A11. Verbal communication

Being a good communicator means being able to communicate effectively.
The ability to communicate the merits of effective design to clients can make the difference between a design proposal being accepted or rejected.

• being receptive to another point of view
• willing to looking at situations in a different way, with new insights
• communicate the merits on different levels (functional, economic, ecological)
• communicate in a way that is understood by different audiences (clients, customers, managers)

Interpersonal skills
Skills: to learn how to listen instinctively and to speak to others with clarity, diplomacy and sensivity.

How we listen:

• paying attention
• being open and receptive to what the other person is saying
• if we are not listening we will not understand

Empathy:

• being able to see things from someone else's point of view
• helps to develop user-centered design solutions

Body language:

• is responsible for 90% of all emotional information, and 65% of all actual information, which we communicate
• the voice is the most powerful communicator of the body language - how we are feeling as well as the image we want to project.

Negotiating Skills
A negotiation is a meeting between two separate parties.
The aim is to reach an agreement.
It is especially important when managing client or design-team relationships.

Before the negotiation:

• consider a neutral ground in which the conversation can take place
• allow plenty of time to conduct the negotiation
• it's usually possible to plan in advance your three different positions: the ideal settlement, the realistic settlement and the fallback settlement.
  
• agree each of those positions with the team and guess the other party's position beforhand
  

During the negotiation:

• list the issues that are to be agreed and work through these one by one

After the negotiation:

• summarise the outcomes or agreements verbally
• then put them to writing at a later stage

Remember: successful negotiators do more listening than talking


Presentation Skills

• verbal
• visual
• written
• combination of all three

Ability to present yourself and your ideas is essential to good communication, persuation and the ability to influence key decision-makers.

Before the presentation:

• organise and structure what you are going to say
• practice the presentation
• estimate how long it will take
• allow time for questions
• identify what you want to achieve
• what is the objective?
• why is what I'm presenting relevant to this audience?
• who is the audience?
• are they design aware or not?
• the language used should suite both the audience and the subject matter

At the beginning:

• introduce yourself, other members of your team
• explain the purpose of the presentation
• say what you want to achieve from the meeting
• say how long the presentation will take
• explain the structure
• explain whether you want to take their comments during or after the presentation

During the presentation:

• take time to explein things properly
• give people chance to absorb what you are saying
• explain your thinking in a logical sequence
• include why your proposals are relevant or appropriate
• relate to people while talking - eye contact

After the presentation:

• make notes of discussion that follows
• record what was said, who said and what was agreed
• assign responsibilities for specific actions
• identify when the next meeting will take place
• thank everyone for coming

Telephone Skills
When you are making a phone call:

• the way you verbally communicate will affect how you and the company is perceived
• body language communicates over the phone - sit stright and smile
• do not eat or chew
• introduce your self and let them know whom you would like to speak
• speak slowly and clearly
• have respect for the other person's time
• ask if this is a good time to speak - ask when would be a good time to call back
• if you are leaving a message, state briefly what the call is regarding

When answering a phone:

• do so promptly using your name, in a warm, confident voice
• be helpful, listen carefully, take notes if necessary
• typing, eating or doing something else is distructing and impolite

When returning a phone call:

• do so within 24 hours of the message being left
• if you are on holidays - explain in the answering message

When leaving a message on an answering machine:

• speak slowly and clearly
• state your name, organisation, time and date of call, phone number where you can be reached and a brief overview of what your call is regarding

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For Major Project

Interpersonal skills
I'm trying to learn with each project:

• listening & empathy: other's point of view can bring priceless insight or help, I can't know everything by myself
  

Negotiating skills

• had a chance to practice mainly with my real clients
• I can use within this project when trying to get technical support from external comapnies
  

Presentation skills

• we did lots of practice during previous projects (I read book about pitches and presentations, which was very helpful)
  
• here we'll practice different kind of presentation during the exhibition
• I practice presentation of the project while talking to external companies about our project when trying to get their interest and support (Screen Technology, TFL, Sony?...)
  

Telephone skills

• here I need to learn the most - I don't feel comfortable reaching people I never met
• Whe trying to get support and technical information from the companies, I need to reach them on the phone and need to be able to explain them the project without visual image (if not shown by email)