In the business world, the majority of communication is aimed at persuading or informing others.

Persuasion is necessary in nearly every business (Presentationsforbusiness.com 2011).  Persuasion in business can achieve many goals such as increased sales or respect from co-workers (Deeb 2013).

 

Persuading in sales is very important. When selling an item, it is important to persuade the listener into believing that you have what they want (Deeb 2013).  A study that was conducted shows that 26% of gross domestic product sales were due to persuasion in the workplace (westsidetoastmasters.com 2011).  Although persuasion is necessary in sales it’s not always seen as the same thing between people as shown in Zhu and Herbert’s journal article(2013). Zhu and Herbert’s(2013) article shows that a Chinese manager would like to have back ground information in his letter where as the manager from New Zealand prefers short and to the point.  Persuasion is important in business even when not selling products. In a team environment being able to persuade your co-workers to achieve a common goal or outcome (Williams 2013).

 

Advertisements are a very common form of communication for businesses (Protalinkski 2011). Advertisements are often targeted at specific groups. Kim (2015) states that there are common strategies in place for Facebook advertisements to help persuade people. Some targeting or persuading strategies are (Kim 2015);

Looking at previous purchase histories;

Looking at previous events;

Targeting people who are similar to previous buyers;

Just to name a few. All of these strategies are in place to help persuade the targets into clicking on their advertisements (Kim 2015).

 

Another common medium that is used to convey information to others are sales reports. A sales report is important and should generally convey 4 pieces of information (Paling 2010);

Productivity report;

Pipeline;

Sales forecast;

Long –Range sales forecast;

 

Persuasion is very important in business communication whether it be sales or anything else (Abbott, 2004).  If you would like more information on this, please watch the following video.

 

 

 References:

Abbott, R 2004, Persuasive Communication in Business, ‘sideroad.com’, viewed 18^th of May 2016, http://www.sideroad.com/Business_Communication/persuasive_communication-business.html           

Deeb, C 2013, The Importance of a Persuasive Presentation, ‘chron.com’, viewed 18^th May 2016, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-persuasive-presentation-35359.html

Kim, L 2015, 5 Ridiculously Powerful Facebook Ad Targeting Strategies, ‘wordstream.com’, viewed 18^th May 2016, http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2015/01/28/facebook-ad-targeting

mrdservello(account on slide share),  2011, Persuasive Techniques,‘slideshare.net’, viewed 18th May 2016, http://www.slideshare.net/mrdservello/persuasive-techniques-10119625

Paling, S 2010, 5 Sales Reports Every Sales Manager Should Be Reviewing, ‘salesandmarketing.com’, https://salesandmarketing.com/article/5-sales-reports-every-sales-manager-should-be-reviewing

Presentationsforbusiness.com, 2011, The power of persuasion, ‘presentationsforbusiness.com’, viewed 18^th May 2016, http://presentationsforbusiness.com/articles-the-power-of-persuasion/#.Vzw4IpF97IU

Protalinski, E 2011, 22% of small businesses use Facebook Ads, ‘zdnet.com’, viewed 18^th May 2016, http://www.zdnet.com/article/22-of-small-businesses-use-facebook-ads/

Westsidetoastmasters.com, 2011, The Power of Persuasion, ‘westsodetoastmasters.com’, viewed 18^th May 2016, http://westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/laws_persuasion/chap1.html

Williams, E 2013, Effective Persuasive Communication, ‘chron.com’, viewed 18^th May 2016, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/effective-persuasive-communication-56248.html

Zhu, Y, & Hildebrandt, H 2013, ‘Effective Persuasion of International Business Sales Letters’, Management International Review (MIR), 53, 3, pp. 391-418, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 18 May 2016.

 

Pictures

healthbuzz, 2016, The Power of Persuasion- Jahaan Sachdeva, ‘villanuevam.ism-online.org’, viewed 18th May 2016, http://villanuevam.ism-online.org/2016/02/25/the-power-of-persuasion-jahaan-sachdeva/

questgarden.com (2012), Persuasive techniques, ‘questgarden.com’, viewed 18th May 2016, http://questgarden.com/140/88/9/120314170929/process.htm

 

How Technology has Impacted Communication

Communication has been around forever.  Communication has improved greatly over the years with the evolution of technology (Nield , 2013). Technology has evolved by an enormous amount of the years and has revolutionised communication with many forms of communication such as the web, mobile phones, email and social networking(Nield,2013).

 

Social media

Undoubtedly one of the most common and newest forms of communication is social media. Facebook is one of the most common form of social media nowadays and it pulls incredible numbers(zephoria.com, 2016).  Some of these numbers are facts such as that there are over 1.65 billion active users each month. Which is over a 7th of the population (zephoria.com, 2016). Facebook has all kinds of communication whether it be by a status post or via personal messages on average as of April 2016 every 60 seconds 293,000 statuses are posted(zephoria.com, 2016).   A down side however of social media, is that proper English is lost in conversation between people and ‘text talk’ takes over (Vevere 2015).   Vevere (2015) states that ‘Text talk’ is where acronyms and emoticons take over and deletion of words, vowels and punctuation takes place.

 

Mobile phones:

Mobile phones have changed the way everyone communicate. Nowadays families can text each other instead of talking to each other when in the same house(El-Rafai, 2014).  Myers(2010) states that mobile phones have now made calling redundant unless a problem has occurred which needs an explanation.  Mobile phones have also caused the same problem as social media and that is lack of correct spelling and grammar (Voegeli 2014). Voegeli(2014) also states that because children are exposed to mobile phones earlier they struggle with face to face confrontation.

 

References:

El-Refai, M 2014, How mobile changed the way we communicate, ‘asmarterplanet.com’, viewed 9th May 2016, http://asmarterplanet.com/mobile-enterprise/blog/2014/10/mobile-changed-way-communicate.html

Nield, D 2013, How technology has affected communication, ‘ science.opposingviews.com’, viewed 9th May 2016, http://science.opposingviews.com/technology-affected-communication-1432.html

Vevere, V 2015, ‘IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION PATTERNS’, Socialiniu Mokslu Studijos, 7, 1, pp. 124-138, SocINDEX with Full Text, EBSCOhost, viewed 9 May 2016

Voegeli, A 2014, The Affects Cell Phones  Have on Social Skills, ‘psu.edu’, viewed 9th May 2016, https://sites.psu.edu/siowfa14/2014/09/07/the-affects-cell-phones-have-on-social-skills/

Zephoria, 2016, The Top 20 Valuable Facebook Statistics – Updated April 2016, ‘zephoria.com’, viewed 9th May 2016, https://zephoria.com/top-15-valuable-facebook-statistics/

 

Pictures:

Miemis, V 2011, Facebook: The Social Accelerator?, ’emergentdesign.com’, viewed 9th May 2016, https://emergentbydesign.com/2011/05/25/facebook-the-social-accelerator/

Sydney Mobile Repairs, 2015, Solid Advice On Mobile Phones Dialled In From The Experts, ‘sydneyphonerepairs.com’, viewed 9th May 2016, http://www.sydneymobilephonerepairs.com.au/solid-advice-mobile-phones-dialed-experts/

 

 

Soft Skills in the workplace

Soft skills are a term that are used widely across the work place but many people still don’t know what it is. According to Margaret Rouse(2015) soft skills are a different way of referring to people skills. Soft skills also are an indication of how emotionally intelligent a person is(Rouse 2015).  There are many  kinds of soft skills and according to Larry Buhl(2016) states that the most important soft skills to improve upon in the workplace are;

Communication skills;

Teamwork and collaboration;

Adaptability;

Problem Solving;

Critical observation;

Conflict resolution;

 

Communication skills:

Communication skills are invaluable in the workplace and are a key soft skill(Johnson 2015). Communication in the work place is much more than just a conversation it goes as far as being able to communicate effectively in reports or emails(Johnson 2015).  Johnson(2015) also states communication skills in the workplace can improve a variety of things such as team building as team members will know their role and redundancy is reduced.  Another business factor that is improved with  effective communication is diversity, having effective communication allows for communication between everyone as everyone tries to work around language and cultural barriers(Johnson 2015).  Timmins(2011) states that managers also require good communication as they can promote good communication in the work place. Timmins(2011) also states that having shared governance can improve communication and soft skills between workers.

 

Teamwork and collaboration:

Jared Lewis(2015) defines team work as something that contains many sub categories  as co-operation,  relationships, learning and leadership.  Dave Mattson(2015) states that teamwork brings many benefits to the workplace such as promoting creativity and learning, bringing together strengths, trust building, encourages risk taking and many more.  According to Juliet Jones(2012) team work is required in almost 80% of jobs which makes this a very valuable attribute of soft skills in the work place.

 

In conclusion Soft skills are important in the work place as the skills will bring many benefits to you and the company whether it be through teamwork, communication in general or any other sort of soft skill.

 

Reference List

Buhl, L 2016, 6 soft skills everyone needs and employers look for, ‘monster.com’, viewed 2nd May 2016, http://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/six-soft-skills-everyone-needs-hot-jobs

Johnson, R 2015, What Are the Benefits of Effective Communication in the Workplace, ‘smallbusiness.chron.com’, viewed 2nd May 2016, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/benefits-effective-communication-workplace-20198.html

Jones, J 2012, 6 Critical Teamwork Job Skills and How to Develop Them, ‘ careerkey.blogspot.com.au’, Viewed 2nd May 2016, http://careerkey.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/6-critical-teamwork-job-skills-and-how.html

Lewis, J 2015, The Definition of Teamwork in the Workplace, ‘ smallbusiness.chron.com’, viewed 2nd May 2016, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/definition-teamwork-workplace-36105.html

Mattson, D 2015, 6 Benefits of Teamwork in the Workplace, ‘ sandler.com’, viewed 2nd May 2016, https://www.sandler.com/blog/6-benefits-of-teamwork-in-the-workplace

Rouse, M 2015, Soft Skills, ‘searchcio.techtarget.com’, viewed 2nd May 2016, http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/soft-skills

Timmins, F 2011, ‘Managers’ duty to maintain good workplace communications skills‘, Nursing Management – UK, 18, 3, pp. 30-34 5p, CINAHL with Full Text, EBSCOhost, viewed 2 May 2016.

Pictures:

Rinker, T 2015, Why Developing Soft Skills during High School Matters, ‘ connectionsacademy.com’, Viewed 2nd May 2016, http://www.connectionsacademy.com/blog/posts/2014-12-01/Why-Developing-Soft-Skills-during-High-School-Matters.aspx

Tschiesche, K 2013, 5 myths and realities of good teamwork, ‘ bookboon.com’, viewed 2nd May 2016, http://bookboon.com/blog/2013/12/5-myths-realities-good-teamwork/

Non-Verbal communication and their importance in a speech

 

A Study created by Albert Mehrabian in 1971 suggests that 55% of communication is via non verbal means in a face conversation (Debenham 2015). The study also states that a face to face conversation consists of three elements which are tone of voice, body language and words (Debenham 2015).  When it comes to speeches non-verbal communication in a speech it can really make or break it.

Body language and movements

John Zimmer (2012) from speaking.org analyses a video from Douglas Kruger(2012) in a post which suggests the do’s and dont’s of public speaking. Zimmer(2012) states that movement around the stage is a factor as if you step away from your audience it can create a bad vibe where as stepping towards your audience will create a positive vibe and raise the energy levels of the speech. Another way to improve your speech is to move around the stage as it shows confidence in your knowledge (Zimmer 2012). The university of Pittsburgh(2007) also shares their views on non-verbal delivery the university states that gestures throughout your speech should be natural as it makes the audience more confident in what you are saying and more likely to support or agree with you. These are all tips to help make your speech better with non-verbal communication .

 

 

Talking between two people

When talking between two people body language is very important as it can change the way the conversation goes.  TECĂU(2015) states that if you are to cross your arms it can express you are closing yourself off which can bring a negative vibe to the conversation. Making gestures while in a conversation will often convey as confidence (TECĂU 2015).

 

Non-verbal communication is most definitely very important during speeches as it will affect how the audience or listener will receive your message .

 

 

References

Debenham, L 2015 , Communication – What Percentage is Body Language?, ‘Bodylanguageexpert.co.uk’, viewed 25th May 2016, http://www.bodylanguageexpert.co.uk/communication-what-percentage-body-language.html

Speaking.pitt.edu, 2016, Nonverbal Delivery Tips. ‘speaking.pitt.edu’, viewed 25th April 2016,  http://www.speaking.pitt.edu/student/public-speaking/suggestions-nonverbal.html

TECĂU, A, & TESCAŞIU, B 2015, ‘Nonverbal communication in the focus-group’, Bulletin Of The Transilvania University Of Brasov. Series V: Economic Sciences, 8, 2, pp. 119-124, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 25th April 2016.

 

Zimmer, J 2012, Ten Tips on Using Body Language When Delivering a Speech. ‘Manner of Speaking’, viewed 25th april 2016, https://mannerofspeaking.org/2012/06/18/ten-tips-on-using-body-language-when-delivering-a-speech/

 

Pictures

Tal Shnall, 2015, How public speaking can help you connect as a leader? ‘Leadershiphospitality.com’, viewed 25th april 2016, http://leadershiphospitality.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/speaker.jpg

Randy Conley, 2013 , 6 Conversations Every Leader Needs To Have , ‘wordpress.com’, viewed 25th april 2016, https://trustworks.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/bigstockphoto_businesswoman_presenting_repor_314771.jpg

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My name is Jacob Murray and this will be where I update my blog for Communications class.