RSS feed for Session 1: What are the purposes of communication?

Introduction

The Open University — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:48:21 GMT

All through your life you continually change how you speak and what you speak about. Each situation you find yourself in demands a slightly different method of communication from you. You can probably think of situations when your communication has faltered and scenarios which result in misunderstanding. You either adapt by seeking expert help – for instance, special training is sometimes available to prepare you for public speaking or similar tasks – or, more likely, you reflect and learn from experience. Over time you develop differing degrees of awareness of how to respond appropriately in different situations. The opening two sessions of this course will accelerate your learning from experience.

Figure 1 Communication is key.

Long description

In this first session of the course, you will be introduced to the purpose of small talk and non-verbal communication. However, you’ll begin to develop your understanding of the purpose of communication exchanges by going in at the deep end. First, you will watch an example of communication under intense pressure in motor racing.

By the end of this session, you should be able to:

explain the different purposes of communication, whether that be small talk or the main part of any dialogue
identify how communication goes beyond words and consists of how you say them with non-verbal elements such as gestures, facial expressions and eye contact
appreciate that we can’t always hide our innermost feelings.

The Open University would really appreciate you taking a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations of the course. Your input will help to improve the online learning experience. If you would like to help, and if you haven’t already done so, please fill in this optional survey.

This course is supported and strongly recommended by UK Coaching. Whether you’re just starting out or have been coaching for years you will learn new skills and demonstrate that you have been proactive in your professoinal development.

1 Life and death communication in motor racing

The Open University — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:48:21 GMT

In this first activity, you will watch a lively extract concerning life and death decisions during a motor racing pit-stop.

Figure 2 Communication in the pit-stop can be crucial.

Long description

Activity 1 Chris Hoy’s motor racing pit-stop

Timing: Allow about 20 minutes

When multiple Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy retired, he took up motor racing and went to the Le Mans 24-hour race to compete. Watch the video of Chris Hoy’s motor racing pit-stop but please be warned that there is some swearing in this clip so carefully choose where you watch it so as not to cause offence to others. In addition to Chris Hoy who is driving, there are two other main people interacting: the race engineer (coordinating radio communications) and the team principal leading the pit-crew. Using examples from this video make notes on the following questions:

How does the competition situation influence the purpose of the communication and the tone that is used?
How are relationships strengthened or threatened through this exchange?

Download this video clip.Video player: e119_2018j_vid008-640x360.mp4

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Transcript

CHRIS:

Front right, flat spot. I've flat spotted the front right tyre with bad vibration.

STUART:

OK, see if you can keep your pace up. If the vibration is too much, then we'll bring you in. Jonathan, if he locks the tyre and goes through, we'll have a puncture and we're fucked. Soft set for the car please. Soft tyres for the car immediately. Johnathan, why change all four? He's just going to kill us.

JONATHAN:

I can't do anything about that. If he's on track and he's losing that much time, he's going to kill us anyway.

STUART:

Just put one.

JONATHAN:

I can't make sets, Stuart. That's just stupid. There will be a balancing difference.

STUART:

They do it in Formula 1. They do it in this series. Just put one tyre on.

CHRIS

Can you please stop talking. I'm going to have to come in. I can barely see the windscreen.

JONATHAN:

Chris, you have to wait. I'm afraid you've buggered the tyres. I cannot just fix it like that. You have to continue driving until I've got to a point where I can stop you to fix the problem.

STUART:

What are they? We need hot soft. Johnathan, there's no soft tyres at all. You'll just have to go with one tyre.

JONATHAN:

He's flat spotted both fronts. Just do the whole set.

CHRIS:

I'm going to have to come in, this is getting fucking dangerous now.

JONATHAN:

OK, we've got to take the chance. Box now.

MAN:

They're cold, all the tyres.

STUART:

Oh, fuck me.

NARRATOR:

Using cold tyres can be like driving on ice.

CHRIS:

I'm sorry about that. It was so annoying. Flat spotted going into the Mulsanne corner.

JONATHAN:

So what's done is done. We can't change it. Just concentrate and we'll go again.

CHRIS:

Copied.

STUART:

Are you going to tell him these are cold?

JONATHAN:

We'll do it once you're done. OK, Chris, nice and easy. The tyres are cold. So just be careful with them.

STUART:

Chris, really careful, the first two laps, extreme care. I know what's happened. Because Jonathan's worried about each cycle you were waiting to put the next set of mediums in. But what happens is, if you wait, you get fucked. Fuck him. I know what I'm talking about. Always have a set of hot tyres in.

JONATHAN:

OK, Chris how are you feeling? Is everything OK?

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Restrict yourself to 20 minutes for this activity. It would be easy to spend hours on it with a very in-depth analysis; instead restrict your time, give your initial responses to the two questions and then read the Discussion to reinforce your learning.

Discussion

This is a very high-pressure situation requiring fast decisions and communication during competition: a race track pit-stop needs to be quick. Their communication has an information function (e.g. ‘replace all four tyres’) and/or an interpersonal function in developing confidence and/or trust and rapport. Analysis of individual interactions when taken out of this intense competition context should recognise the needs of this demanding environment.
There are numerous examples of ambiguous communication or too much information or messages dominated by anger; this often makes these messages less effective. For instance, at one point Hoy has to say ‘can you please stop talking, I’m going to have to come in …’ as he fears for his safety.
The first successful piece of interpersonal communication occurs when Chris Hoy (CH) comes into the pit-stop when his confidence has been threatened:
- CH: ‘I’m sorry about that, that’s so annoying …’ [i.e. an apology to the team]
  Race engineer: ‘What’s done is done, we can’t change it, lets concentrate and we go again’ [supportive and positive]
  CH: ‘copied’ [I have received the message].
In terms of relationships being strengthened or threatened, you might have noticed some of the following examples. Throughout the exchanges tensions run quite high and the team leader’s anger could harm the relationship with his race engineer and team colleagues. One outburst appeared ego-centred and perhaps unusual, e.g. ‘F*** him [i.e. the race engineer], I know what I’m talking about’.
The penultimate exchange between team leader (TL) and race engineer (RE), however, demonstrates listening to each other in the heat of the situation and the working relationship being maintained:
- TL: ‘Are you going to tell him [Chris Hoy] that these [tyres] are cold?’
  RE: ‘Will do once you’re done’.
After the pit-stop it is noticeable how the race engineer attempts to build rapport and confidence with Chris by asking ‘OK Chris, how are you feeling, everything OK?’

Although we all communicate every day, this video and research into the topic demonstrate that communication and working relationships are a complex set of social skills and behaviours (e.g. Bowes and Jones, 2006). However, here in this course, it is broken down into parts – thereby making it easier to study – and you will revisit this video in Session 2 to make further sense of it.

Right now, at the beginning of this course, you should consider to what extent you use small talk when you catch up with someone. Is small talk pointless chit-chat or a social lubricant?

2 What is the point of small talk?

The Open University — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:48:21 GMT

The technical name for small talk is phatic communication; for example, ‘Hi, you OK?’ or a comment about the weather. Questions or comments such as these are not meant to elicit detailed responses but they do serve a social purpose.

Activity 2 What is the purpose of phatic talk?

Timing: Allow about 20 minutes

Listen to a linguist, academic and psychotherapist discussing phatic talk. The audio starts with psychotherapist and writer Philippa Perry describing phatic talk as ‘mundane information that has been exchanged between two people … ’ What do you think is the purpose of the phatic talk in different sport and fitness settings?

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Transcript

PHILLIPA PERRY

Mundane information that has been exchanged between people hundreds of times before, nothing original in it, but said with great sort of sincerity and good heart between these two and I think that is actually the key to small talk. It’s when you are speaking from your heart but it’s the process of the speaking rather than the content of it that is important. Like I meet my friend off the train and I go, ‘hi, how are you? How was your journey?’ And basically I might as well be saying, ‘Hmm, hmm’ you know because I'm really pleased to see her.

MICHAEL ROSEN

You're putting words in there as well.

PHILLIPA PERRY

I'm just putting words in –

LAURA WRIGHT

It’s all about establishing relationships and also this business of achieving transition like with your example of seeing somebody getting off the train. So it’s transition from that moment where you two are apart to first seeing each other to actually coming close enough to talk to each other, to establishing good will. Then – what on earth are you gonna talk about? What’s been happening? The things you want to express. The things you don’t want to express.

MICHAEL ROSEN

Just go back to the words themselves. Isn't the point if you say there is phatic communication and then there is other kind of communication, you are saying that it’s not actually the content of the words that count? So when people say language is communication in this particular case if I say ‘how are you?’ it’s not the content of ‘how are you?’ that I'm communicating. I'm communicating ‘coo-ee are you a friend?’ Or whatever I am. But it’s not the words themselves. So it’s not strictly speaking language as communication it’s the total moment as communication. Is that right?

LAURA WRIGHT

I think that’s right. I mean phatic communication can be different from other sorts of language precisely in that ritualisation that you're just talking about there. I mean what words did you just give me? ‘How are you doing? How are you?’

MICHAEL ROSEN

That sort of thing –

LAURA WRIGHT

But you haven't thought that through just then and invented it on the spot. That’s something you’ve said a zillion times beforehand and it’s got to be collaborative. So if you do that ‘all right?’ or ‘how are you doing?’ or whatever and the other person doesn’t respond then that’s a problem. It has to be both of you contributing.

PHILLIPA PERRY

There's a certain rule of reprocracy isn't there? I mean if I say ‘nice weather’ or ‘how are you?’ I am wanting a response and I also want you to sort of agree with me. So, if I say ‘nice weather’, I want you to go ‘yeah it’s lovely’.

MICHAEL ROSEN

And then aren’t we doing – we’re saying we’re in the same social unit. It’s a coherence thing here or cohesion that we’re saying if you say ‘nice weather’, I go ‘yeah nice weather’. But if I go ‘I dunno’ then I've broken it haven't I?

PHILLIPA PERRY

Yes and then I take a step back and go ‘okay.’ You’ve said you can't come in any further. And if you ignore me altogether – well, I know my place don’t I?

[…]

PHILLIPA PERRY

So you tell a story and in my mind I'm trying to find connections to that story and then when I find a connection then I share my story with you again and then you find connections in what I'm saying and then we go to places that neither of us would have got to on our own.

LAURA WRIGHT

That’s my definition of a good conversation – a successful one.

PHILLIPA PERRY

I think you can get to that sort of good conversation via ritualised small talk.

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Discussion

In the audio, they describe phatic talk as ritualised and a process that helps establish a relationship or a transition before the more detailed conversation starts. They describe it as establishing goodwill, collaboration and cohesion, provided those interacting reciprocate (join in) the dialogue. If they choose not to respond, this could be interpreted as being unfriendly or even hostile. In sport and fitness the topics that are chosen to be discussed are selected in order to make mutual agreement almost guaranteed, such as ‘what did you think of the match/game/event at the weekend?’ or ‘how are your family?’

Phatic openings are invaluable means of establishing relations before getting down to the real purpose of the encounter.

3 More than words

The Open University — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:48:21 GMT

Speech and phatic talk is enhanced through features such as the pace, volume, rhythm and intonation of speech (known as paralinguistic features). These, in turn, can shape meaning.

Activity 3 Phatic talk in action: Lauren’s tennis coaching

Timing: Allow about 10 minutes

Watch this video of Lauren greeting a young tennis player.

As you watch the video, look out for how much mutual collaboration (contributions from both parties) and reciprocation (returning or mirroring the contribution) there is in the phatic talk.

Download this video clip.Video player: e119_2018j_vid015-640x360.mp4

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Transcript

BEN

Hi Lauren, how are you?

LAUREN ROSE

I'm good thanks, how are you?

BEN

Good.

LAUREN ROSE

Good. Have a seat. Had a good week?

BEN

Yeah.

LAUREN ROSE

Yeah.

BEN

It's been very hot.

LAUREN ROSE

It has been hot, hasn't it. Good day at school?

BEN

Mm-hmm.

LAUREN ROSE

Yeah? Been watching any Wimbledon?

BEN

Yeah.

LAUREN ROSE

Brilliant. Good. OK, so I thought today we'd do a bit of work on your backhand, OK, and a little bit work on weight transfer on your backhand just to give you a little bit more power through the shot.

BEN

And depth.

LAUREN ROSE

And depth, exactly. Yep.

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Discussion

The young tennis player instigates the interaction by smiling and asking ‘how are you?’ and this is mirrored by Lauren. Lauren gestures to the seat as a friendly invitation to sit down, hinting at her authority over him. Their conversation is up and running and Lauren asks him about how his week has been, his day at school and if he has been watching Wimbledon. The comment on the hot weather is safe ground they can easily agree on. Young people soon learn the ritual of these phatic openings even if they don’t appreciate the purpose. The dialogue established, Lauren marks that the exchange is moving to a more instructional stage with ‘brilliant … good … so’, before explaining the focus of the training session.

You probably already appreciate some aspects of what we term non-verbal communication, but the next section will give you insight into its significance in building relationships and/or sustaining others’ motivation.

4 Non-verbal communication in action

The Open University — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:48:21 GMT

You may think that facial expressions – smiles, laughs, frowns – convey the way the speaker feels at that moment. You are indeed partly in control of feelings – or you can be, with practice. You may not be able to control your innermost emotions, but you are able to partly control the way you exhibit them; an important part of behaviour in working life.

Non-verbal communication includes several other features, such as gesture, proximity and eye contact. You will briefly examine each in turn in a moment.

Activity 4 Introducing non-verbal communication

Timing: Allow about 15 minutes

Watch the TED talk ‘Your body language may shape who you are’, in which Amy Cuddy explores the importance of non-verbal communication. Watch from 1 minute up until 3 minutes 27 seconds. As you watch, look out for:

Research examples that explain how long it takes for reasonably accurate first impressions to form?
How does the speaker use her hands and gestures in her talk? How much does it help or hinder her communication?

Discussion

Research suggests that it took between 1 second in one study (based on appearance) and 30 seconds in another (based on interactions with the sound turned down) for people to make rapid judgements or impressions that were fairly reliable.
She uses her hands to accentuate the rhythm of her speech and give extra emphasis to some words with more vigorous movements. There were also moments when she pointed inwardly to herself, indicating ‘me/I’ or reached outwardly to ‘you’, the audience. These inward/outward gestures enhanced her communication and are worth thinking about for your own use with groups.

In fact, evidence suggests that you can’t entirely hide your innermost emotions: our faces leak information (Yan et al., 2013). The following video clip explains how numerous micro-expressions can involuntarily flicker across your face in 1/25th of a second.

Download this video clip.Video player: e119_2018j_vid029-640x360.mp4

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Transcript

NARRATOR

To navigate our increasingly complex social world, we need to learn to collaborate and cooperate with one another. And that means we must learn how to understand the needs and desires of others.

GIRL

And we’re done.

[LAUGHTER]

MAN 1

One of the ways that we can read each other is through our facial expressions, which convey our emotions.

MAN 2

And we are all really good at reading the facial expressions of other people, almost to the point of being mind readers.

NARRATOR

We first learn to read six basic expressions - happy, angry, surprised, disgusted, scared, and sad, really sad.

MAN 1

But our emotions are rarely as simple as pure happiness or pure sadness. And the latest research now shows that we have 21 different facial expressions to convey how we feel. That might include happily surprised or sadly disgusted.

NARRATOR

We now think that there are many thousands of micro expressions - moments that flicker across your face involuntarily in around 1/25th of a second when you’re trying to conceal how you really feel.

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5 Gestures

The Open University — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:48:21 GMT

Gestures, as you have just seen in the TED talk example in Activity 4, are actions made with the head or the hands.

Figure 3 Heads, hands and eyes can convey a great deal.

Long description

Activity 5 What do your head or hands say?

Timing: Allow about 15 minutes

Observe a number of face-to-face conversations between two people without being overly intrusive. Considering the shifting roles of speaker and listener, who mainly uses head gestures and who mainly uses hand gestures?

Discussion

Hand gestures are normally reserved for the speaker. The listener is normally restricted to a head gesture, such as nodding, which is important since it is able to signal to the speaker that the listener is understanding what is being said. Nodding is a sign of active listening, and it provides encouragement to the speaker and is important for the success of an interaction.

The topic of hand gestures is too large to discuss here. However, we can say that they can be either helpful for emphasis or, in contrast, overused and a distraction. Sometimes – as in the case of pointing at someone – they can even be seen as overbearing.

6 Proximity

The Open University — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:48:21 GMT

Proximity concerns the distance people stand (or indeed sit) from each other in given situations. Anthropologist Edward Hall introduced the concept in 1969; he recognised four basic degrees of intimate, personal, social and public space.

Activity 6 What is your personal space limit?

Timing: Allow about 10 minutes

Watch up until 2 minutes 45 seconds of the following video in which a comedian tests Hall’s four degrees of space with members of the public. This clip is not a scientific experiment but its purpose is to stimulate you to reflect on the following question: in a sport or fitness workplace, might proximity considerations be different in any way – if so, how?

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Discussion

While a coach or instructor whose proximity was too distant might be perceived as uncaring, at the other end of the scale legitimate touching and manipulation of adult athletes into the appropriate position might be appropriate if there is consent (Kerr et al, 2015). For example, it would be common practice to ask ‘is it OK if I move you into position?’ or similar.

The following information on the NSPCC website offers guidelines for how physical contact between adults and children in sport can take place appropriately and safely.

7 Eye contact

The Open University — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:48:21 GMT

The role of eye contact (its presence or absence) in face-to-face interaction is crucial. Eye contact during a neutral conversation lasts just a couple of seconds at a time.

Eye contact behaviour varies slightly in groups. If you are addressing a meeting, or coaching a team, eye contact can be vital for imparting a sense of inclusion, and also for holding attention. The speaker often ensures that everybody receives a share of the gaze.

Experienced coaches will know that prolonged eye contact in certain group situations can fulfil other functions, such as giving specific emphasis to part of a group.

You will have an opportunity to apply your initial learning to the communication exchanges in Chris Hoy’s motor racing pit stop video at the start of Session 2, delving a bit deeper into what was said in speech and non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication is a form of feedback between those in a conversation and therefore interpreted by people and thus they respond accordingly. The following observation is from an Open University student:

I find Skype really difficult as I find the conversation cues difficult to read because there is no eye contact – in fact, I would far rather use face-to-face or phone.

8 This session’s quiz

The Open University — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:48:21 GMT

Check what you’ve learned this session by taking the end-of-session quiz.

Session 1 practice quiz

Open the quiz in a new window or tab then come back here when you’ve finished.

9 Summary

The Open University — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:48:21 GMT

The main learning points from this first session are:

Communication often serves two purposes: conveying information and/or an interpersonal function. The interpersonal function relates to developing confidence, trust, rapport or alternatively more negative signals towards others.
Phatic talk openings to dialogue are important in establishing goodwill, collaboration and cohesion between people.
Communication involves not only the words you use, but also the accompanying paralinguistic features such as pace, volume, rhythm and intonation of speech, all of which add to meaning.
Non-verbal communication features include gestures, proximity and eye contact that contribute to effective communication.
Hand gestures are often used by speakers to accentuate the rhythm of their speech and give emphasis to certain words. They can also be used to point inwardly to magnify the first person (i.e. ‘me’, ‘I’, or ‘personally’) or outwardly to those listening (i.e. ‘you’).
Head gestures are often used by listeners in a dialogue to show they are listening.
You can partly control the feelings you exhibit but hiding your innermost emotions can be hard: our faces leak information as numerous micro-expressions involuntarily flicker across our face.

In the next session, you will explore how to get your message across effectively with particular reference to how your written messages can have most impact. Communication is also about the impressions you give to others when interacting with them: how does the persona you convey have an influence on your communication?

You can now go to Session 2.

References

The Open University — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:48:21 GMT

Bowes, I. and Jones, R. L. (2006) ‘Working at the edge of chaos: understanding coaching as a complex, interpersonal system’, The Sport Psychologist, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 235–45.

Hall, E. T. (1966) The Hidden Dimension, first edn, New York, NY, Doubleday and Co.

Kerr, G. A., Stirling, A. E., Heron, A., MacPherson, E. A. and Banwell, J. M. (2015) ‘The importance of touch in sport: athletes’ and coaches’ reflections’, International Journal of Social Science Studies, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 56–68.

Yan, W. J., Wu, Q., Liang, J., Chen, Y. H. and Fu, X. (2013) ‘How fast are the leaked facial expressions: the duration of micro-expressions’, Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 217–30.

Acknowledgements

The Open University — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:48:21 GMT

This free course was written by Ben Oakley.

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