Course Material: Advanced Communication 2

TABLE
OF
CONTENTS

PRE -TEST 4
LEARNING OUTCOMES 4
REQUIRED MATERIALS AND RESOURCES 4
PRE - ACTIVITY 5
CONTENT AND DISCUSSION 7
ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES 10
ONLINE RESOURCES AND ACTIVITIES 11
POSTTEST 12
SUMMARY 12
KEY TERMS 13
REFERENCES 13
ANSWERS TO EXERCISE 14
 Course Material: Advanced Communication 3

Communication and Confidence Part 3

Knowledge is not exactly power. Knowledge POWER DRESSING

is the power to know, to understand, but not
necessarily he e d change In all communication contexts be it oral,
Knowledge is power only for those who can
written or any other the communicator s
use it to change their conditions. (Shor, 1992: 6)
confidence is the x factor that makes for a
better exchange of information (Del Villar, 2006). In a meeting or during your presentation, your
relationship with your colleagues matters more than what you say. They will forget most of what you
say when you are talking in front of them. But they will remember YOU. Every time you are having
conversation with people of presenting your project, you are performing. Your whole body is involved.
Thus, you must become aware of how you present yourself and what your body is doing so that you can
control it, also the audience. To control the people you are dealing with, you need to take note of the
following:

They will forget

most of what you
say when you are
talking in front of
them. But they will
remember YOU.

EYE CONTACT: You speak more that with your voices. Your eyes tell a person that you are taking
notice of them, that you know what you are saying, and that you believe what you are saying to them.
YOUR FACE: Remember that your face can be read too. Remember to smile.
GESTURES: Your gestures should be natural to you. Tip (It is a good idea to empty your pockets before
ou speak so that ou don t find ourself jingling coins
MOVEMENT: Aim for stillness but not completely still al the time.
 Course Material: Advanced Communication 4

PRE-TEST Prepare yourself

There is no perfect recipe for overcoming nervousness. You will still be nervous every single time you
talk to people in the workplace, in meetings, in business engagements, with your clients, or your
managers. But you need to remember that those nerves are there to help you. The key is to become
prepared adequately. Below is a simple exercise to help you ease the tension as suggested by Alan
Barker in 2016.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
- Appreciate the relationship of communication and confidence
- Understand power dressing
- Perform an exercise (speaking)
- Determine their personality traits
- Apply appropriate dress codes

REQUIRED MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

- worksheets
- Laptop or smartphone
- Casual and formal dress attires
 Course Material: Advanced Communication 5

PRE-ACTIVITY
PERSONALITY TRAITS
You will encounter people with different skills and personalities at work. Sometimes you will be
encountering people who are sociable in an given situations and some won t be as open as the others
Thus, trait psychology rests on the idea that people differ from one another in terms of where they
stand on a set of basic trait dimensions that persist over time and across situations.

What is personality trait?

Personalit traits reflect people s characteristic patterns of thoughts feelings and
behaviors.

The most widely used system of traits is called the Five-

Factor Model. This system includes five broad traits that
can be remembered with the acronym OCEAN: Openness,
Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and
Neuroticism.

It is useful to describe your co-workers and discuss

their strengths and weaknesses such as active and
quiet but adjectives that describe negative
qualities such as la are usuall avoided in
business environments.

Below are the descriptions of the Big Five Personality Traits:

 Course Material: Advanced Communication 6

Positive and Negative Traits

Instruction. Read the article and find the adjectives. Then identity if it is a positive or a negative
trait.

Meet two of our employees:

Sam Milbey joins Midge Alex Gonzaga already has a

Fashion Design after a reputation as a bright and
short, steep climb to intelligent designer, and
the top of his career we are very happy to
ladder. Sam a , I e welcome him to the Midge
always been an extremely Family. Alex says, I ,
motivated and ambitious looking forward to working
person. I am sometimes a with the design team here.
little impatient with Some people say I can be a
lazy or impolite people, little nervous. Even if I
but I hope my new do get nervous sometimes,
colleagues will find me I m defini el n b ing.
be hel f l.

IDENTIFIED POSITIVE TRAITS IDENTIFIED NEGATIVE TRAITS

 Course Material: Advanced Communication 7

CONTENT AND DISCUSSION

In most settings all that matters is

that you wear something you feel great
in. Stoetzel, TED Talks

DRESS CODES
Many employees worry about the clothes they should wear to make the best impression. According to
Kelly Stoetzel TED s content director The last thing ou need is wardrobe stress in the hours leading
up to your talk, and selecting an outfit is one thing you can check off your to-do list The key in dressing
up for any occasion or purpose especially in the business world is to wear something that makes you feel
good to help you project a relaxed confidence.

Your clothing can earn

you connection with
your people before
o e e en spoken a
word.

Now, as you think about what you are going to wear, you will have questions in mind such as Is there
a dress code or What are the others going to wear Keep this in mind, you can always dress and
would probably be dressed up somewhat like the others would, but you should dress up a little bit
smarter.
The outfit that ou ll be wearing will be different on the meeting ou ll be attending to Below are some
simple tips to help you decide on your appropriate look.
 Course Material: Advanced Communication 8

Casual
The easiest dress code, casual is a no
dress code dress code This is mos l
applicable for meetings that are held
off site or for team building events. It
is totally acceptable to attend in your
most comfortable outfit, but you should
still make the effort to look decently
professional though being a little
s lish on h r

Round-neck shirts
Jeans
Jeans Round-neck shirt
Pullovers
Hoodies

Smart casual

A combination of casual/ business blazer

attire, this is a step forward from blouse
casual. Smart casual is usually the basic
everyday attire you might wear to
work in a corporate setting.

Blazers
Smart trousers
Smart shoes
Blouses
 Course Material: Advanced Communication 9

Business attire

Smart and professional, business attire is most

commonly worn by business people or even in the
business setting. The customary suit and tie will be
worn by men, while work suits will be donned by the
ladies a sophisticated look that is suitable for
company meetings.

Long-sleeves
Smart trousers
Smart shoes/heels
Dresses
Skirts

Cocktail

Also known as the semi-

formal outfit, cocktail dress
sits right between business
and formal attire. It is
commonly worn at corporate
events.

Cocktail dress
(usually knee length
or a little longer)
Bow ties
Smart shoes or
dancing shoes
 Course Material: Advanced Communication 10

Black tie / black tie optional

The fanciest dress code of

all, the black-tie dress code is
also known as formal attire
usually required for events
where the company
celebrates a great
achievement or milestone.

Tuxedos
Floor-length gowns
Smart shoes

If you are still unsure about what to wear, ask a family member or a friend whose taste you trust to go
with you for a shopping date! Because sometimes the wa ou see ourself in the mirror isn t e actl
the same way other see you. Also, before you go to work, make sure your clothes are neatly pressed.
Lastly, it is worth rehearsing your outfit at home.

ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

Dress to Impress
Direction. Read the tasks and see the rubric.
1. Imagine that you will be attending 2 meetings with different dress codes.
2. Choose two (2) dress codes among the five (5) discussed in the content discussion.
3. Imagine that you will be walking in the hallway of your company.
4. Your task is to create 30 seconds to a minute video of you wearing and walking with
your two (2) outfits.
 Course Material: Advanced Communication 11

5. Make sure to label it or include a voice recording. Add some beat as well, so incorporate
a music to make it more fun. Be courteous in asking help from your family member/s.
Enjoy!
6. Wait for you instructor regarding the manner and date of submission.

RUBRIC
KEY CONCEPTS 5 4 3 2-1
Highly Effective Effective Developing Ineffective SCORE
KNOWLEDGE/CONTENT The student The student The student The student
demonstrates high demonstrates demonstrates some demonstrates limited
degree of considerable understanding of the understanding of the
understanding of the understanding of the lesson and task. lesson and task.
lesson and task. lesson and task.
5 points

CREATIVITY S den e en a ion Technology is used in a Limited creativity is The student lacked
was very creative, creative way. expressed focus and
5 points using technology, understanding.
music/sound effects,
appropriate attire.
There is an element of
entertainment in the
presentation.
PREPAREDNESS The student is The student seems The student is The student did not
obviously prepared and pretty prepared but somewhat prepared but seem at all prepared.
5 points has rehearsed. might have need a is clear that rehearsal
couple of rehearsals. was lacking.

TOTAL
/15

ONLINE RESOURCES AND ACTIVITIES

The Big Five Personality Test

This Big Five assessment measures your scores on five major dimensions of personality:
Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (sometimes
abbreviated OCEAN). Click the link and see your test scores. Be ready to share the result during
the synchronous class.

Click the link: https://www.truity.com/test/big-five-personality-test

 Course Material: Advanced Communication 12

POSTTEST
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS
Congratulations! You have successfully completed Week 3. You may now assess yourself if you have
achieved the expected learning outcomes of this section. Write your answers and discuss it with me at
the next available session.

1. Why is establishing credibility by dressing appropriately important in the workplace?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

2. Why is understanding personality traits relevant in the business world?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

SUMMARY
Knowledge is not exactly power. Knowledge is the power to know, to understand, but not
necessaril the power to do or to change Knowledge is power onl for those who can use it to
change their conditions. (Shor, 1992: 6)
In all communication contexts be it oral, written or any other the communicator s confidence
is the x factor that makes for a better exchange of information (Del Villar, 2006).
Personalit traits reflect people s characteristic patterns of thoughts feelings and behaviors
The most widely used system of traits is called the Five-Factor Model. This system includes five
broad traits that can be remembered with the acronym OCEAN: Openness, Conscientiousness,
Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.
 Course Material: Advanced Communication 13

The key in dressing up for any occasion or purpose especially in the business world is to wear
something that makes you feel good to help you project a relaxed confidence.

KEY TERMS
Power Dressing
Personality Traits
Big Five Personality Test
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
Dress Code
Casual
Smart Casual
Business Attire
Cocktail
Black tie

REFERENCES
(2017). Effective English Conversations: A Perfect Guide. India: Maple Press Private Limited.

Bryant, L. & Sandford, L. (Ed.) (2017). English for Everyone: Course Level 1. London: Dorling Kindersley
Limited.

Bryant, L. & Sandford, L. (Ed.) (2017). English for Everyone: Course Level 2. London: Dorling Kindersley
Limited.

Anderson C. (2016). TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking. New York: Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt Publishing Company.

Barker, A. (2016). Improve Your Communication Skills 4 th Edition. Great Britain: Kogan Page Limited.

Constantino, G. & Barrientos, R. (2016). Modern Business English: Correspondence in the Corporate
World. Manila: Mindshapers Co., Inc.

G , A. (2016). Ba B E : T W S Y N F T a W a 6th
E .N Y : Ba E a a S ,I .

(2013). Principles of Business Communication. United States of America: McGraw-Hill Education.

G , A. (2013). Ba H W B B L F E . N Y : Ba
Educational Series, Inc.

Del Villar, C. (2012). Mind-Body Communication Technique: An Alternative Way of Learning and Teaching
Confidence in Public Speaking. Quezon City: The University of the Philippines Press.
Hughes, J. (2010). Telephone English. Oxford: Macmillan Education.
 Course Material: Advanced Communication 14

Trent, J. (Ed.) (2002). Included in Communication. United States of America: American Association for
Higher Education.

Shor, I. (1992). Empowering Education: Critical Teaching for Social Change. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.

Diener, E. & Lucas, R. E. (2021). Personality traits. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba
textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved
from http://noba.to/96u8ecgw

WHAT YOU WEAR TO A MEETING IS ONE OF THE GREATEST FIRST IMPRESSIONS YOU COULD
GIVE TO PEOPLE SO IT S IMPORTANT THAT YOU DRESS FOR SUCCESS. Retrieved from
https://www.andmeetings.com/blog/post/dress-code-meetings

The Big Five Personality Test. Retrieved from https://www.truity.com/test/big-five-personality-test

ANSWERS TO EXERCISE
Pre-test IDENTIFIED IDENTIFIED
POSITIVE TRAITS NEGATIVE TRAITS

Motivated Impatient
Ambitious Lazy
Helpful Impolite
Bright Nervous
Intelligent Boring