Lesson

Plan: 101.4 Communicate With Confidence Instructor: ___________________ Date: ______________

OVERVIEW
Area of Study: Life Skills Student References and Homework
Lesson Subject: Professional Development 101.4 eBook/Coursebook (Preview and Read) 101.4 Talking Point
Lesson Topic: Communicate With Confidence 101.4 Study Guide 101.4 Show You Know
101.4 Slide Presentation 101.4 Lesson Challenge
Total Time for the Lesson 101.4 Learning Connections 101.4 Join the Conversation
2 hours
Focus Topics Instructional References Instructional Support Materials
Communication Essentials 101.4 Lesson Plan 101.4 Study Guide (Educator Version)
Interacting With Clients 101.4 eBook/Coursebook 101.4 Learning Connection(s)
Lesson Type 101.4 Slide Presentation 101.4 Talking Point
Lecture, Discussion, Questioning, Application, Knowledge Builder 101.4 Show You Know
Assessment 101.4 Lesson Challenge
101.4 Join the Conversation
Glossary
Following this lesson on Communicate With Confidence, you’ll be able to: Additional Resources
• List flexing strategies that will ensure others understand you Review outside references on
Achieve

• Apply professional etiquette to show respect, integrity and commitment to personal communication.
excellence
• Practice guidelines for communication challenges
• Offer ways to solve scheduling issues while maintaining good client relationships
Inspire (Purpose): Your success in communicating with your clients is strongly related to how well you do as a professional.
Lesson Overview: This lesson focuses on presenting information and strategies to help learners gain the professional edge that communicating
effectively can provide.
Notes to the Instructor: Prepare to offer personal testimonials or stories Assignment: Divide students into groups and ask each group to
regarding the need for communicating effectively. Suggestions for research individuals within the industry who are respected due
Enriching Learning are optional exercises. to their integrity and commitment to the profession. Ask
students to share their research with the entire class by doing a
brief presentation.
Key terms: Flexing, professional etiquette, respect, integrity, commitment

Time READINESS
Set the Stage for Learning
Hours Minutes Activate Learner Interest, Connect to Prior Knowledge, Communicate Expectations, Frame the Content
15 Ask students to preview and read the 101.4 Communicate With Confidence eBook/Coursebook prior to this lesson.

Prepare students for learning by discussing the Explore, Inspire, Achieve and Focus segments found in the
eBook/coursebook.
Introduce Explore by asking students: What does “a little off the top” mean to you? Do you think it means the same
thing to your hairstylist?
Introduce Inspire (rationale or purpose) for this lesson.
Introduce Achieve (learning outcomes or expectations) for this lesson.
Introduce Focus (frame the content) by announcing the major topics within this lesson.

Present exercise(s) from Suggestions for Enriching Learning found at the end of this lesson plan or present other selected
exercise(s) of your choice.

Time DELIVERY
Engage Learner Thinking
Hours Minutes
Exchange Ideas, Probe With Questions, Affirm Understanding
30 Direct students to begin use of the 101.4 SmartNotes found online and in the study guide.

Introduce key terms.


Exchange ideas with students while showing the 101.4 Slide Presentation and delivering the lecture.

Present exercise(s) from Suggestions for Enriching Learning found at the end of this lesson plan or present other selected
exercise(s) of your choice.

 Communication Essentials
• Ask students to think of communication blunders they may have heard or read in the past. Discuss how easy it is to
say one thing and mean another. Here are a few examples you can use to generate thinking.
On a menu:
Dinner Special—Turkey $2.35; Chicken or Beef $2.25; Children $2.00

In an office:
After break, staff should empty the teapot and stand upside-down on the draining board.

In a laundromat:
Automatic Washing Machines: Please remove all of your clothes when the light goes out.

Interacting With Clients
• Building I-Statements
• Good communication is essential to positive relationships. Using “I” versus “You” is an effective form of
communication because it helps maintain a respectful attitude toward both parties involved.
• Share with students the following 4-part template to help them build “I” statements:
1. “I feel…”
2. The feeling(s) YOU experience
3. The event or behavior that caused the feeling(s) (something you BOTH agree on)
4. The effect the event or behavior had on YOU
• Combine these pieces to form a sentence as follows: “(1) I feel (2) when (3) because (4).
Example: “(1) I feel (2) very nervous (3) when you are late for work, because (4) I worry that something might
have happened to you.”

• Encourage students to avoid inserting “that you” or “like you” after “I feel,” which might imply an expression of
blaming or judgment and put the listener in a defensive position. For example, “I feel that you are always late and
don’t care about how this affects others,” places blame and prejudges the other person.

• Place the template on a flip chart or on the board and ask each student to write a sentence using “I” versus “You”
that avoids placing blame on the listener. Encourage them to use a situation from the past where they were
involved with a communication challenge. Ask students to share their sentences with the group.

• Exchange ideas with students to convey that within every profession there are communication challenges. Any time
personality differences and workflow unite, there are possibilities for conflict, discomfort or some form of chaos.

• Encourage students to recognize that, as experience grows and people mature, there is an expected ease at
handling problems that generally occur. This lesson is a great opportunity to introduce the value of having a coach,
mentor and expert as a support team to a professional’s journey to success. This dynamic threesome can become
invaluable to professionals as they attempt to pursue new goals and higher levels of success. A coach can provide
encouragement and support; a mentor offers inspiration and expectations geared for higher performance; an
expert can provide answers to technical and/or communication-related problems.

Direct students to complete the 101.4 Learning Connection exercise(s) found online.

Direct students to complete Connecting Mindframe 3 exercise(s) in the study guide.

Affirm understanding by directing students to complete the 101.4 Check What You Know found in the slide presentation.

Lead a recap of information from this lesson using the 101.4 Review found in the slide presentation.

Time PERFORMANCE
Support Student Ability
Hours Minutes Apply and Assess

45 Present exercise(s) from Suggestions for Enriching Learning found at the end of this lesson plan or present other selected
exercise(s) of your choice.

Guide a discussion using the 101.4 Talking Point found online and listed here.
Share how you would change the subject when a client brings up a topic to avoid, such as religion, politics or personal
problems. Please offer examples of phrases or statements that you have used in the past, or that you believe would be
effective and client-centered.


 Guide students to complete the 101.4 Show You Know found online and listed here.
Create an example of a conversation you might have where you change “you” to “I” to avoid placing blame or sounding
accusatory. Post your contribution and ask for comments to rate how true to life your conversation seems.

Ask students questions by using the Knowledge Grid found in Suggestions for Enriching Learning at the end of this lesson
plan.

Assess learner knowledge:
Instruct students to complete the 101.4 Lesson Challenge found online and in the study guide.

Time TRANSFER
Adapt Learning for Future Use
Hours Minutes Celebrate and Validate Learning

15 Celebrate learning:
Present exercise(s) from Suggestions for Enriching Learning found at the end of this lesson plan or present other selected
exercise(s) of your choice

Validate learning:
Present the 101.4 Lessons Learned found in the eBook/coursebook.

Guide a discussion on future possibilities that could occur in the salon as related to this lesson.
Refer to 101.4 Grow What You Know found in the study guide.
Ask students to share their comments on 101.4 Join the Conversation found online.


SUGGESTIONS FOR ENRICHING LEARNING
This section of the lesson plan suggests ways to enrich the teaching and learning process. Suggestions are shown for each phase of teaching and
correlate to the lesson plan schedule shown prior to this section.

Readiness – Activate Learner Interest


Continuing the Professional Journey
Pack the Communicate With Confidence bag for the professional journey, taking along a pleasant greeting, use of client’s last name, tact, ability to
express ideas clearly and knowing the purpose of your communication. Do not take along the ability to offend a client or ideas that are not well
thought-out.

Additional items to pack in the communication bag for your professional journey include awareness of your environment, avoidance of overtones,
openness to consult with others when needed, listening skills, and the ability to avoid controversial topics.

Delivery – Engage Learner Thinking



Staying in Control of Your Emotions
Provide a brief example that addresses the importance of being able to stay in control of emotions. Here is a sample:
Kate Lorenz, the editor of CareerBuilder.com asks, “Do you cry at movies? Do touching commercials even make you tear up? Do you get sad when
you say goodbye, stub your toe or sing sad songs? While Olympic athletes and Oscar winners can get away with crying on the job, most of us are
better off keeping our tears out of the workplace.” We learn from this statement that it is important to learn how to cope with stressful or
disappointing situations by being able to control our emotions. Let’s discuss ways to do just that.

Divide students into groups of 3. Ask each group to list at least 3 responses to the following question:
“What are the coping mechanisms you have in place to control your emotions?”

Allow 5 minutes for each group to discuss responses and then ask them to share the results with the class.

Example responses might include: Take a walk, go to the restroom, grab a drink, count to 10, take some deep breaths.





Communication Observations
Divide the class into 3 groups. Ask Group 1 to observe the body language used during a weather broadcast on TV. Instruct
Group 2 to listen to a news broadcast and listen for phrases used by the anchor to move viewer attention to a different topic. Ask Group 3 to listen
to the newscast on TV for 10 minutes with their eyes closed. Ask each group to list at least 3 observations related to its specific assignment and the
effective or non-effective results of what they observed. Share the observations with the class as time allows.

Ice-Breaking Conversation
Assign students to work in pairs (dyads). Explain that each dyad will be given a description of what could be a future client. The goal is to create an
effective icebreaker to begin conversing with their assigned clients. Review the conversation icebreakers found in the lesson. Encourage students
to be creative and engaging. Here are a few sample descriptions you could use in addition to those you generate:

Client 1: Your client is a professor of computer science at the local community college. He is approximately 35 years old, dressed in casual “day off”
attire and has welcomed you with a very friendly smile and greeting.

Client 2: Your client is a female attorney, approximately 50 years old, and works as a partner at a major law firm within the city. She is dressed in a
navy blue suit with a simple watch and gold necklace as accessories. She is looking through a file while she waits for her appointment.

Client 3: Your client is a “stay-at-home mom” with three children and is approximately 30 years old. She is dressed in khaki slacks, a comfortable
top and sensible shoes. She greeted you with a friendly, but nervous greeting.

Client 4: Your client is a “sweet grandma” who greeted you with a friendly, warm smile. She is dressed in a sweater that is decorated with
embellishments for the season and was knitting while she waited for you.

Allow the dyads approximately 5 minutes to discuss their icebreakers and then ask them to share their responses with the rest of the class.
Summarize this Learning Connection by reviewing the effectiveness of being able to match the client with an appropriate, interesting way to begin
a conversation.

Performance – Apply and Assess



Knowledge Grid
Start at the top of the Knowledge Grid and work your way down, asking students each question in preparation for assessment. The questions found
here will help deepen student understanding, build self-confidence and increase their awareness of different ways of thinking about a subject.

Know What is reflective listening? Reflective listening is a strategy for paraphrasing and
summarizing what has been communicated.


Comprehend Describe topics to avoid when having discussions Topics that should be avoided when having discussions with
with clients. clients include religion, politics, personal problems, other
clients’ behavior, staff or competitor’s workmanship and/or
information given to a professional in confidence.
Apply Choose which of these statements reflects the use of Do the right thing regardless of the personal inconvenience,
the respect professional etiquette strategy and or statement a, reflects the use of integrity as a professional
which one reflects the use of the integrity etiquette strategy.
professional etiquette strategy. Use “please,” “thank you,” “hello,” or statement b, reflects
a. Do the right thing regardless of the personal the use of respect as a professional etiquette strategy.
inconvenience.
b. Use “please,” “thank you,” “hello”
Analyze Break down the 2 key points related to staying Two key points related to staying focused when handling
focused when handling communication challenges. communication challenges are:
1. Address 1 issue at a time.
2. As soon as you notice the discussion getting off-track,
bring it back to the main issue.
Synthesize Create an example of a two-way conversation Answers will vary but may be something similar to this
between a salon professional and a client who is late. example: (SP stands for Salon Professional)
SP: “ I see your appointment was at 1:30. Did you run into a
problem on your way here?”
Client: “Yes, I did have trouble with the traffic.”
 SP: “ Oh, that’s never good. Fortunately I do have time today
to do the services you requested.”
Client: “Oh, great! I really appreciate it.”
SP: (As told to client on the way to the reception area
following the service) “Please, call next time if you see you
are going to be running late. That will allow us to make
adjustments if needed and be better prepared to deal with
the time change.”
Evaluate In your opinion, which of the scheduling concerns do Answers will vary between late clients, early clients, no-
you feel you will need to handle most often in the show clients, and scheduling mix-ups.
salon?

Listening Story
Ask students to listen to the following story and be prepared to answer questions about what they heard. Have them write their answers to each
question on a sheet of paper. Tell students they will not be allowed to ask questions during the reading of the story or while the questions are
being read to them. Read the story and all of the questions before going back to discuss the answers.

After students have written their answers to all of the questions, announce that you will now be reviewing the answers. Tell students that they will
see how communication sometimes works well and sometimes doesn’t work or is unclear. Go over each question one at a time and give students
opportunities to discuss and explain differing answers. Help them see from the story why certain answers are correct and others are not correct,
either because the story was not clear or because they drew incorrect conclusions.

Read this story:
Debbie and Sam have been best friends since high school. They were both in the drama club, the band and the honor society. After high school,
Debbie went to community college and Sam went to cosmetology school. One rainy day, Sam called Debbie and asked if she would go with Sam to
look for a new car. They went to a large car dealer and looked at many cars, both new and used. Finally, Sam settled on a bright, sporty car with
only 25,000 miles on it. Sam was really happy, and Debbie and Sam had a fun day together!

Now ask the following statements and questions. Correct or representative answers and explanations follow each one.

Respond to these statements with: True, False, or Don’t Know
1. Debbie and Sam both continued their education after high school.
TRUE—Debbie went to community college and Sam went to cosmetology school.

Students might miss this if they do not consider “cosmetology school” in the same category as “continuing one’s education” or if they think the
question is asking whether Debbie and Sam continued their education together.

2. Sam purchased a car from a high school friend.
FALSE—Sam purchased a car from a large car dealer.

Most students should answer this correctly.

3. Sam purchased a convertible.
DON’T KNOW—Sam bought a “sporty” car; the story doesn’t say whether it was a convertible or not.

Students will answer incorrectly if they assume that a “sporty” car is the same as a “convertible.”


Write out your answers to the following questions:

1. How do Debbie and Sam know each other?
They know each other from high school.

Most students should answer this correctly because there was a good amount of information given about their time in high school.

2. Name 2 or 3 clubs that Debbie and Sam participated in at their high school.
They were both in drama club, band and honor society.

Most students will get at least one of these correct, but usually not remember all three. They may even add activities that weren’t mentioned.
Explain that it is often difficult to remember details accurately and that the brain may trick us by inventing facts that aren’t true.

3. Describe the weather on the day the friends went to buy a car.
It was rainy.

A small percentage of students may miss this.
Explain that, in any communication, the listener may not remember some points, especially those that are not central to the meaning of the story,
such as in this case (the weather has little bearing on the rest of the story).

4. Did Sam buy a new car or a used car?
Sam most likely bought a used car.

Students must make an inference in order to answer this question; the story does not give the answer explicitly. Since the car Sam purchased had
25,000 miles on it, it was almost certainly a used car.

5. Draw a picture of Debbie and Sam on the day they went to buy a car.
In drawing their pictures, students will have to draw conclusions about two key points—the genders of Debbie and Sam and their ages.

Debbie is definitely a female, because, not only is “Debbie” a female name, but the story refers to her as “she” (“Sam called Debbie and asked if she
would go…”). Sam could be a female or a male. “Sam” is commonly a male’s name, but is also commonly a nickname for the female name
“Samantha.” Debbie and Sam are close in age, because they went to high school at the same time. The story does not say, however, how soon (or
long) after high school they went to buy a car. Most students will probably assume Debbie and Sam are between 18 and 25, but they could actually
be quite a bit older.


Transfer – Celebrate and Validate Learning


Create a Journal
Validate what has been learned by asking students to create a journal that tracks examples of respect, integrity or commitment during the course
of a week. Examples might include helping an elderly client to her car (respect); apologizing for making a mistake (integrity); being on time for work
and appointments (commitment).

Communication Bowl Review
Divide the class into groups of 6 to 8 students. Each group will be a bowling team. Give each group 10 bowling-pin-shaped pieces of paper and then
proceed with the following steps:

• Announce to students that you would like each group to write 10 questions regarding the content just presented on communication skills
on strips of paper; each strip will fit onto the back of a bowling pin.
• Instruct each team to tape a question to the back of each bowling pin once they have written their 10 questions.
• Ask teams to exchange their 10 bowling pins with another group.

Place flip chart paper on the wall next to each bowling team and ask each team to tape their pins to the sheet in the formation of a typical set of
pins at the end of a bowling lane. Inform students that they will now review communication skills by attempting to earn a strike for their group
(answering all 10 questions correctly). You can determine if you want to ask students to work within their group with a scorekeeper from another
team or you can be the scorekeeper and move from team to team, asking each team to see how many pins it can knock down correctly, before
moving on to the next team. A variation on this exercise is to ask students to prioritize the complexity of the questions, making the question on Pin
1 very easy and progressing to more complex questions on the remaining pins.