Visual Aid 1.3.6: Gender Differences in Communication

Visual Aid 1.3.6: Gender Differences in Communication

Men	Women
Verbal ·        Usually louder and firmer communication  ·        More sender, less receiver ·        Language style more competitive	Verbal ·        Women speak lower voice ·        Soft voice ·        More receiver/listener ·        Language style more dialogue focused
Non-Verbal ·        Extend their bodies, taking up greater areas of space than women ·        Both men and women, when speaking, look at men more than at women. ·        Make eye contact when angry	Non-Verbal ·   Smile more than men ·   Touch more and are touched more ·   Stand closer to each other than men ·   Are approached more closely than men ·   Read more non verbal ·                    More eye contact when wanting to make friends

Source: https://www.pearsonhighered.com/samplechapter/0205353908.pdf, p.157

         What problems might these differences create when men and women communicate with each other?

Introduce Barriers and Bridges for Communication                                       30 Min

Exercise: Make groups, five trainees in each group. Invite them to discuss the communication failures they experienced in their lives. Let them select 2 incidents where they describe the situation. Was it a sender’s communication problem or a receivers’ listening problem? Ask each group to select a presenter, who will present the communication failure experiences they shared within the group to the whole class.

·         Reconvene the issues raised to relate those to the following points.

·         Discuss, jointly with the – Sender’s communication or receiver’s level of understanding and listening skills. Highlight that these are barriers.

·         Make participants aware of how barriers of communication can affect relationships and feelings.

·         Ask trainees what could be barriers in communication between sender and receiver?

·         Summarise the same in the visual aid.