Module 4:

Effective communication

Introduction:

Building and maintaining relationships with others is a sign of

positive thinking and a key to happiness. It is our speech that
strengthens these relationships. We can often convey a great deal
through our body language without even speaking a word.
Effectively communicating our point of view to others is an art
and a skill we can learn. Listening to others is crucial to
understanding them. Adolescents should be encouraged to listen
to others. Instructors should also listen carefully to encourage
adolescent participation. This module focuses on enhancing one’s
communication skills.

What will we learn?

● How to make communication effective
● How to prevent peer pressure

Session Session name

4.1 Engaging In Effective Communication
4.2 Strengthening Relationships Through Communication
4.3 Resisting Peer Pressure
 Session 4.1
Engaging in effective communication

What will we learn?

What is important to understand about effective communication?
 Qualities of the listener and the speaker
 Importance of the message and the way it's conveyed.
 Importance of communication methods

Activity: Method: Time:

1. Speak Into the Ears Game

2. Learn To Listen Group discussion 60 minutes

MATERIAL
Display Material

4.1 (a1)- speaking in the ears

 Board/Flip Chart 4.1(a2)- basics for effective speaking

 Marker Pen
4.1 (b)- Instructions for successful and
unsuccessful speaking

4.1 (c1)- qualities of the speaker

4.1 (c2)- qualities of the listener

ACTIVITY-1
Speaking in the Ears
Process:

1. Ask all participants to sit in a circle.

2. Now tell the participants rules of the game using display material
4.1(a1)- speaking in the ears.

Display material 4.1(a)

Rules of the game
 Do not change places during the game.
 Maintain silence and do not speak the given message
loudly.
 The message will be conveyed only once.

3. Whisper the message into the ear of the participant sitting next to
you in the circle. When choosing a message, make sure it includes
a name, specific detail (e.g.,” Nadeem celebrated his third
recovery birthday in Chandigarh”).
4. The participant who has heard the message should whisper the
message into the ear of the person sitting next to him.
5. Similarly, whisper the message from one participant to another
until it reaches the starting participant.
6. Ask the participant who heard the last message to say it out loud
to everyone.
7. Play the first message in front of everyone and have everyone
discuss the changed message.
8. Ask the participants what changed in the message and why?
 Demonstrative Items 4.1 (A-2)

Basis of Effective Communication

Speaker Message Listener

9. After everyone has answered, use display 4.1(b) to explain that

effective speaking involves a complete and accurate
understanding of what the speaker is saying. The message
conveyed is understood correctly. There are many ways to convey
a message.
 ACTIVITY-2
Learn to listen

Prior preparation:

Make two different instruction slips for successful speaking and

unsuccessful speaking.

Instructions For Successful Speaking

Slip 1: Show interest in what the speaker is saying by making
sounds uh, huh, hmm, etc. Nod in agreement.
Slip 2: Look at the speaker and make eye contact
Slip 3: Ask questions to understand better
Slip 4: Compliment the speaker like “oh ho, that’s great…”

Instructions For Unsuccessful Speaking

Slip 1: Interrupt the speaker and laugh without reason
Slip 2: Make a bored face
Slip 3: Frequently search your pockets for items
Slip 4: Every time the speaker says something, disagree with
him and talk off topic.
Process:

1. Divide the group into 3 groups:

Group 1: Speakers
Group 2: Listeners
Group 3: Spectators
2. Group 1: Choose a boy from and together get him to speak for 2
minutes.
3. Group 2: listeners will choose 4 people from their group and take
them out of the room. Now give them four slips of successful
speaking skills and explain them.
4. Ask all three groups to sit in the room.
5. Now ask group 1 and group 2 to sit facing each other. Ask the
audience group 3 to sit at the back. This will allow group 3 to
easily observe the conversation between the two groups.
6. Select 4 participants from group 2 and explain to them the four
slips of unsuccessful speaking.
7. As before, have groups sit face to face.
8. Ask group 1 to repeat their message.
9. Ask group 2 to perform unsuccessful speaking instructions.
10. Now, discuss with the participants what qualities the
speaker and listener need for effective communication.

Qualities of a speaker
 Say what the listeners want to hear.
 Speak clearly.
 Do not speak in a very loud/low voice.
 Don’t speak quickly.
 Speak while looking into the eyes of your listeners.
  Speak long/short sentences as per the time available.
 Make your point more effective by showing pictures.
 To prove a truth, rely on statistics or respected people.
 Ask the listeners whether he understands what you are
saying or not.

Qualities of a Listener
 Listen carefully to what the speaker is saying.
 After listening to the speaker, nod your head or say
something like hmm, yes, huh so that the speaker realizes
that you are listening.
 While listening to the speaker, question the things that
you don’t understand.
 Sit upright while listening to the speaker.
 Listen by looking the speaker in the eye.
 Don’t speak louder or lower than the speaker.
 Compliment the speaker on the right things like “oh that
was great…”
 Do not interrupt the speaker.

11. Finally, explain the characteristics of the speaker from

display material 4.1(c1) and the listener from display material
4.1(c2).
12. Explain to the participants that only with the help of
effective communication can we strengthen our relationships with
our family, friends, or society.
 13. Now ask the participants what they learned today:

 3 new things I learned today.

 2 things that I will implement in my life.
 1 thing that I want to know or learn more about.
 Session 4.2
Strengthening relationships through communication

What will we learn?

Sympathy and Empathy are needed to strengthen relationships
with people.

Activity: Method: Time:

Let’s feel and Role play 60 minutes
sympathy Group discussion

MATERIAL
Display Material

 Board/flip chart
4.2(a)- situations of role play
 Marker pen
 ACTIVITY-1
Let’s Feel

Process:

1. At the beginning of the session, divide the participants into groups

of at least 4-5 boys.
2. Tell them that boys in each group will be given a specific role and
position.
3. 10 minutes will be given to prepare and present the play in front
of everyone.

Role-play situations
Role-play 1
Characters:
Rahim: a 13-year-old boy who spends less time in school and
more time with friends.
Mother: She works as a house help.
Father: a taxi driver, who doesn’t return home for days.
Elder brother: a tailor
First neighbor: helps mother out when she is distressed by
paying Rahim’s sister’s school fees.
Second neighbor: sympathizes and leaves
Event/situation: The elder brother gives his salary to his mother
to pay his younger sister’s school fees. The next morning, his
mother is very worried because the money is missing from the
cupboard. She tells the father….
 Role-play 2
Characters:
Jagtar: a 15-year-old boy who has been to the de-addiction
center twice.
Saddam: a 13-year-old boy who recently joined the center
Volunteer 1: After completing his 90-day treatment, he has been
volunteering at the center for the past six months. He shares his
experiences in preventing conflict.
Volunteer 2: Stops Jagtar and Saddam from fighting and goes
away.
Event/situation: Jagtar quarrels with Saddam. Volunteer tells
the counsellor about this.
Role-play 3
Characters:
Satish: a 14-year-old boy who has come to the deaddiction
center twice.
Mother: She stays at home and does household work.
Father: He works as a laborer.
Elder brother: a 16-year-old boy who has dropped out of school
and is searching for Satish everywhere.
Younger sister: Tell her parents that Satish will return, do not
worry.
Event/situation: Satish has run away from home. He is afraid to
return. His parents are deeply worried. His elder brother is
searching for him everywhere. His younger sister is also missing
him.
4. Give each group display material 4.2(a) role play
situations/events.
5. Ask group members to choose their roles at will.
6. Now ask them to present their own unique role and drama on the
given role play.
7. Next, discuss some aspects of the role and gather everyone’s
opinions. Ask everyone some questions:
a. Ask the boys who perform the play:
were you able to understand the feelings of the person you
played?
b. Ask the audience:
After watching the play, were you able to relate to the
events depicted?
Could the problem depicted in the play have been presented
or solved differently?
8. Now explain to participants that when we role-play, we put
ourselves in someone’s shoes and imagine their situation. We try
to feel their joys and sorrows. We behave accordingly. This is
called empathy.

Definition of empathy:
Putting yourself in another person’s shoes and understanding
their feelings.

9. After this, explain to the participants that when we help someone

in times of difficulty or need, we call it sympathy.
10. Discuss with participants some of the situations from the
role play or drama show. Explain that all three situations that all
 three situations had one thing in common: offering help or
support in times of difficulty or need.

Definition of sympathy:
Supporting and encouraging each other during difficult times.

11. Now ask the participants what they learned today:

 3 new things I learned today.

 2 things that I will implement in my life.
 1 thing that I want to know or learn more about.
 Session 4.3
Resisting Peer Pressure
What will we learn?
Identifying ways to resist peer pressure and developing the ability to say no.

Activity: Method: Time:

Learn to say ‘NO’ Case study 60 minutes
Game: Spin the box

MATERIAL
Display Material

 Board/Flip Chart 4.3(a)- story of Raju

 Marker Pen
4.3(b)- ways of saying no
 ACTIVITY-1
Learn to say “NO”

Process:

1. Tell the participants that today we will learn about peer pressure.
Sometimes our friends lead us astray. To avoid this, we need to
learn how to say no to those friends or to wrongdoings.
2. Now have one of the participants read the display material 4.3(a)
story of Raju.

Raju’s story

Raju recently moved house and has become part of a new

neighborhood group. He enjoys hanging out with the boys.
Recently, they’ve started smoking Marijuana. Raju does not
want to smoke marijuana. He doesn’t even like to smoke. He
knows of groups that use even more drugs. Raju’s friends also
want to try them. Raju is at a loss as to what to do now. He
doesn’t want to do drugs, and he doesn’t want to join such a
group.

3. Now discuss the following questions with the participants:

 What dilemma is Raju in?
 What Options Does Raju Have?
 What could be the outcome of each of the paths available to
Raju?
4. Now explain the participants that friends have a profound
influence on our lives. We often seek advice from our friends,
 which can be both right and wrong. We should learn to stay away
from the negative influence of friends.
5. Now ask the participants to think about some ways in which they
can overcome negative pressure from their friends.
6. The following issues can be discussed with the participants:
 What would you do if your friend asked you to do something
that you considered wrong?
 What will you do if your friend commits a crime and then
asks you to help him in the same crime?

ACTIVITY-2: GAME
1. Now have all the participants sit in a circle to play the game “Spin
the Box”.
2. The participant holding the box will be given a situation in which
they must come up with a way to say ‘no’.
Note: each participant’s situation may be similar or different.
These situations may involve addiction and crime, or they may
be general.
3. Now discuss with the participants some situations, which are as
follows:
 Your friend is calling you to play outside the house, and at
home, your mother is asking you to bring vegetables.
 Your friend asks you to consume drugs like gutkha,
cigarettes, marijuana, alcohol, etc.
 Your friend asks you to leave your studies.
 Your friend asks you to misbehave or tease girls.
 Your friend asks you to watch porn movies.
 Your friend asks you to steal.
  Your friend asks you to fight someone.
 Your friend beats an animal badly and asks you to beat it
too.
 Your friend asks you to spread dirt in a clean or good place.
4. How would participants handle these situations? Get their input.
5. Next, explain to all participants the ways of saying ‘NO’.

Ways to say ‘NO’

 To refuse politely.
 To give reason.
 Go away from that place.
 To ignore.
 Stand ground.
 Presenting options.
 To reverse pressure.
 Avoiding the situation.
 To face the group.
 Control your emotions.

6. Now ask the participants what they learned today:

 3 new things I learned today.

 2 things that I will implement in my life.
 1 thing that I want to know or learn more about.