Unit 1 - Task 5

Interpersonal and written communication skills

Task One

This task involved producing a booklet which explained which attributes are valued by employers. I used a range of communication skills in this task, the first of which was verbal. I used verbal communication when I was discussing the importance of the various attributes with my tutor and peers. Another communication type that I used was written communication. This was used when I created the actual leaflet on publisher. I had to use good written communication in order to make sure my audience could clearly understand the message I was trying to get across. On the back of the leaflet I used a table which simply named and explained each attribute. This created a quick summary for the reader.

Task Two

The second task was a power point on effective communication. I decided that power point would be the best application to use, as I was aiming to present my work to a group of people. I used a simple background on my slides so that it was not distracting the attention of the audience. As well as that I also put keywords in bold and used a few simple pictures on the slides to make it clear as to what the slides are about. The two communication types I used in the presentation were verbal and written. I would have notes to read from to explain each slide, to ensure that I am not just reading off of the screen and I am actually interacting with my audience. This would also ensure I don’t bore them by making them sit and read the slides.

Task three

This task involved completing a personal skills audit. Upon completing the audit I identified my weaknesses and created a personal development plan using Google calendar. This task appeared to be mostly written communication, but there was also a lot of verbal communication between me, my peers and my tutor. This was used when we were being given demonstrations from our tutor and also when we were helping each other with our weaker areas. Another tool I used was YouTube, as it has a range of walk-through videos on the specific areas I was looking for.

Task four

The final task I completed was creating a ‘dummies guide’ for using a feature of a software package of my choice. This task also involved the use of both written and verbal communication. Written communication was used on each of the slides I created in order to explain simple the tasks really are to the audience. I had to use a simple range of vocabulary on the power point, to avoid overloading the viewer with technical language. As well as writing about the steps I also gave a screenshot of each step, so they had a reference to compare to whilst doing it themselves. Verbal communication was used after the original draft was completed, as a peer marked my work and gave feedback. We then discussed this feedback and I made the necessary corrections.

Overall verbal communication was greatly used over each of these tasks as I asked my peers or tutor to explain anything to me which I didn't understand. Personally I feel I respond better to verbal communication rather than written. As well as my peers helping me, I also helped them whenever they needed help. This greatly increased my own understanding of the tasks also.