Communication Skills for Recreation and Health Promotion Professionals

Foundations of Human Communication

• Human communication defined
• Importance of communication
• Elements of communication: source, message, channel, interference and feedback
• Communication process: simultaneous interactive nature
• Characteristics of communication: inescapable, irreversible, complicated and rule governed
• Effective communication requires: self-awareness, effective use and interpretation of both verbal and nonverbal messages, listening and responding skills and the ability to effectively adapt messages to others

Perception, Self-Awareness and Communication

• Perception process: attention, selection, organization and interpretation
• Importance of self-awareness in improving communication skills
• Self concept, self esteem and communication
• Gender, social comparisons, self expectations and communication

Verbal Communication

• Canada’s linguistic diversity
• Denotative, connotative, abstract and concrete meanings
• Culture-bound and context-bound words
• Words, power and biased language

Nonverbal Communication

• Importance and functions of nonverbal communication
• Culture-bound, rule-governed, multi-channelled and continuous nature of nonverbal communication
• Interpreting nonverbal cues more accurately

Interpersonal Communication Skills and Enhancing Relationships

• Attributes of interpersonal communication
• Self-disclosure: models, effectiveness, role in relationships
• Communication: family and work-based relationships
• Managing interpersonal conflict

Culture, Gender and Communication

• Cultural contexts and values
• Gender and communication
• Overcoming barriers and adapting to others

Helping Skills

• Components of effective listening
• Demonstrate active listening skills
• Demonstrate interviewing skills

Leisure Interview

• Applies attending, paraphrasing, questions, silence, empathy, self-disclosure summary skills
• Develops leisure interview questions
• Demonstrates and evaluates the leisure interview