Rotary Youth Leadership Awards

1. Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Communication Presented by Valencia Grant Director Viva New Media! Limited, a Marketing/PR consultancy and publisher of www.caribfashiontv.com

2. Youth Taking Charge • In keeping with the theme of the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards – Youth Taking Charge – I’d like to talk to you about how you can use communication to take charge of situations, i.e. to assume control or command of interactions in your social/personal/professional life.

3. Youth Taking Charge • Bear in mind that when I say assume control or command of a situation, I don’t mean taking charge of it by being domineering or by exerting a dominating influence over the people involved. After all, communicating is about give and take; it’s about talking and listening. More importantly, communication is the engine of life as we know it.

4. Youth Taking Charge • It is therefore important to note that when I say I’d like to talk to you…let me rephrase that…when I say I’d like to talk with you (since effective communication is two-way interaction) about how you can use communication to take charge of situations, I mean how you can claim the power to direct or determine your social/personal/professional life through your interactions.

5. WHAT IS COMMUNICATION AND HOW IT WORKS • Communication is simply the activity of communicating; the activity of conveying information. • Communication is two-way because once we distribute certain information to someone there’s almost always a response from that person as to how s/he can meet our needs, why that’s not possible, what s/he is willing to do to meet our needs, etc. • Therefore, we always communicate with an end result in mind. • Simply put, effective communication entails diplomacy (tact and skill in dealing with people).

6. MAKING COMMUNICATION WORK IN YOUR BEST INTEREST • Much of your time dealing with people will be spent listening since communication involves two-way interaction, i.e. information is transmitted (verbal as well as non-verbal signals are sent out) and the person(s) receiving those signals process them (through listening and analyzing) before responding. • People usually respond in their own best interests, so learning to analyze verbal and non-verbal signals is necessary for effective communication to take place. Remember, effective communication is powerful because it can help you achieve your goals. • You should therefore never cut people off or interrupt them while they’re talking, and never ask a question without waiting for an answer. Always maintain eye contact! Eye contact indicates interest and confidence. Plus, you need your eyes to help you assess the other person’s body language.

7. IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT COMMUNICATION • Effective communication is powerful because it can help you achieve your goals. Firstly, you have to know what you want and be motivated enough to change the manner in which you communicate in order to achieve positive outcomes. • Another important thing you need in order to communicate effectively is all of the facts. You need to do research. You need to have all the information laid out in front of you before you can communicate effectively, whether you’re writing a history essay, preparing for a job interview or deciding the extent of your future interactions with someone.

8. IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT COMMUNICATION • Communication is indeed very powerful! It affects the way people view you and respond to you. • Communicating in anger rarely ends well. My advice: just don’t do it! Know your Achilles’ heel (e.g. e-mail) and avoid it when you’re angry. • You should remember that effective communication entails negotiation. If you approach someone in anger, chances are they will respond angrily. You will therefore get stuck at an impasse.

9. IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT COMMUNICATION • Remember that everyone has a point of view. Everyone has feelings. You can’t take back words. You can backpedal and apologize for your words. However, you can never erase them, particularly when they are sent via e-mail and other forms of media communication. • That’s not to say you shouldn’t express your feelings. Just cool off first then go into the discussions with your research and positive outcomes in mind. Positivity begets positively and negativity begets negativity.

10. IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK/CHAIN • I think it is truly a testament to the power of communication that every modern mass communication technology was developed not from the work of one person, but as a result of many inventors who built upon the breakthroughs of earlier pioneers as well as their contemporaries. These inventors relied upon facts and research before venturing out to change the world.

11. COMMUNICATING WITH SOCIAL NETWORKING • Social networking, electronic mailing, instant messaging, video chat, and texting communication services – like all other methods of mass communication before them – have revolutionized modern communication. It is now up to all of us to use them responsibly. • Cyber bullying, cyber stalking, sexting, pornography and invasion of privacy are attendant realities of these new forms of mass media communication. The new media certainly didn’t create bullying, stalking, pornography and invasion of privacy. Unfortunately, some people – including teenagers, children, pedophiles, pornographers and even parents – are using these so-called new media to amplify these practices.

12. YOUTH, TAKE CHARGE! • I implore you young people to take charge of your personal and mass communications, by conveying information that serves to build up rather than break down your communities and classmates. • Communication is a very powerful tool, and we each have a remote-control switch in our hands. Therefore, it behooves us to amplify its most productive – and not destructive – features. Youth, take charge!

13. RESOURCES TO IMPROVE YOUR COMMUNICATIONS • I didn’t touch on Persuasive Writing and Effective Public Speaking, two expansive topics. For further reading, I recommend the DK Essential Managers series. www.dk.com I have the following books in the series: • Effective Communication • Presenting • How to Delegate • Working with Difficult People • Negotiating • Effective Public Relations