectrum present in every

individual, opposing Freud’s predominantly masculine-centric theory.

The Anima and Animus represent our ‘otherness’, connecting the ego to the broader
psyche, thus forming bridges to the unconscious.

Engaging with these complexes can enrich an individual’s understanding of their

gender and self.

Shadow

The Shadow archetype, as defined by Carl Jung, encapsulates the parts of ourselves that
we may reject, disown, or simply don’t recognize.

Rooted in both our personal and collective unconscious, the Shadow contains traits that
we consciously oppose, often contrasting those presented in our Persona – the outward
‘mask’ we show to the world.
This is the animal side of our personality (like the id in Freud).
It is the source of both our creative and destructive energies. In line with evolutionary
theory, it may be that Jung’s archetypes reflect predispositions that once had survival
value.

The Shadow isn’t merely negative; it provides depth and balance to our personality,
reflecting the principle that every aspect of one’s personality has a compensatory
counterpart.

This is symbolized in the idea: “where there is light, there must also be shadow”.
Overemphasis on the Persona, while neglecting the Shadow, can result in a superficial
personality, preoccupied with others’ perceptions.

Shadow elements often manifest when we project disliked traits onto others, serving as
mirrors to our disowned aspects. Engaging with our Shadow can be challenging, but
it’s crucial for a balanced personality.

This process, which can involve recognizing and integrating these ‘dark’ elements into
our conscious self, aids in fostering a well-rounded personality.

This interplay of the Persona and the Shadow is often explored in literature, such as in
“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, where characters grapple
with their dual natures, further illustrating the compelling nature of this aspect of Jung’s
theory.

Self

Finally, there is the self which provides a sense of unity in experience. For Jung, the
ultimate aim of every individual is to achieve a state of selfhood (similar to self-
actualization), and in this respect, Jung (like Erikson) is moving in the direction of a
more humanist orientation.

That was certainly Jung’s belief and in his book “The Undiscovered Self” he argued
that many of the problems of modern life are caused by “man’s progressive alienation
from his instinctual foundation.” One aspect of this is his views on the significance of
the anima and the animus.

Jung argues that these archetypes are products of the collective experience of men and
women living together.

However, in modern Western civilization men are discouraged from living their
feminine side and women from expressing masculine tendencies. For Jung, the result
was that the full psychological development both sexes was undermined.

Together with the prevailing patriarchal culture of Western civilization, this has led to
the devaluation of feminine qualities altogether, and the predominance of the persona
(the mask) has elevated insincerity to a way of life which goes unquestioned by millions
in their everyday life.

Great Mother
This preexisting concept of mother is always associated with both positive and negative
feelings.

The great mother. Therefore, represents two opposing forces- fertility and nourishment
on the one hand and power and destruction on the other.

The fertility and nourishment dimension of the great mother archetype is symbolized
by a tree, garden, plowed field, sea, heaven, home, country, church and hollow objects
such as oven and cooking utensils.

Power and destruction, she is sometimes symbolized as a godmother, the mother of

God, Mother Nature, Mother Earth, a stepmother or a witch.

Legends, myths, religious beliefs, art and literary stories are filled with other symbols
of the great mother, a person who is both nurturing and destructive.

Fertility and power combine to form the concept of rebirth, which may be a separate
archetype but its relation to the great mother is obvious.

Rebirth is represented by such processes as reincarnation, baptism, resurrection and

individuation or self realization.

People throughout the world are moved by a desire to be reborn: that is, to reach self
realization, nirvana, heaven or perfection.

Wise Old Man

Archetype of wisdom and meaning, symbolizes humans’ preexisting knowledge of the

mysteries of life.

Political, religious and social prophets who appeal to reason as well as emotion are
guided by this unconscious archetype.

Personified in dreams as father, grandfather, teacher, philosopher, guru, doctor or priest.

He appears in fairy tales as the king, the sage, or the magician who comes to the aid of
the troubled protagonist and through superior wisdom, he helps the protagonist escape
from myriad misadventures.

Hero

Represented in mythology and legends as a powerful person, sometimes part god, who
fights against great odds to conquer or vanquish evil in the form of dragons, monsters,
serpents or demons.

Heroic deeds can be performed only by someone who is vulnerable. An immortal

person with no weakness cannot be a hero.

When the hero conquers the villain, he or she frees us from feelings of impotence and
misery; at the same time, serving as our model for the ideal personality.
Psychological Types

Carl Jung’s psychological types theory suggests that people experience the world using
four principal psychological functions – sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking – and
that one of these four functions is dominant for a person most of the time.

Each of these cognitive functions can be expressed primarily in an introverted or

extroverted form. Let’s delve deeper:

1. Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F): This dichotomy is about how people make
decisions. ‘

Thinking’ individuals make decisions based on logic and objective

considerations, while ‘Feeling’ individuals make decisions based on
subjective and personal values.

2. Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N): This dichotomy concerns how people perceive
or gather information. ‘Sensing’ individuals focus on present realities,
tangible facts, and details.

They are practical and literal thinkers. ‘Intuitive’ individuals focus on

possibilities, interconnections, and future potential. They are often abstract
and theoretical thinkers.

3. Extroversion (E) vs. Introversion (I): This pair concerns where people
derive their energy from.

Extroverts are oriented towards the outer world; they tend to be more
outgoing and sociable, deriving energy from interaction with others and the
external environment.

Introverts are oriented towards the inner world; they tend to be quiet and
reserved, deriving energy from reflection, inner feelings, ideas, and
experiences.

In the context of these pairs, everyone has a ‘dominant’ function that tends to
predominate in their personality and behavior, along with an ‘auxiliary’ function that
serves to support and balance the dominant.

The other two functions are less prominent and constitute the ‘tertiary’ and ‘inferior’ or
‘fourth’ functions.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality inventory based on these

ideas of Jung.
The MBTI uses a questionnaire to measure psychological preferences in how people
perceive the world and make decisions, assigning a type composed of four letters, like
‘INFJ‘ or ‘ESTP‘, based on their answers.

Each letter corresponds to one preference in each of the dichotomous pairs.

It’s important to note that, while these categories help us understand different
personality types, human behavior is complex and can’t be wholly captured by these
categorizations.

People often exhibit different traits in different situations, and this fluidity is not fully
accounted for in such models.

Individuation

Jung proposed that the goal of a person’s psychological development is individuation

– a process of becoming aware of oneself, integrating different aspects of personality,
and realizing our inherent potential.

It involves integrating the conscious and unconscious parts of our mind and reconciling
our many inner contradictions.

Individuation is a central concept in Carl Jung’s analytical psychology and it represents

the lifelong process of self-realization and self-understanding. It’s about becoming the
person that you are innately meant to be, realizing and fulfilling your unique potential.

In the process of individuation, the individual strives to integrate various aspects of

their psyche. This includes reconciling and integrating opposites within the self, such
as the conscious and unconscious mind, as well as different aspects of the personality,
such as the persona (the mask or role we present to the world) and the shadow (the
unconscious, less desirable aspects of ourselves).

The concept also involves acknowledging and integrating the anima (the unconscious
feminine aspect in men) and the animus (the unconscious masculine aspect in women),
and incorporating the wisdom of the self archetype (the unifying center of the psyche).
Through this process, a person seeks to achieve a state of wholeness and harmony.

In practical terms, the process of individuation might involve self-reflection, dream

analysis, exploration of personal symbols and themes, and conscious engagement with
the unconscious parts of the self. It is often a transformative journey that can involve
significant psychological changes and growth.

However, individuation is not about achieving some form of perfection. Instead, it is

about recognizing, acknowledging, and integrating different aspects of the self.
This includes embracing the paradoxes and complexities of human nature and
developing an understanding and acceptance of oneself, warts and all.

It’s important to note that, according to Jung, individuation is a natural process and an
inherent goal of human life.

However, it also requires conscious effort and active engagement with the unconscious
to fully realize this potential.

Theory of Libido

Carl Gustav Jung (1948) developed a nuanced understanding of the concept of libido,
differing from his mentor Sigmund Freud.

While Freud largely defined libido as sexual energy and considered it a primary
motivator of human behavior, Jung diverged from this interpretation, broadening the
definition of libido.

Jung saw the libido not merely as sexual energy, but as a generalized life force or
psychic energy. According to his theory, this energy is not only the driver behind our
sexual desires but also fuels our spiritual, intellectual, and creative pursuits.

It encapsulates the totality of the energy of life, incorporating all our drives and
motivations.

In Jungian psychology, the libido is an important component of individuation, which is

the process of integrating the conscious with the unconscious, while still maintaining
one’s individuality.

This process is key to the overall psychological development and mental health of an
individual, and the libido, as the motivating psychic energy, plays a central role in it.

When it comes to conflict and pleasure-seeking, Jung’s theory views these as parts of
psychic self-regulation. The psyche uses the libido to balance out conflicts within the
individual, striving towards a state of equilibrium.

This energy is directed towards areas of conflict to facilitate growth, development, and
adaptation, reducing internal tension and dissatisfaction.

Furthermore, this psychic energy or libido also drives us towards seeking pleasure and
fulfillment, which are integral to our self-realization and growth.

This can be seen in our desires for creativity, intellectual stimulation, and spiritual
experiences, among others.

The libido in Jung’s theory, therefore, encompasses a more holistic understanding of

human motivational dynamics.
Development of Personality

Stages of development

Childhood, youth, middle life, and old age

The early morning sun is childhood, full of potential but still lacking in brilliance

The morning sun is youth, climbing toward the zenith but unaware of the impending
decline

The early afternoon sun is middle life, brilliant like the late morning sun but obviously
headed for the sunset

The evening sun is old age, its once bright consciousness now markedly dimmed.

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