JOMO KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

OF
AGRICULTURE & TECHNOLOGY
JKUAT SODeL

SCHOOL OF OPEN, DISTANCE AND eLEARNING

P.O. Box 62000, 00200
2017

Nairobi, Kenya
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E-mail: elearning@jkuat.ac.ke

HRD 2101 Communication Skills

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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
This presentation is intended to covered within one week.
The notes, examples and exercises should be supple-
mented with a good textbook. Most of the exercises have
solutions/answers appearing elsewhere and accessible by
clicking the green Exercise tag. To move back to the same
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page click the same tag appearing at the end of the solu-
tion/answer.
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Errors and omissions in these notes are entirely the re-

sponsibility of the author who should only be contacted
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through the Department of Curricula & Delivery

(SODeL) and suggested corrections may be e-mailed to
elearning@jkuat.ac.ke.
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
LESSON 4
Techniques in Communication

4.1. Listening skills

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Hearing- reception of sound. Sound strikes the eardrum

causing vibrations. Passive activity.
Listening- Hearing and interpreting sounds with an aim
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to understand the meaning behind the sounds. Active

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activity.

Stages of listening
1. Sensing/ Hearing/Selective Hearing
JJ II 2. Interpretation
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
3. Evaluate; which of the things I have sensed is important
i.e. attach value thus either store or discard.
4. Memory stage- put whatever we think is important into
our memory.
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Types of Listening/ Modes of listening

Selective /Marginal Listening
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Listener chooses what to listen to and what not to listen

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to.
Listener may miss out on important parts of speech.
Highlight things of interest especially in a social or recre-
ational situation e.g. chat with friends, listening to radios
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or TV.
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
Passive Listening
Hear only a portion of the speakers words and absorb part
of the speakers meaning
Does not matter whether you grasp or remember all that
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is said e.g. listening to radio or TV.

Active/ Empathic Listening

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Generally alert to get all possible details concerning items

towards a particular subject.
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Is both physically and mentally involving.

Take points and come up with questions and find gaps in
presentation, display involving body language.
JJ II Active listeners are good at asking questions and making
J I comments i.e. verification of feedback.
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
Evaluative Listening
Listener assesses the value of the message or compares it
with what is usually considered the best.
It involves deciding whether to continue listening or turn
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away based on the assessment.

Leads to either positive or negative outcome depending on
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open- mindedness and intellect of the listener.

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Fake/Pseudo Listening
Pretence to be listening.
Aims to please the speaker or other observers
Similar to passive listening but different since it is a result
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of dishonesty
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
Informative listening
Takes full concentration. Helps one understand the mes-
sage.
It is the ideal kind of listening and the best way to learn.
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It is important when taking instructions from superiors or

when surbodinate is explaining problems-faced
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Appreciative Listening
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Primarily done to enjoy/ appreciate the message and not

to take benefit of content or meaning of the message e.g.
when listening to music.

JJ II Good Listening Habits

J I 1. Face the speaker.
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
2. Maintain eye contact.
3. Keep an open mind
4. Listen to ideas and concepts; not just words.
5. Do not interrupt the speaker.
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6. Wait for a pause for questions.

7. Ask questions and seek clarification.
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8. Empathise with the speaker.

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9. Give feedback.
10. Pay attention to what is not said; observe non-verbal com-
munication.

JJ II Poor listening Habits

J I 1. Declaring a subject uninteresting.
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
2. Criticising the content of the speech.
3. Criticising the speaker speech mannerisms.
4. Pretending to be attentive.
5. Taking down excessive notes.
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6. Urge to spur, disagree or deny.

7. Jumping to conclusions.
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How to Enhance Listening

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1. Talk less.
2. Get rid of distractions; do anything you can to get rid
of internal and external noise that interferes with careful
JJ II listening.
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
3. Do not judge prematurely; do not make snap judgment
and evaluate others before hearing them out especially
when the speakers ideas conflicts with yours.
4. Look for key ideas; extract central idea to focus attention
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rather than drift off in boredom. Take note of all key

points.
5. Ask sincere questions instead of criticism in disguise. Sin-
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cere questions are requests for new information that clar-

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ifies a speakers thoughts or feelings.

6. Paraphrase the speakers words to ensure your interpreta-
tion as a listener is accurate.

JJ II 7. Suspend your own agenda; while you are listening. Con-

J I centrate on what the speaker is saying not what you think.
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
8. Empathic listening; put yourself in the shoes of the speaker;
you do not necessarily have to agree but show understand-
ing.
9. Can be summarized in the acronym below:
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C concentrate, focus attention on what the speaker is

saying.
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A acknowledge, use appreciative body language.

R research, practice self-talk to understand what the
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speaker is saying.
E exercise control, i.e. emotional control by restraining
impatience.
JJ II S sense non-verbal messages by observing the speakers
J I body language.
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
S Structure; put messages in an order

Different stages in listening

Sensing/ selecting stage
Listener selects from a multitude of stimuli; only the one
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that seems important at the time is converted into a mes-

sage.
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Interpreting stage
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Listener decodes the message

At the stage, the listener is faced with multiple barriers
i.e. semantic, linguistic, psychological, emotional, envi-
ronmental
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
Evaluating stage
Listener assigns meaning to the message, draws interfaces,
takes an overview of the message and seeks accuracy of
information and evidence.
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Responding stage
Listener is ready to respond/ feedback stage.
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Memory stage
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Helps the listener retain chunks of what they have listened

to, about 10-25% speech of the presentation.

Benefits of effective listening

JJ II 1. Improvement in work environment because one tries to un-
J I derstand the speakers beliefs, values, sense of commitment,
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
expectations and goals.
2. Reduces tension and hostilities as it paves way for healthy
exchange of views and opinions, reducing psychological
tension and bad blood. It mutually solves problems and
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misunderstanding.
3. Saves time as one actively seeks application of information.
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4. Improves management employee relations in a work place

as the employees enjoy freedom of expression of grievances.
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5. Early problem- solving since parties collaborate in under-

standing a problem jointly and finding a solution to the
problem.
JJ II 6. Builds trust as it produces a climate of togetherness and
J I healthy interaction.
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
7. Increases sales and profits.

Overcoming listening barriers

1. Be a willing listener by controlling all barriers and build
a proactive interest to think or act congenially for better
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understanding.
2. Ensure all environmental distractions/ noises do not occur.
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3. Ensure you have taken proper rest or food especially when

attending long seminars/ lectures or conferences.
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4. Discipline yourself as a listener by controlling all psycho-

logical barriers e.g. daydreaming, dislike for the speaker
e.t.c.
JJ II 5. Carry a notebook/ writing pad to take short notes and key
J I points in order to force effective listening on yourself.
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
6. Practice good body language, sitting correctly and estab-
lishing eye contact with the speaker.
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
Example . Describe some of the Poor listening Habits
Solution:
Pretending to be attentive.
Taking down excessive notes.
Urge to spur, disagree or deny.
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Jumping to conclusions. 

Exercise 1.  Stages of listening

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4.2. Reading skills

Preparing for reading
1. Psychological preparation
JJ II 2. Emotional preparation
J I 3. Physiological preparation
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
Psychological preparation
Get rid ouf anything that can hinder understanding i.e. con-
flicting ideas

Emotional preparation
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Overexcitement, anger, remorsefulness or stress should be put

under control i.e. emotions should be at equilibrium to maintain
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sobriety.
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Physiological preparation
Be well fed.
Comfort should be a priority i.e. space aeration, lighting
of surroundings.
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J I Free from unnecessary interruptions
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
1. Know your topic
2. Gather all the necessary information about the topic

Skimming
Reading skill whereby the reader runs through a given
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written material looking for keywords, phrases, sentences

or paragraphs with an aim to come up with an overview
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of the content.
It is very fast; one wants a rough idea about the content.
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There is a high probability of leaving out important infor-

mation.
Key words can either be at the beginning or end of the
JJ II paragraph depending on the style of writing adopted i.e.
J I inductive or deductive.
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
Useful for making a summary.

Scanning
A reader runs quickly through an entire document looking
for some specific information and stops as soon as they
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find it.
It saves time.
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Study Reading
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Examine or try to diagnose the idea or subject to gain

deeper understanding of the concept.
The recommended method of study reading is the SQ3R
JJ II method;
J I 1. Survey- what aspects/ approach is used in the material to
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
help one know the depth or scope of coverage and relevance
to one s study.
2. Questions- what am I reading about e.g. What is commu-
nication? What are the different types ? Make brief notes
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of main ideas.
3. Read.
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4. Recite/ Recall- ask yourself what you have understood.

5. Revise/ Review- how accurate were you in your under-
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standing.

4.3. Writing skills

JJ II Preparing to Write
J I Styles of writing include:
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
Inductive
Deductive
Substyles
Narrative
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Descriptive
Rational esp. scientific writing
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Argumentative
1. Identify the topic.
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2. Get the relevant information i.e. research.

3. Organise the material in some logical order or preferred
manner.
JJ II 4. Determine the scope of the write up i.e depth (how much
J I to cover), width and length(how many pages).
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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
5. Who is the audience?
Characteristics of a good writer
1. Clear
2. Concise
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3. Correct
4. Courteous
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5. Concrete; factual and not presumptuous.

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6. Interesting

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 HRD 2101 Communication Skills
Solutions to Exercises
Exercise 1.

Sensing/ Hearing/Selective Hearing

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Interpretation
Evaluate; which of the things I have sensed is important i.e.
attach value thus either store or discard.
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Memory stage - put whatever we think is important into our

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memory. Exercise 1

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