LA 204 - Workplace Communication Tutorial

Activities
Communication Skills
Activity One

Below is a set of activities, identified by one student that illustrates the development of
communication skills. Identify the communication skills that match the highlighted words in the
following passage.

Zarina is a member of the Science Society and has been designated as the society representative
at the faculty welcome for new students at the beginning of the year. She has to meet with the
faculty publicity manager to talk about what she is expected to present, and for how long. She
then has to contact the other speakers to find out what they will be doing so that there is no
overlap. Once she has planned her speech, and written an outline on slides, she practises with
friends in the lecture theatre to make sure she has the right timing and that she knows how to
use microphones and projectors. On the day of the presentation she watches earlier speakers
carefully to gauge the interests of the audience. With this in mind she can then organize an
introduction to click with the students and better get across the message
Activity Two

Below is a set of activities, identified by one student that illustrates the development of
communication skills. Identify the communication skills that match the highlighted words in the
following passage.

Ethan is carrying out an individual project on coastal management as part of a senior geography
unit. During the planning, field work and presentation of his findings he has to prepare a
number of different written reviews. Before beginning field work he has to read the relevant
literature and make a summary of what is known and where there may be contentious issues.
He then writes a brief one page proposal of his project giving background information, a
timeline of data collection in the field, and the equipment needed. While working in the field he
has to keep careful records of all information collected and transcribe these to a data base on a
regular basis. At the end of the project he is asked to prepare a short talk for the class on his
aims and findings and writes these as short statements on overheads. Finally he prepares a 10
page report, to be read by a local council environment committee, on the results, and outcomes
of the research. This requires a more detailed review of related work, a description of the
methods he used, and a presentation of analysis of his results. The discussion requires a critical
review of his findings as compared to other studies, proposals for implementation by the
council, and a section describing possible extensions to the project.

Activity Three

Below is a set of activities, identified by one student that illustrates the development of
communication skills. Identify the communication skills that match the highlighted words in the
following passage.

Isabella has been listed as coordinator of a tutorial discussion group reviewing microbiology
research papers. It is her job in the first week to assign readings to some members of the tutorial
group and make sure that they are prepared to present a summary of their paper in the next
tutorial. She gives a brief introduction to the topic at the beginning of the tutorial and then
introduces each speaker. At the end of the presentation she has to oversee a general discussion
among the tutorial group. She needs to be careful that she doesnt do all the talking, allows
everyone to give their views, encourages quieter group members to participate and appreciates
the overall views of the group to present a final conclusion.