For my group interaction we visited a lunch club at our local community centre, ‘Commonside New Horizon Centre. This lunch club was specifically for the elderly as a way for them to stay involved with the community and meet new people, avoiding the isolation and rejection that usually comes with ageing. The whole experience was very enlightening as I was able to speak to people who have been through all of the milestones in life and hearing their stories was very inspiring. Moreover, I was able to put my communication skills and my understanding of previous topics such as effective communication and overcoming barriers to communication to the test within this environment.
Verbal communication skills
One’s use of verbal communication plays an important part in how successful messages are sent and decoded between individuals. My “excellent use of questioning and following on conversation”, said by Mrs Simpson, made it easy for me, a fellow student and Pam (the member of the Commonside Lunch Club) to communicate very effectively thus we were able to speak about multiple topics and current issues. Sharing a common interest in reading, I and Pam as well as Adina were able to express our love for certain books.
Tone of Voice:
When reaching complex and sensitive issues such as that of the war (Pam was evacuated as a child during the Second World War to the countryside) my tone of voice was very effective and appropriate for such a sensitive topic. I used a soft, low-level tone to show my sincerity and understanding of the topic, making sure that when I spoke it was in a genuine manner and that the level of my voice could be heard within the group I was talking with but not heard by other people around me. At times, when the topic of conversation changed so did my tone, for example, a more excitable tone when talking about our favourite authors.
Sensory impairments: