Week 1 Thursday class

The goals that a lot of you have listed for your six month, 12 month and five year goals were good to read. No surprise that a lot of you see VET Business Administration as the starting point to setting up your own business.

Another point that you made was that I need to be as clear as possible in what I am asking you to do at all times. I will try my best to do this. But I still need you to tell me when to stop and go through it again. So please put up your hand , or just hollar, "Bill, you are not making any sense!" I will not be upset. I need you to do this so that you don't feel frustrated and left behind.

Task 1 Typing Practice for about 20 minutes.

Task 2 Communicate in the work place

• Communication methods used are appropriate to the audience
• Messages and written communication are clear, concise and correct

First let's discuss part of the notes for this module.

Verbal communication

Verbal communication is the simplest form of communication. However, it is not successful unless the two people understand the information the same way.

In an office, verbal communication can include

• answering the telephone
• receiving visitors
• relaying messages
• receiving or giving instructions
• making or confirming arrangements
• addressing meetings.

Effective verbal communication skills

Listening: Listening is an important skill in communicating with others, as you are able to learn what the other person wants and means. To fully understand the message being conveyed, it is important that you ask questions to clarify the meaning. It is also important to clarify that the other person understands your message.

Understanding body language: Body and facial expressions are often used when communicating. It is important that your body language is not conveying something different to what you are saying.

Appropriate speech: In the workplace, it is important to use language appropriate to the audience. The jargon used when speaking to a colleague is not always appropriate to use when speaking to a client, as they may not understand the jargon being used.

Making use of correct questioning techniques: Questioning is an important tool used to obtain feedback and clarification of a message to ensure that the receiver understands what the sender is saying. There are three main questioning techniques.

1. Open questions: these encourage the sharing of information and usually require longer answers, eg Why are you interested in applying for this job?
2. Closed questions: these questions are usually asking for a yes or no answer, and do not encourage any further discussion, eg Are you interested in applying for this job?
3. Reflective questions: these questions are structured so that the person answers in a particular way, to make their opinion clear, eg This job interests you, doesn't it?

Now, what I need to show to the auditors at the end of Semester 1 is some work that you have done in class today on this topic. This proves that you were, that we were not trying to pull a swifty, and that you have handed in a piece of work.

Worksheet handed out and done individually and then discussed as a group and then handed up.

Task 3 - Using your google acccount for the start of an online virtual presence (Good or bad?)