LO2: Understand the principles of effective communication

P4: Demonstrate a range of effective interpersonal skills

Evaluation of PresentationI felt that the presentation I performed was adequate and had several different forms of interpersonal skills. During my presentation my audience were evaluating my interpersonal skills and marking their assets onto an evaluation sheet. The audience had to rank my performance out of 5 (5 being poor and 1 being excellent) in eight separate categories, these categories included:

Talk naturally Stand rather than sit, and move around a little Vary the tone, pitch and volume of voice Make eye contact with the audience > op Use visual aids where appropriate Prepare and structure the presentation carefully Stay focussed throughout the presentation Answer any question honestly and concisely

The audience then wrote down questions that they had regarding my Presentation.

I used interpersonal skills in my presentation as I engaged in face to face communication with an audience of peers. In my presentation I spoke clearly and tried to convey my point of view towards the listeners. Although having a clear arid natural voice is an essential interpersonal skill to have in a presentation there are many other factors that affect how effective I am at communication, information is communicated when performing a presentation through non-verbal methods such as gestures, facial expressions and body language.

I received constructive feedback from my peers by accessing their individual examinations. I found that the most consistently critical feature of the reports were to vary tone, pitch and volume my voice. With 2 accounts ranking my variation of voice at a 5 these are the only rank 5 criticism that I had received. These results are also confirmed by other assessments of my variation in voice being lower than my other interpersonal skills. This tells me that I need to improve on variation of voice through a presentation in future. I can learn from this by practicing my presentation more.

My best interpersonal skills as decided by my evaluators are both talking naturally and standing rather than sitting & moving around a little. This suggests that I can talk naturally rather than missing, crucial words or having a nervous tone of voice. This also indicates that I'm able to stand throughout a presentation without fidgeting too much or standing completely still. These traits are highly valued in people as not everyone can confidently present to a class without having a form of speech impediment or being nervous whilst talking about the topic of choice.

I personally thought that my most valued type of interpersonal skill was that I kept consistent eye contact with all of the audience. During the course of my presentation I made sure that I had indirect communication in the form of eye contact with the majority of the audience, this was*** that I can better communicate my point across whilst not just using vocal techniques.

In my opinion my worst trait was to stand rather than sit, and move around a little. , moving my feet throughout the presentation without meaning to do so, this made my presentation look less professional. I can improve on this by practicing more for future presentations and remembering to keep still, when speaking my lines.

Robert Taylor

Evaluation of Assistant LibrarianIn my spare time I decided to help out at my local library to fulfil the criteria needed in my gold duke of Edinburgh volunteering section. I assisted my school librarian with many duties such as processing the books through the library’s booking system, organising the printing and payment methods and even the handling of the computer booking system. These processes took me a while to grasp as I hadn’t used data systems before this occasion.

I had to use many different skills to fulfil my role as an assistant librarian. One of which was that I had to excel with organisational attributes as the library needs be kept tidy and ordered constantly. I had to have excellent communication and interpersonal skills to perform this role as I needed to convey important information to the main librarian about any bookings made as-well as talking to the customers if they are booking a computer, taking out a book or printing. I would need to communicate with the customers clearly and be able to understand what processes they want me to perform in-order to fulfil their requirements.

I also needed to use my knowledge of computer systems so that I would be able to traverse a booking system as-well as the printing system. It is important that I use my IT literacy skills as most of my work as the librarian assistant involves me working on the different processes within the library computer. Navigating through all the different systems that they have on the librarians account would be impossible for someone who hadn’t had experience with computers before. This experience helped me improve my IT skills as I hadn’t previously operated booking systems before my time volunteering, and it helped me learn how to work a library booking system.

Evaluation of Assistant Grounds manAs an assistant grounds man I have to be able to adapt to any situation that occurs at the racecourse. It is my job to help out with any tasks and trivialities that need to be performed on or around the course. This can range from helping the grounds man with the managing of staff to assisting the staff at their own jobs. I am hired as a helper for whoever needs me the most. I often have to help during emergency situations too, such as when a horse gets loose or injures itself. I then coordinate with other staff members to assist in any way I can.

I often have to use many personal attributes whilst working as an assistant grounds man at Bangor-on-Dee and Chester Racecourse. It is important that I know what work I have to perform at the racecourse and as a result I use my communication skills. I use my communication skills to talk to the other staff members and coordinate appropriate responses to any situations that occur. This is especially important if I am called to help catch a loose horse as all staff members need to create a barrier wall to catch a horse, especially if there is a chance that someone could be injured in the heat of action.

Another important skill that I use is independent thinking, where I have to be able to think freely without distraction. This is especially important if a dangerous situation occurs as I will have to react fast to minimalize any damage. I also have to make independent choice that may have consequences if there isn’t any supervision around to instruct me. Although usually I am able to follow orders from the staff, I am entrusted with being able to make necessary decisions that will have positive impacts on the organisation.

Robert Taylor