UNIT 1

1. UNIT 1 PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS

2. An Introduction to Professional Communication • Principles of Professional Communication • Communication networks : personal sanctum, professional sanctum, inner circle, and outer circles; managing the networks • Communication strategies : communicator, audience, message, channel choice, culture • Ethos, pathos, logos and kairos in professional Communication • Visual aids and nonverbal skills in professional communication

3. An Introduction to Professional Communication • What is Professional Communication ? • The communication that encompasses oral, written, and visual discipline within a work place context is called professional communication. There are many places where we strictly need professionalism like while finding a job, dealing customers, and doing business etc. • The field of professional communication is closely related to that of technical communication, though professional communication encompasses a wider variety of skills. Professional communicators use strategies, theories, and technologies to more effectively communicate in the business world. • Professional communication draws on theories from fields as different as rhetoric and science, psychology and philosophy, sociology and linguistics.

4. Professional communication encompasses a broad collection of disciplines, embracing a diversity of rhetorical contexts and situations. Areas of study range from everyday writing at the workplace to historical writing pedagogy, from the implications of new media for communicative practices to the theory and design of online learning, and from oral presentations to the production of websites. • Types of professional documents • Short reports • Proposals • Case studies • Lab reports • Memos • Progress / Interim reports • Writing for electronic media

5. 1.2 Principles of Professional Communication • 1. Use Good Grammar2. Write Concisely3. Use the Active Voice4. Use Positive Statements5. Avoid Long Sentences6. Punctuate Correctly

6. 1.3 Communication networks : personal sanctum, professional sanctum, inner circle, and outer circles; managing the networks Networking is not just about winning. It is fundamentally about giving. It involves a profound philosophical approach of being interested in other people and earnestly wishing to help them. In networking one can get what s/he gives. A networking equation can be defined as

7. networking = personal public relations + cross fertilizations of contacts  doing something to add value to other person’s life • Networking is a discipline which needs to be managed. It is a marketing discipline and tool where the public relations professional should be in charge.

8. Each of us has a personal network maps, operating on at least five different levels, consisting of: • A personal sanctum; • A professional sanctum, or ‘professional apostles’; • An inner circle; • An outer circle; • Membership links

9. Personal Sanctum: • Every individual has a personal community usually of up to 15 people. One can count on the family members or friends to provide the innermost emotional core of his/her contacts. In conscious mind one can hold between five to nine pieces if information at one time. However it is not just the information processing abilities that are limited, but so too are one’s emotional capacities, where one is capable of maintaining really close relationships with among 10 to 15 people.

10. Professional Sanctum: • One can reflect on his/her career and working life to know the persons who have been influential. There are number of ‘professional apostles’, people who act as the frontline one’s personal advocates, in everyone’s life. In an organization it might be a manager who has championed advancement in one’s life. They are the people who stimulate the things in your life and support your cause. They truly act as advocates in one’s life by telling the world how great s/he is, without prompting. Apostles believe in that person wholeheartedly, and share that fact freely. On a personal level they bring out the best in an individual, sometimes acting as buffers or as cushions against negative influences.

11. They are with the person in whom they have faith. They can afford for the person whom they are supporting to succeed without feeling threatened. If one wants to get ahead s/he needs to build the network of professional sanctum to at least people. They are generally people predisposed to being helpful. Anyone predisposed to be helpful is worth knowing because they: • were brought up to be helpful to others; • see opportunities more than others do, and view an individual as one; • are secure and willing to take risks to help others; • feel important when helping others; • are intellectually curious; • have a variety of networks

12. Inner Circle: • Every individual has a social capacity, a number of people that one has a genuinely social relationship with, the kind of relationship that goes with knowing who they are, and how they relate to you. Typically, the inner social group is of up to 150 people. Any larger group will start to need complicated hierarchies, rules, regulations and formal measures to try to command loyalty and social cohesion.

13. Outer Circle: • The outer contacts could consist of anything between 300 and 1000 acquaintances, people with whom one is relatively comfortable. Growth in social and geographical mobility will lead to an inevitable increase in the size of one’s outer circle. To face the challenge of managing these members one can profile the group, dividing them into smaller groups of contacts which can be more easily managed, prioritized and subsequently maintained.

14. Membership links: • The membership of different networks contains people who communicate with more people about a certain product than average. They are also known as ‘opinion formers’, ‘influencers’, ‘lead users’ or even ‘power users’. The nature of these network hubs differs from industry to industry. The key criteria for the value of any network or hive are its relative size; centrality to its context, quality of its ability- or potential- to deliver, infrastructure and vibrancy. The overall cluster of the target network will have an impact on the scale and length of any message. The bigger the network, the more potential potency for engaging more people, generating greater awareness and stimulating further outgrowth from the core

15. Managing the Networks • Networking is not just about whom you know, but who the people you are networking with know. It is often a stepping-stone process rather than a direct hit to reach your target. • No one is as smart as everyone. Connecting with other people offers the potential to tap into knowledge, experience, world-view and connections. Public relation people are natural networkers; in many instances they do not possess direct-line authority over other colleagues whose cooperation they require to achieve a goal. Public relation people have values of sharing information, achieving mutual goals, seeing the bigger picture, and working with different stakeholder communities. The starting point for effective networking is to establish a strategy identifying what you are seeking from the process.

16. 1.4 Communication strategies : communicator, audience, message, channel choice, culture • Apprehension related to concerns about the direction and impact of science and technology and its increasing sophistication calls for a higher level of expertise from technical communicators in order to meet today's exciting opportunities and challenges. As an intermediary, the technical communicator has responsibilities to both sides of the exchange

17. Apprehension related to concerns about the direction and impact of science and technology and its increasing sophistication calls for a higher level of expertise from technical communicators in order to meet today's exciting opportunities and challenges. As an intermediary, the technical communicator has responsibilities to both sides of the exchange. • Information must be communicated in such a way that it meets the objective of the SME, transmits a message that is accurate, easy to understand, and useful, and facilitates the non-expert's transition through the material. The technical communicator must comprehend the topic, which is often complex, understand the needs and concerns of the non-expert, and present the materials in a way that informs while alleviating fears and instilling confidence in the product and the message

18. Audience • Different audiences have different communication needs. And different segments of audiences have different communication needs. As PR has progressed from the days of mass communication, we have increasingly been able to target our messages to the needs of different audience segments – internally and externally. • Audience segmentation is the process of dividing an audience into smaller groups, with similar characteristics, wants and needs that are selected according to our communication objectives. Audience segmentation is based on the assumption that different groups of audience have different characteristics that influence the extent to which they pay attention to, understand and act on different messages.

19. We can identify audience segment, but it is not always practicable to reach them due to our limited resources. The ideal audience size is one person. Tailoring our communication to the needs of each individual is the ideal. However, it is not practicable to do this – too costly and time consuming

20. Message • What makes a memorable TV commercial, product design, or marketing campaign? Why do you listen to certain politicians or business leaders, and glaze over at the very mention of others? Why is it that you dread opening certain senders’ emails, but open others as soon as they land in your inbox? • It’s all about messaging. When a piece of communication is to the point, relevant, worthwhile, and compelling, it moves you — the listener or reader — to action. • Moving people is not magic — it’s all about effective communication. Anyone can achieve effective communication by using a simple tool that has an uncanny ability to pinpoint why any message works or doesn’t work, and how to improve it. It’s called the 4Cs Model, which stands for Comprehension, Connection, Credibility, and Contagiousness.

21. Channel Choice • In the basic communication process, a sender puts a message in words and transmits it to a receiver who interprets the message. The medium the sender chooses to transmit the message is called the communication channel.

22. 1.5 Ethos, pathos, logos and Kairos in professional communication • Ethos: credibility (or character) of the speaker • Pathos: emotional connection to the audience • Logos: logical argument

23. Together, they are the three persuasive appeals. In other words, these are the three essential qualities that your speech or presentation must have before your audience will accept your message. • Ethos, Logos, and Pathos are three important factors to include in a speech when doing public speaking. The early Greeks brought about this classification and today it is universally supported in all public speaking. These terms are three important tools used to persuade an audience when speaking publicly. The following is a detailed examination of these three aspects, ethos, pathos, and logos, and their importance in a speech:

24. Ethos • Ethos is referred to as the ethical content of a discourse or speech. It affects the character or credibility of a public speaker with his audience. Ethos determines the extent the listeners believe the speaker and if the information being relayed to them is credible in the speech. The speaker should be knowledgeable on the subject on which they’re speaking to win the ethos of the audience. If the audience doesn’t see you as an expert on the topic of your speech they will question the reliability of the information they are listening to from the speech. If you have built up a reputation of being competent on the subject and a good speaker, they will have confidence in every word provided from the speech.

25. ETHOS: Appeal to Credibility or Image. The word "ethos" is derived from the Greek word ethikos meaning moral or showing moral character.  While communicating the speaker must establish moral credibility in the minds of the audience at the beginning of his or her speech.  

26. QUESTIONS TO BE KEPT IN MIND FOR BUILDING UP CREDITIBILTY. Does the audience respect you? Does the audience believe you are of good character? Does the audience believe you are generally trustworthy? Does the audience believe you are an authority on this speech topic?

27. HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR ETHOS? Use visuals/examples which resonate with your audience. Choose quotations and statistics from the right sources. Make yourself available to your audience. Be a good person (Trustworthy). Develop deep expertise in topics. Analyze your audience. Highlight ethos in introduction. Use language familiar to your audience.

28. Pathos • Your speech should involve emotional content to motivate your audience. The speech should reach the hearts and mind of your audience and move them to action. If a speech presentation is good it will continue on the mind of the listeners because of the way it made them feel and not so much because of what was said .during the present The power of feelings and emotions cannot be stressed enough. It is important to make people feel good about the message they are hearing and help them identify with what is being said during the presentation.

29. The aim of emotions, or pathos, is to determine the goal of the persuasion. If a negative response is desired by the speaker he will arouse anger in his audience with the words of his speech. Pathos is appealing to the audience emotions or self-interest and their sense of identity, thus persuading them with your words. Pathos is considered an important vehicle of using persuasion coupled with using emotions to have an influence on the audience’s mind by your discourse.

30. PATHOS: Appeal to Emotions Pathos is related to the words pathetic, sympathy and empathy. Pathos appeals to emotions and feelings to persuade the audience and thereby alter their mindset.

31. Appeal to pathos touch a nerve and compel people to not only listen, but also to take the next step and act in the world

32. PRIMARY PATHS TO EMOTIONAL CONNECTION: Analyze your audience. Match your vocal delivery to the emotion. Match your gestures to the emotion. Select emotional themes and points. Choose words which add emotional emphasis E.g., Martyr, terrorist etc. Be authentic. Connect through visuals.

33. Logos • The term logos in public speaking; refers to how your speech appeals to the logic or intellect of the audience. This appeal is based on logic or reasoning, how convincing the arguments are in your speech and the supporting evidence of those arguments provided the listener

34. Logos is the vehicle through which the speaker appeals to the audience. It is usually known as the logical appeal. There are two aspects through which you can use logos: one is with the help of inductive logic which offers similar examples and second, by drawing from the logic a general proposition. This logic is pretty simple. In public speaking, this is a logic which is used with this, that and a proof of something else, along with a conclusion. • Logos is the explained as the argument and the reasons which the speaker provides information supporting the proposition. This support can be provided in various ways to the audience but it would be wise to start with considering the grounds the speaker provides in the speech. The topic can be all within the speech, and expressed indirectly by the speaker, leaving up to the audience to see what action needs to be taken.

35. LOGOS: Appeal to Logic or Reason The Greek word logos is the basis for the English word logic.    Logos refers to any attempt to appeal to the intellect.

36. LOGOS: Everyday arguments rely heavily on ethos and pathos, but professional communication rely more on logos: there will be logical chains of reasoning supporting all claims.

37. GENERAL STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE LOGOS: Make it Comprehensible Use plain language, be explicit, use diagrams, use charts. Make it Logical Do not jump from one idea to another. Make it Real Use photographs, use vivid details, use facts and statistics, cite your sources.

38. Kairos: • Kairos refers to a time when conditions are right for the accomplishment of a crucial action. Kairos can be defined as the right or appropriate time and place to do something. Here a speaker takes into account the contingencies of a given place and time, and considers the opportunities within this specific context for words to be effective and appropriate to that moment

39. KAIROS : Kairos refers to a time when conditions are right for the accomplishment of a crucial action. Kairos can be defined as the right or appropriate time and place to do something. Here a speaker takes into account the contingencies of a given place and time, and considers the opportunities within this specific context for words to be effective and appropriate to that moment.

40. KAIROS : Kairos refers to a time when conditions are right for the accomplishment of a crucial action. Kairos can be defined as the right or appropriate time and place to do something. Here a speaker takes into account the contingencies of a given place and time, and considers the opportunities within this specific context for words to be effective and appropriate to that moment.

41. Visual aids and nonverbal skills in professional communication • Visual Aids are an essential feature of effective communication as it provides: • ✦ An appeal to a variety of senses • ✦ A focus of attention • ✦ A change of pace • ✦ A simplified explanation to help understanding • ✦ A more vivid and lasting impression • ✦ A consolidation of learning • ✦ Reference material for later use • ✦ Help in relating or transferring learning to the real situation