EC SURVEY: A GROUP EXERCISE TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Day 1
Name of the exercise: Youth Survey
No. participants: 51
Age group: 18-19
Education: Completed Plus two
Present State: Going to do Engineering
Purpose of the exercise: A kind of ice breaking as they were all in the process of getting familiar with the new atmosphere. It was also meant to give them more awareness about themselves as a group/ other group participants/ the society in general.
Steps: 1. Divided the class into teams having ten members in each team. The teams had names. Gave a topic to each team to conduct a survey by asking questions. Only three members from a team could approach others while doing the survey and they should not do any writing while asking questions. They have to give the data thus got to their team for further discussions.
2. After getting the answers from their co-participants they wrote a report based on their findings.
3. After studying the report they tried to analyzed it ie., tried to make some sense out of it and discover any logical pattern which had to be communicated to the audience.
4. Presented the survey results and gave their opinions.


The topics given to the students were:

1. The common hobbies of the class.
2. The qualities of a good engineer.
3. The dreams of the students of a life ahead after completing the course.
4. The challenges/problems which they might face during their course.
5. Their expectations from parents/teachers/friends.

The skills practiced: Team Interaction(Team building and Leadership skills), Assigning roles to team members(delegating work), getting information through questions(oral communication), organizing information (data sorting), report writing, analytical and presentation skills.  

 

Day 2

Asked the students to close their eyes for a minute and think about the activities of the previous day during the same session. (Easy Meditation)
Then told them to sit in teams and gave them a sheet of paper. They were asked to write a one line comment about the previous class(Sentence Making Skill Test). Next they were asked to write a summary of their report in a single sentence having less than fifty words/2-3 lines. (Instant Feedback exercise)
Then each group had to come and read the one line summary before the class.(Voice of the people exercise)
Then a pair of students from each team shared their opinion about the speeches made by other teams.
After this the students were asked to write a four line poem based on their given theme. Then they had to compose a nice song by finding a good tune for their poem. It had to be sung by four students in their group. After the song presentation, those who didn't participate in singing have to share the secret behind the song ie., how the team got the creative spark/who wrote the lines/set the tune etc.
The exercise ended with a small speech by a member from each team on the singing performance of other teams.

TO BE CONTINUED...

EC GANDHIAN VALUES EXERCISE

The Gandhian value I cherish the most is honesty/love for peace/self reliance/tolerance/equality/compassion/....Choose one Gandhian value and speak/share your thoughts.

TO BE CONTINUED...

GAMES(The Great Art of Making Sentences) of Great Gamers

How it begins: One evening of late summer, before the nineteenth century had reached one-third of its span, a young man and woman, the latter carrying a child, were approaching the large village of Weydon-Priors, in Upper Wessex, on foot.

Thomas Hardy's THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE

How it ends: And in being forced to class herself among the fortunate, she did not cease to wonder at the persistence of the unforeseen, when the one to whom such unbroken tranquility had been accorded in the adult stage was she, whose youth had seemed to teach that happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain.

 

How it begins: He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY'S The Old Man and The Sea

How it ends: The old man was dreaming about the lions.





TO BE CONTINUED...

The COMMON MAN-WOMAN

Nowadays we often talk about the price rise, inflation, etc. which mostly affects the common man. So this discussion is about the common man. Who is this "Common man?" Why is he always a common man? Why can't he do something himself so that he can help himself and others like him? Why is he so helpless/ so vulnerable to all the problems and evils in the world? Doesn't he have any powers/abilities of his own? Or is he not aware of his powers to deal with real life challenges?
Actually nobody is born as a common man. Because of social/educational/cultural/family training we are made to forget all our natural traits like independent and creative thinking, originality in views and ideas, innovative problem solving etc. The herd mentality inculcated during the growing up years of a person makes him voiceless and nameless. And another common man is born. So while raising our voice against issues like price rise, corruption etc. it is also important that we try to come out of this comfort zone of commonness or anonymity and do something worthwhile which makes us special in some way. When we talk of doing things, it has to be something original/rooted in our living environment and not temporary/quick-fix solutions which will create more problems in future. The herd mentality always keeps us in the class of "the common man". The fear of "what will others like me think of me
if I act/speak/react in this manner" has to be conquered. And then there won't be "a common man/woman class" in the society. Everybody would be Individuals with "I" in capital. 





TO BE CONTINUED...

INTRODUCING DIFFERENTLY...

In this self introduction exercise the students have to speak in English about three things:
1. The NAME of the person and the kind of feelings/emotions the word evoked.
2. The NATIVE PLACE of the person and how it inspired him/her.
3. The PURPOSE of life ie., what motivates you, your passion.

This exercise can also be done by talking about other topics like: your home/house, possessions, family members, hobbies, books, TV programmes, music, movies, magazines, newspapers, places you visited, teachers, celebrities, role models, vehicles, computer/laptop, mobile, friends, daily routine, food, sports, ambitions, childhood experiences, festivals, culture, historical events, speeches, quotes, proverbs, language, rituals, leaders in the past/present, courses done, future events, elders in the family, websites, social networking, scenes in movies, fictional characters, skills learnt, achievements in the past/recently, success/failure in life, newspaper reports, famous victories in sports, poems, songs, dialogues, TV personalities, reality shows, political parties, educational institutions, commercial organization, non-commercial organizations, famous brands, slogans and captions, spirituality, nature, noble causes, human values, ethics and moral values, Gandhian principles, wars, resolutions for peace/peace treaties, classes attended, seminars and workshops, dress/costume, advertisement campaigns, image changes/makeovers, famous comebacks, social institutions/customs, challenging old values/traditions, social reforms, inventions, discoveries, social changes, political changes, changes in business practices, changes in people's attitudes, women empowerment, changes in education, technological advancements, changes in lifestyle, economic conditions, globalization, decentralization, democratic practices, new political parties, global warming, deforestation and changes in nature, changes in culture, changes in work style, new careers, attitude of the youth, skill development, family life, new courses etc.

TO BE CONTINUED... 

EC PERFECTION

Perfection is decided by three things: attitude, perception and expectations. So when we say that a person is perfect it shows our attitude towards him/her, our perception regarding his abilities and potential and also our expectations from that person. So it is important that those seeking perfection in their field of work/profession/life should be morally/ethically right so that they are liked by the people first. We all love Sachin Tendulkar as one of the most perfect batsmen of our times because of his human values on the cricketing field, his talent and also because he performed in situations where there were high expectations.

But on the other hand there are schools where students are banned from speaking in the class in the name of discipline. To maintain a perfect environment in some classes verbal communication is totally prohibited. Some schools go to the extent of banning vernacular communication on the campus to encourage English Communication. Then there are offices where employees are bitterly criticized for taking leaves without prior notice/coming late/not wishing their bosses etc. All those who are ready to even die in the name of perfection are actually trying to create the perfect silence of the graveyard as no one complains there of anything. But a graveyard is considered as the world of those who don't exist(physically!).

So life is an art of getting along with imperfections in a smooth manner. Perfection is a like a mirage, an illusion which is unrealistic to achieve in the real world. We can strive for perfection but never achieve it. Pursuit of excellence is more inspiring than that of perfection.

I don't think that this post on Perfection is perfect. You can always disagree with the views expressed here. And that is what makes communication so full of life because it is open for a 

discussion/debate/interaction.

TO BE CONTINUED...

EC APOLOGY

I sincerely and wholeheartedly apologize for any mistakes/errors found in this blog which might have occurred despite my best efforts to achieve perfection. I hope you would be patient towards imperfections if any. And do bring them to my notice as soon as possible.

cyberjosh123@yahoo.com