Ma - he's making eyes at me!
Featured in the Essential Interpersonal Skills for Outstanding Managers training manual
By Eddie Davies
Category: Communication Skills
Credit price: 4 download credits (Single user)
There are a number of key building blocks that underpin effective interpersonal skills. Research has shown that of the three key elements of communication, body language is by far the strongest. We cannot ignore its influence, although for many people their perceptions and judgments often take place at a subliminal or unconscious level. This training activity offers the opportunity to identify the key components involved in body language and, by raising their awareness of them, enables the participants to make conscious choices about how to use this knowledge.
You begin this training activity by leading a discussion on the relative importance of various aspects of communication. This introduces participants to the effect that non-verbal elements can have on any interpersonal communication. You establish that body language is the biggest component of these non-verbal elements. You now identify the five key elements of body language – physical appearance, posture, facial expression and eye contact, gestures, and proximity – before the participants carry out a series of mini-exercises designed to explore and develop the skills and knowledge in each element. All the elements come together in a face-to-face exercise in which participants explore a current problem that is of real concern to them. The training activity concludes with the participants reviewing their learning and writing an action plan to transfer the key learning points back to work.
Who is it for: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to enable participants to explore the various components of body language and their own skills in being able to recognise and use body language effectively to improve their interpersonal communication.
- Themes:
- Assertiveness,
- Coaching,
- Communication,
- Counselling skills,
- Customer care,
- Influencing skills,
- Interpersonal skills,
- Interviewing skills,
- Introduction to effective management,
- Life and career planning,
- Managing meetings,
- Negotiating skills,
- Performance management,
- Project management,
- Sales training,
- Self-assessment,
- Self-development,
- Stress management,
- Supervisory skills,
- Team-building skills,
- Team development,
- Time management,
- Trainer development,
- Women into management,
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 12 |
| Typical Duration: | 02:00:00 |
| No of Pages: | 23 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Additional resources: Masking tape.
Purpose: This training resource is intended for use by trainers as an exploration of body language; this training activity also works well as an integral part of any training event the purpose of which is to introduce participants to interpersonal skills and to build and improve those skills. When using this training activity in a wider development programme, incorporate it into the earlier events on the programme. It works best when combined with the other key building blocks of interpersonal skills – questioning (as in the training activity, ‘Ask a silly question’) and voice tone (as in the training activity, ‘It’s not what you say, it’s the way you say it’).
Download the training activity, Ma - he's making eyes at me! as featured in the Fenman training manual; Essential Interpersonal Skills for Outstanding Managers