Soft Skills 7 - Communication Foundations / Master In-Demand Professional Soft Skills / LinkedIn Learning Pathway

Which choice is NOT one of the four building blocks of communication?

the presentation

You and a colleague have been emailing about an upcoming project. Suddenly, your colleague sends an email with several off-topic questions and concerns. What action would a strong listener take?

A good listener can observe when their counterpart needs more direct communication. Calling your colleague will help you better gauge how to proceed.

Which behavioral strategy will help you communicate effectively with more senior staff?

Accept that you are young.

What is NOT a suggested reaction to a situation that catches you off guard?

Acting immediately might be the WORST thing you can do in this scenario. It is crucial that you take a moment to calm yourself, and examine the landscape of the decision.

James is conducting a meeting with team members across the country. Which action can he take to ensure he is facilitating everyone's thoughts?

Ask a question, and then patiently wait in silence for each person to share ideas.

Marvin wants to ask his boss for a promotion. Which approach should he take?

Ask or he will never know if this was a possiblity. This is the best approach to help Marvin overcome fears of asking for what he wants.

The executive committee presentation is coming up, and your boss wants you to prepare for difficult questions. Which approach should you take to prepare?

Ask three or more questions and practice with three colleagues.

When crafting an email, what should be the first thing you think about?

Correct! Always begin by thinking of the action you want your reader to take when crafting your email.

Your team is just finishing a long meeting about a new accounting process, and your manager ends the meeting abruptly without taking questions because he has another meeting. Which critical step of the communication loop did your manager miss?

Correct! Feedback is the last step in the communication loop, and is just as vital as the other steps. Without feedback, the manager runs the risk of a major miscommunication with his team.

Derek is leading an instructional meeting with his sales staff. He begins the meeting by demonstrating how to use a new software, which is met with a lot of yawns and blank stares from the audience. What did Derek do wrong?

Correct! In order to increase buy in from an audience, a speaker always needs to address "why" the information is important to them. Derek instead skipped straight to the product demonstration, and lost his audience.

When you are asking for something, it is important to state the action you need clearly, make the next steps obvious and as easy as possible for the decision maker, and finally _____.

Correct! It is critical that you create a sense of urgency when asking for something so that your request doesn't get put on the back burner by the decision maker.

You are pitching a new recruiting platform to your boss, who is known to be an analytical, data driven individual. Based on what we discussed in this video, what should you include in your pitch?

Correct! Since your boss values data and evidence, it is imperative that you provide analytical reasons based in concrete facts that demonstrate value.

You are partnering on a project with a colleague much older than you. Your colleague uses an inefficient methodology, and you have an idea about how to proceed. What's the best way to voice your opinion?

Correct! Using this qualifier ("I know I have less experience") is a gentler way to express disagreement or ideas, but to still voice your opinion in a respectful manner.

In the context of presenting up, what does it mean to "go for the forest, not the trees"?

Executives deal with A LOT every day. As such, they will likely be more concerned with the big picture instead of the minute details of your presentation.

What is the LEAST effective way to mine for connections?

Gossip about how upset everyone is that they have to work weekends during the next quarter. Whenever you are mining for connections, it is critical that you keep the conversation positive! It is never a good idea to build rapport on negative situations.

Ratino is working on how to process criticism at work, so he can influence the conversation to a solution. What is the last step in this process?

He should say, "Yes, and...."

Which of these should be your first step when responding to criticism?

Identifying and correcting our own assumptions about criticisms is the first step towards productive conversations. Rather than assume that the person is attempting to hurt us, we need to assume positive intent. Check those listening biases!

Conrad wants to advance his career, but is not sure what to focus on. As a recruiter, why would you tell him to focus on his communication competency?

It is a critical factor in choosing managers.

It is _____ to suggest a deadline from a decision maker when making an ask.

It is definitely okay to suggest a deadline when making an ask. This helps develop a sense of urgency, and might prevent your request from getting pushed to the backburner.

Shiloh asks her boss, "We need additional funds for Project Z to be successful. Can you approve this new budget?" Which key component(s) is missing from this "ask"?

It is direct but does not include a clear reason for the action.

A coworker calls to inform you she found several errors in a report you submitted. You feel defensive, but do not want to respond this way. How should you respond?

Leading with the third thought that comes to your mind is the best approach, since this thought typically focuses on problem-solving.

Choice of words, timing, and _____ all have an equally large impact on the way a conversation goes.

Location is a huge part of the context surrounding a conversation. You wouldn't conduct an evaluation of one of the people you manage in front of an audience of 300 people, would you?

When discussing a project with a potential client, you want to listen attentively by doing all but:

Making a list of your potential ideas to solve issues that they client is sharing

Mark was surprised that his proposal was rejected by the client. He spent a long time listening to the client, taking pages and pages of notes, designing a detailed set of visuals and sending it via email so that he would make the agreed upon deadline. What did Mark miss from a channel standpoint in his communication process?

Mark should have worked through a better timeline so that he could present and discuss his proposal in a face to face or at least virtual face to face setting

Bob is meeting with a potential client who asked him to design a training series for his staff. If Bob follows the four building blocks of communication which of the following actions is incorrect?

Meet with the client to discuss preferred visuals for the presentation

When explaining a process or providing instruction, why is it important to separate information into three buckets?

Our brains operate more efficiently when we think and receive information in sets of three.

Quinn is a friend and HR rep who comes to your staff meeting to explain the healthcare package to your team. After Quinn's delivery, the team is distraught. Why is this the case?

Quinn is not tuned into the relationships involved in this context.

Katie is discussing improvements for a product with a senior employee who is not agreeing with her. How can Katie demonstrate respect to the senior employee in the discussion?

She should use a qualifier to disagree and redirect. This approach is a gentle way to acknowledge Katie's lesser experience, yet share an idea and seek input from the more experienced employee.

Which of these is a suggested tip to help you exude warmth and confidence?

Smile authentically.

An employee stops by your office to inform you about how upset your most important customer is with service he is receiving. What is the first step you should take?

Taking a deep breath to calm yourself is a good first step, and will enable you to be more clear and respond with credibility.

Quincy gives a coworker specific directions for tasks on a project using the Think, Feel, Do model, but the coworker does not understand the directions. What is the likely cause?

The coworker may have preconceived notions or has made assumptions about Quincy (mental filters).

Johanna is crafting an email to her 100 direct reports on a new process. How can she keep her email short and to the point?

The first sentence is the main purpose, and the second sentence is the action.

When two people are conversing, what is NOT considered part of the message?

The location in which the communication is taking place.

In this course the term 'people' in a communication scenario are described as:

The people, describes the audience involved in a communication event and their mental mindsets and contexts that the communicator needs to take into account.

You notice an employee at lunch who gets along easily with others, smiles, seems calm, and always asks positive questions. What do these types of behaviors do?

They build rapport and trust.

Raegan is developing a presentation for a C-suite on a major proposal. Which action will help him structure his presentation for this audience?

Use SCQA. This is a series of questions that will enable Raegan to keep her introduction short and the audience knowing the direction right away.

You are helping a coworker be a more effective facilitator when running a meeting with a mix of onsite and remote team members. Which tip would you follow?

Use a smart agenda. Following this tip will allow attendees to think and be more effective when discussing items at the meeting.

You are reviewing your last few emails to identify what you can improve on. What should you look for to ensure you use the building blocks Think, Feel, Do model?

Was every word in the emails necessary, or could you have been more concise? When you craft an email message, this question will help you verify whether readers follow the Think, Feel, Do model.

You want to practice the response formula for situations in which you are caught off guard. What is the correct formula?

What I know + What I don't know + How I will find out = Response formula

What question should you ask yourself when you need to rapidly respond to a situation that caught you off guard?

What do I know?

When pitching an idea, it is a good idea to follow the _____ format.

What, Why, How

You discuss a great idea on how to improve manufacturing product 45. Your boss is unaware of issues, since quotas are met. What is a likely reason you cannot persuade your boss on your idea?

You do not present enough evidence. To persuade, you need to craft an argument with the main claim, evidence, and reasoning for the idea.

Why is the concept of teleoanticipation so important when running a meeting?

Your meeting attendees need to be able to pace their attention and energy to last the duration of the meeting, whether it is 15 or 90 minutes long. Teleoanticipation is the biological process we use to pace ourselves. Meeting attendees need to be able to appropriately gauge their attention and energy exertion during meetings in order to be good participants throughout.

Sarah is meeting with a client and should apply the Think, Feel, Do model in her interactions by doing the following:

all of these answers Think about how her audience should feel about her message. Think about how she wants her audience to perceive her message Think about how she phrases her words so that her audience will understand her meaning

The boss asks you to help a new employee learn a process. After listing all the steps and separating them into buckets, you show the employee a tutorial. Which explanation activity are you following?

breaking down the action steps The steps you went through follow this activity, which would support your explanation of the process.

When presenting up, it is suggested that you start your presentation with your _____.

conclusion

Cassy's employee arrives to discuss a confidential situation. Cassy listens intently and then says, "I can see your perspective in this situation." What type of listening is this?

empathetic listening Cassy puts herself in the employee's shoes, or sees the world from the other person's perspective, and listens with her heart.

What are the three major components of the Context communication building block?

location, timing, and relationships are critical components of the context of your message.

Communication can be challenging because all people have

mental filters

Millie is traveling abroad and notices the person next to her has the same type of luggage, so she strikes up a conversation. What type of context drill is used in this social setting?

neutral context This is a suggested drill for situations where Millie will see something common with another person, and want to practice building rapport.

When deciding how to explain something, you must first consider whether you need the _____ or the _____ from your audience.

process; product

You are creating your first presentation on a new CMS system for the company. Your steering committee includes VP of Operations and the IT director. What must you include in your overall message?

reasons aligned with the values and priorities of decision makers The message's pattern of organization is the what, why, and how that incorporates the values and priorities of the decision makers.

You and your boss are having some difficulty seeing eye to eye on a work project. What would be the best context to resolve your conflict?

An email from you asking for a good time in the upcoming days to discuss the issue face to face