Unit 3: Applying Interaction Skills for Information, Advice or Guidance

Understanding the importance of effective communication skills in the delivery of information, advice or guidance.

Effective communication skills are essential to success in many aspects of life and many jobs including information, advice and guidance require you to have strong communication skills. Effective communication is a key interpersonal skill and learning how to improve your communication will have many benefits to your work in IAG.

There are three areas of effective communication that are important in delivering information, advice or guidance. These include effective listening, non-verbal communication and questioning styles.

Effective Listening

Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communication process. It is key to effective communication. Without the ability to listen effectively, what we say can be misinterpreted and can lead down to a breakdown in communication. Good listening skills can lead to improved client satisfaction and increased sharing of information, leading to better outcomes.

Listening is Not the Same as Hearing
Hearing refers to the sounds that enter your ears. It is a physical process that, provided you do not have any hearing problems, happens automatically.

Learning to listen effectively includes paying attention not only to the story, but how it is told, the use of language and voice, and how the other person uses his or her body. It involves being aware of both verbal and non-verbal messages.

It can be easy to forget that IAG and effective communication is a two-way process and improving your listening skills will help improve your relationships at work, with clients and at home too.

Effective listening requires you to give your full attention to the person speaking, concentrating on what they are saying—and what they are not saying. Good listening also uses clarification and reflection techniques to confirm what the client has said.

Clarification involves asking questions and/or summarising what the client has said. It requires the use of non-judgemental questioning and
summarising information back to the client to check you have understood them correctly.

When you are delivering information, advice or guidance, using appropriate questioning styles can support the client to describe their situation, thoughts and feelings more openly. Asking the right question at the right time is an important factor in effective communication which comes with practice.  The best questions are open-ended questions as they give the speaker choice in how to respond, whereas closed questions allow only very limited responses.

Activity – Effective Listening Role-Play

In the video below you will see a quick role play featuring a client and an advisor. Your role will be to observe the interaction and to identify the key skills involved in effective listening. Look out for the use of clarification, summarising and non-verbal body language.

Write down and explain the skills you observed and submit your answers into the comment section of the video.

INSERT ROLE PLAY VIDEO –