• VePub Press
  • Events
  • Skills of Communication
Cost: This workshop, as with all Mitacs Step workshops, is free for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. However, the preauthorization of a valid credit card is required as part of the registration process. A $50 penalty will be applied to all late cancellations (cancellations that are not made 5 days or more before the workshop date), no shows, or incomplete attendance. These penalties are only charged after the completion of a workshop and no charges are ever made to those who participate in full.

Description:

Skills of Communication is a full-day session featuring the tools and tips of better verbal communication. It will test your assumptions and mental models and for many it may be the first time you learn about the Ladder of Inference, the Johari Window and more. The goal is to make you more aware of the tools available to help you become a better communicator in both your work and personal lives. The mastery of these skills is a long-term process, but by simply becoming more conscious of the various communication styles, including your own, you can approach conversations differently and change conversational direction to achieve better outcomes.

Workshop Objective:

To increase participant awareness and application of tools available to them to become better communicators in work and life.

Learning Outcomes:

Through participating and completing this workshop, participants will:

  • Understand how personal assumptions and mental models adversely influence communication
  • Learn how to determine your own personal assumptions and how to avoid them
  • Learn to navigate and approach difficult conversations
  • Identify and implement communications tools and techniques for team success

Key Topic Areas:

The purpose of communication

  • Communication not as simple as it appears
  • When bad communication happens to good communicators
  • Identifying challenging conversations
  • How mental models & personal assumptions influence communication
    • Mental models and The Ladder of Inference
    • 3 Steps: Reflection, Advocacy, Inquiry
    • Culture and communication
    • Gender and communication
    • Unspoken words
    • Johari Window Model