Introduction to Communication.

Theory of Communication
What is communication?

In defining communication, many

scholars have tried to make meaning
of communication according to their
views.
 Cont…
• Asha Kaul says that, the word
communication is derived from Latin
word “Communis” which means “to
share” that is sharing of idea, feelings
and emotions. So: Communication is a
two way process in which there is an
exchange and progression of idea
towards accepted directions or goals.
 Cont…
• K.K. Ramachandran at el.
Define Communication as the sharing
information, idea concepts, and
messages between two or more
person. So: Communication is a two
way process.
 Cont…
• Krishna Mohan and Meera Benerji
defines Communication as a word
derived from Latin term
“communicare” or “communico” both
which mean `to share`. But
communication is not merely
transmission of meaning from one
person to another through symbols.
 Cont…

It implies that, the system of

communication is commonly owned,
accepted, and recognized by
members of a community. It
enables them to acquire, exchange,
store, retrieve and process
information. Communication is thus,
essentially a social affair.
 Cont…
• Aluftekin view communication as the
act or process of giving exchange
information, signals or messages as
by talk, gesture or writing.
 Cont…

• Clack and Clinton define

communication as a social process
by which people in a specific
context construct meaning using
symbolic behavior.
Key
concept or elements: Human,
Contextual, Social process to form
meaning and symbolic
 Cont…
• Michael Kadeghe perceives communication
as the transfer of information to achieve
a goal. It meant an action to elicit a
response in another end which can be
through direct action by the receiver or
mere acquisition of understanding.

He further says that, communication

should be two way traffic in that a sender
must get feedback.
 Process of Communication
• The sender according to his idea,
behavior pattern and attention, select
a message, encodes it and transmit it
to the receiver through media which
can be orally, verbal or non verbal. As
a result, a decoder turns back
feedback to encoder.
Cont…
 Elements of Communication
From the definition we get elements
which complete communication.
Simply definition: Communication is the
transmission of message from source
to a receiver.
Harold Lass well (1948) says that, a
convenient way to describe
communication is to answer these
questions:
 Cont…

• Who? (source/sender)
• Say what? (Message)
• Through which channel (Channel)
• To whom? (Receiver)
• With what effect (Feedback)
 Cont…

So, elements of communication are

• Sender / Encoder / Speaker
• Receiver / Decoder / Listener
• Message
• Medium /Channel
• Feedback
 Cont…
SENDER / ENCODER / SPEAKER
• This is a person who initiates
communication process. From his/her
own data bank, the sender select ideas,
encode and finally translate then to the
receiver.
 Cont…

• It is said that, all human

communication has some source,
some person or group of person with
a purpose for communicating. The
source has idea, needs, intention,
information and purpose for
communication, which he translates
into code – language.
 Cont…
As a source encoder, our
communication skills level depends on
communication fidelity in two ways:
• They affect our ability to encode
message which express what we
intend.
• They affect our ability to analyse our
purpose and intentions, our ability to
say something when we communicate.
 Cont…

There are at least four kinds of factors

within the source which can increase
the fidelity of communication.
• Communication skills
• Attitudes
• Knowledge level
• Social cultural system
decode. If the source does not reach
the receiver with his message, he might
Cont…
as well as have talked to himself. The
receiver is a target of communication
that we want to have positive response.
 Cont…

• Both the source and the receiver can

be analyzed into four factors
• Their communication skills
• Attitude
• Knowledge level
• Cultural context and Social system
 Cont…
• The relationship between the source
and receiver may include;
• Stimulus Response
• Sender Receiver
• Encoder Decoder
• Source Destination
• Actor Audience
• Communicator Communicate
 Cont…

• NB: The left side or column represent

the parts of guiding the act of
communication. The right column
represents those participants who by
their receiving the message allow the
communicative act to be completed
and thus have an effect.
 Cont…
MESSAGE
This is encoded idea transmitted by the
sender. For an incorrect pertaining can
turn the receiver hostile or make him
lose interest. So the sender has to be
conscious. Barlo says that, there are
three factors that should be taken into
consideration towards message:
 Cont…

• Message code; which has to do with

the way symbols are structured.
• Content; the selection of what to say
(Materials)
• Treatments; the way in which the
message is printed. ie, frequency and
emphasis.
 Cont…

• For the communication to occur the

source and receiver must have at
least minimum degree of prior
experience, some level of similarity
and some level of shared meanings
at the other extreme.
 Cont…

Characteristics of the good Message.

The amount of communication
• This includes the total volume of
information as well as content covered.
• Little information may not answer all
questions to the receiver and result in a
rejection of the message.
• Too much information may not be
efficiently integrated and may confuse
the receiver.
 Cont…

• So; Sender need to level the message

and the need which emphasise a limit
number of details.
The frequency of communication.
• Repeated exposure to varied
communication message reinforce
tendency of act in those receivers
Repetition may irritate the audience.
 Cont…
CHANNEL / MEDIUM
• Channel or Medium is another
important element which can be
orally, written or non verbal.
• Before composition of message, the
medium or channel should be
decided. Each channel should follow
its regulation.
 Cont…

• Channel is also means by which

message travels between the
communication senders to the
communication receivers.
 Cont…

Channel Dimensions
• This permit the investigator to evaluate
the effectiveness of different
communication channels which include;
 Cont…

Channel Credibility
• Is a directly linked to a communicator
and audience characteristics, however,
print media are perceived by number of
upper social economic grouping as
more credible, while television is
perceived as more credible by lower
social-economical groupings.
 Cont…

Channel Feedback
• It is receiver respond immediately and
affect the source of message in the
communication. Face to face
communications tends to facilitate
feedback while mass communication
tends to restrict.
 Cont…

Channel Movements (Facilitations)

• The effort required by all sense in
order to receive information from
communication channel.
 Cont…

Channel Availability
• The frequency and extent to which, a
channel may be used to reach a given
audience.

Channel Permanency ( Ability to

perceive message)
• The ability of communication channel
over time, to carry a message.
 Cont…

 Channel Multiplicative power

• The Channel ability to cover speed and time
limit.

 Channel Complementary
• The channel ability to supplement the
communicative work of another channel
 Cont…

FEEDBACK
• Is the return flow from the
message. In human communication,
a speaker hears his words
 Cont…

• at the same time or approximately at

the same that other parts hear them.
So; Feedback is a response by the
receiver to the source message which
the source may use to modify his
further message.
 Cont…

There are two kinds of feedback.

Positive Feedback
• That the intended message is
achieved. Tells the sender that
everything is going in the desired
way.
 Cont…

Negative Feedback
• Inform the source that the intended
effect message was not achieved.
 Principles of Communication

• Communication is a two-way process

of giving and receiving information
through any number of channels. 
 Cont…

• Whether one is speaking informally to

a colleague, addressing a conference
or meeting, writing a newsletter article
or formal report, the following basic
principles apply:
 Cont…

• Know your audience.

• Know your purpose.
• Know your topic.
• Anticipate objections.
• Present a rounded picture.
• Achieve credibility with your audience
 Cont…

• Follow through on what you say.

• Communicate a little at a time.
• Present information in several ways.
• Develop a practical, useful way to get
feedback.
• Use multiple communication
techniques.
 Cont…

• NB. Communication is complex. 

When listening to or reading
someone else's message, we often
filter what's being said through a
screen of our own opinions.  One of
the major barriers to communication
is our own ideas and opinions.
 Cont…

There are guidance in communication if

they are followed properly. They can
bring about communication which can
result to success in the organization.
Such principles are as follow:
 Cont…

Clarity
• This comes from the word clear which require
the sender to communicate messages that are
clear. The audience needs to be supplied with
clear message so that they can understand
them. Eg shake well the medicine before use.
NB. Avoid ambiguities and difficult words. Eg all
people are not allowed to enter except
workers.
 Cont…

Brevity
• Derived from the word brief. It requires
the message to be short.
Communication should try to send
message that are short and
comprehensive clear.
NB. Avoid long elaboration and
unnecessary repetition.
 
 Cont…

Timelines
• It requires message to be sent at the
right time and they should not wait
until a later time because that
message can turn useless.
 Cont…

Completeness
• It requires the message to be
complete.
• A message should not be sent in
halves. The receivers need to get full
messages. Incomplete message can
be easily to be understood by a
receiver and can retate.
 Cont…

Audience analysis
• Refers to the process of studying and
understanding the people you are going
to communicate with. It is an attempt of
trying to understand who they are, what
they are (titles eg. Honorable), what
their preference, they are like or dislike.
 Cont…

• Audience analysis is done before

communication (preparation), during
communication (presentation) and
after communication (evaluation).
 Cont…

 Integrity
• The purpose of communication shows that the
message must reflect the person sending it. The
behavior of the sender must reflect the message.
 
 Cont…

Attention
• It concern with spoken communication. It
has to do with the receiver. The receiver
should give full attention to the
communication. The spoken
communication requires concentrated
mind. Personal discomfort and destruction
must be overcome by an act of will.
 Cont…

Feedback
• Concern the sender which refers to
the follow up action to a
communicated message. It is an
activity done by the sender to see if
his message was received.
 BASIC SKILLS OF COMMUNICATION

 LISTENING SKILL
In the part of listening skills, the following are to
be visited.

Techniques of listening
• Active and Passive listening
• Note taking and Note Making
 
 Cont…

Active and Passive Listening

• Listening and hearing are two different things.
Hearing involves perceiving the sound. Hearing is
involuntary and may simply reflect the auditory
capabilities of our brain. Listening, on the other
hand, is much more active than just hearing. In
fact, listening usually requires more energy than
speaking as it involves receiving and interpreting
the information.
 Cont…

• Listening activity is vital in the process of one's

language acquisition. Reading and translation
simply won't do. However, not every listening
activity can be beneficial to language students,
as our response to the message we hear might
either be passive or active.
 Cont…

• Passive listening is not much different from

hearing. For instance, many of us have found
ourselves in situations where our minds would
drift, we would lose our motivation in listening,
and consider the information we hear as "a
background noise" or pretend that we're
listening just "to be polite." We think that we are
listening, but in fact we are simply letting this
information go past our brain.
 Cont…

• Active listening implies listening with a

purpose. We might listen to gain information
from the speaker, not just to "fill in the
awkward silence." When listening actively, we
obtain directions, pay attention to details,
solve problems, get to know people, share
interests, feelings, emotions, etc.
 Cont…

• Very few students today would question the

importance of listening. Everybody downloads
podcasts and stories to improve their
listening. But whenever you perform any kind
of listening activity, especially in the foreign
language, make sure that you are listening
actively, and not passively.
 Cont…

• In active listening you engage yourself into the

message that you hear, interact with it, pay
attention to sounds, expressions, intonation,
as well as take note of what you do not
understand. But you can take the same
message and listen to it passively, letting your
mind drift and think about what you need to
do next.
 
 Cont…

An active listener in learning language should do the following:

• Listen to a passage and pay attention to the pronunciation
and intonation of the speaker.
• When possible, repeat some words and phrases after the
speaker.
• If it's a podcast, pause and rewind often. That will help you
spot the words you haven't noticed before.
• If possible, find the transcript of the passage, and set aside
time to read through it to make sure what you got right and
what you'd missed.
• Try retelling the passage. If you have nobody with whom to
share the passage record yourself or mentally recall the
major points of the passage.
 Cont…

Note Taking and Note Making

• Speakers speak about 120-150 words per
minute whereas an average person can take
notes at the rate of only 25 words per minute.
Therefore, it is possible for you to write
everything that the speaker speaks.
• When you are reading something seriously,
you may read at the rate of 350-400 words per
minute, but when taking down the notes the
speed will be drastically low.
 Cont…

• One common format for such notes is

shorthand, which can allow large amount of
information to be put on paper very quickly.
• Manual note taking requires pen and paper,
while electronic note taking (or computer
assisted note-taking) requires a laptop, often
with special note-taking software. The growing
ubiquity of laptops in universities and colleges
has led to a rise in electronic note-taking and
note-making. Many students draft their notes on
word processors.
 Cont…

Making notes is different from taking notes.

• Note making is a more active experience, as you have to
select what you think is relevant and important.
• Note making when reading means summarising or
highlighting what you feel is important or relevant to note.
This may also be done through paraphrasing and quoting
directly.
• This is opposed to Note taking, where you just copy down
what you read in a book in an unselective way.
• Sometimes Note-Taking is unavoidable, for example, in
lectures when you try to record the lecturer’s points you
don’t have a good room for selecting what to write, but
when you are reading you have more choice over what
notes you take.
 Cont…

Importance of Note- Making

Note making is important for the following reasons:
• Note making helps you observe and record the crucial
and finer aspects of a text or a phenomenon.
• Note making helps you to think critically about what
you are reading.
• Note making helps you to figure out the complexity of
a thought, idea or situation.
• It helps you recall and recapture the intensity of an
observed phenomenon and express the same in your
own words.
• It helps you to organise your ideas.
 Cont…

Features of good Notes

• Good notes should have the following features:
• It should be brief, concise, and preferably written in third
person.
• It should contain only the relevant details or facts of the
subject. Any illustration, description, explanation, etc. in
support of the subject should be avoided.
• Information should be in phrases, words or brief sentences and
no specific grammatical patterns should be followed.
• All information relating to the subject should be presented in a
logical sequence.
• Notes are usually divided into main points, sub-points, sub-sub-
points and so on.
•  
 Cont…

Making Efficient class Notes

• Taking notes is a three-stage process in which
there are certain things before going to the
class, during the class, and after the class.
Given below are the three stages of note
taking:
 Cont…

Get ready to take notes (before class)

• Review the notes from the previous class or
session before you go to the next class. This
will help you remember what was concerned
and also help you understand new information
imported by the teacher or speaker.
• If the teacher has asked you to read something
before coming to the class, complete all the
assigned readings before coming to the class.
• Bring note-taking materials such as pen, pencil,
writing board, and paper with you.
 Cont…

Taking Notes (during class)

• Keep your attention focused on what the
teacher is saying. Listen for “signal statements”
that will tell you what your teacher is about to
say and is important to write in your notes.
Examples of signal statements are “The most
important point............”; “Remember that......;
and “One of the most important aspects
of .........” etc. Be sure to include in your notes
the information that the teacher repeats or
writes on the board.
 Cont…

 Another important Tips for finding major

points in Lectures includes these:
• The speaker is usually making an important
point if he or she:
1. Pauses before or after an idea.
2. Uses repetition to emphasize a point.
3. Uses introductory phrases to precede an
important idea.
4. Writes an idea on the board.
 
 Cont…

• Write quickly so that you can include all the

important information in your notes. Do this by
using abbreviated forms of words and
expressions.
• Take notes selectively. Do NOT try to write
down every word. Remember that the average
lecturer speaks approximately 125-140 words
per minute, and the average note taker writes
at a rate of about 25 words per minute. Or in
other words, be brief by writing down only the
major points and important information.
 Cont…

• Translate ideas into your own words.

• Organize notes into some sort of logical form/
a certain format.
• Write legibly. Notes are useless if you cannot
read them later!
• Don't be concerned with spelling and
grammar.
 Cont…

Rewrite your Notes

• Rewrite your notes to make them complete by
changing abbreviated words into whole
words, symbols into words, and shortened
sentences into longer sentences.
• Make your notes more accurate by answering
any question you had while taking your notes
in the class.
• Check with other students to ensure that you
have not missed any important information.
 Cont…

• NB: When you go to a class or plan to attend

a talk, be prepared to listen and take down
notes. This kind of psychological framework of
mind will help you make the best of that
lecture or talk.
 Cont…

• METHODS OF PREPARING NOTES (Note

making Systems)
• There are different methods of preparing
notes efficiently. The following are some of
those methods:
 Cont…
The Outlining Method
• Dash or indented outlining is usually best except
for some science classes such as physics or math.
• The information which is most general begins at
the left with each more specific group of facts
indented with spaces to the right.
• The relationships between the different parts are
carried out through indenting.
• No numbers, letters, or Roman numerals are
needed.
 
 Cont…

Method
• Listening and then write in points in an
organized pattern based on space indention.
• Place major points farthest to the left. Indent
each more specific point to the right.
• Levels of importance will be indicated by
distance away from the major point.
• Markings are not necessary as space
relationships will indicate the major/minor
points
 Cont…

• -current status –
• -no current research to support or refute
• -few psychologists say impossible
 Cont…

The Mapping Method (or Branching Notes)

• Mapping or branching is another form of
notes or useful format for not taking. The
branches enable you to see the relationship
between ideas very clearly.
• The branching notes do help to differentiate
the main points from the subordinate ones.
• It helps to show clearly the relationship
between the main points and their
corresponding subordinate points.
 Cont…

The Charting Method (or Tabulated Notes)

• Tabulated notes are summarized notes using
tables. Tables are very useful in note taking
because very few words can be used to present
much information.
• Using tables is also much easier in showing the
relationship between the main points and the
subordinate points using columns and rows.
• There is no need for listing, numbering or
indentation for tabulated notes just as is the
case for branching notes.
 Cont…

The Sentence Method

 Write every new thought, fact or topic on a separate line,
numbering as you progress.
• Advantages – Slightly more organized than the paragraph.
Gets more or all of the information.
• Disadvantages – Can’t determine major/minor points from
the numbered sequence. Difficult to edit without having to
rewrite by clustering points which are related. Difficult to
review unless editing cleans up relationship.

 You can hear the different points, but you don’t know how
they fit together. The instructor tends to present in point
fashion, but not in grouping such as “three related points.”
 
 READING SKILLS

READING
• Reading involves getting certain symbols and
reflecting them.
• Reading is an ability to interpret written words
in a familiar language (i.e. an ability to interpret
words printed in our familiar languages).
• Reading may also be defined as a process of
passing your eyes through written materials to
examine and interpret the words and sentences
in the materials to get knowledge or for leisure.
 Cont…

• Reading is not about looking at black marks on

a page – or turning the pages as quickly as we
can. Reading means constructing meaning
from the marks on the page, getting a
message. We read with our brains, not our
eyes and hands (Seyler, 2008). However,
reading involves organs such as eyes, lips,
memory (brain) etc. Therefore due to this it is
referred as an activity
 Cont…

The Importance/ Benefits of Effective Reading

• 1. Reading improves your vocabulary
command on the language and communication
skills, as you regularly come across new words,
phrases, idioms and writing styles.
• 2. Reading books of a variety of subjects helps
you add to your knowledge, which in turn
helps you with different attributes of life (i.e.
qualities or features).
 Cont…

3. Regular reading is also believed to boost creativity

as it helps you think out of the box- look at the
things from a different perspective. Studies have
revealed that children who read often have better
concentration ability than those who do not.
4. Good reading skills are directly related to good
writing skills. An individual who does not read will
always experience a dearth (scarcity/lack) of words
when it comes to writing. In other words it may be
said that reading enhances your ability to use other
language skills such as listening, speaking and
writing.
 Cont…

5. Enables you to extract (get) useful information

much more efficiently within a limited time.
6. It helps in building confidence as you start
reading longer and later, voluminous texts.
7. It gives you pleasure and relaxation as books
are the best and most reliable friends.
 Cont…

• 8. It facilitates the development of various

other skills, such as making predictions,
comparing and contrasting facts, creating
samples, hypothesizing, reorganising the
message as transmitted by the texts,
improving your critical thinking etc. Your
ability to read well may be a key factor in your
career success and in your efforts to lead a
satisfying personal life.
 Cont…

• -In other words it may be sated that reading

has also applications outside the classroom. If
you were not able to read, you would be
deprived of many conveniences and pleasures.
Without reading ability, you could not shop for
groceries, understand your mail, read
newspaper, use a menu, or follow recipes.
Perhaps, most of all, you could not derive
pleasure from reading written material of your
choice.
 Cont…

In reading skills the following are to be

discussed:
• Deciding on purpose for reading; Identifying
reading materials (different sources) and
reading techniques.
• Surveying a text; Skimming and Scanning
• Intensive and Extensive reading and
Contextual guessing (Noscitur a socii rule of
interpretation)
 Identifying reading materials and reading techniques.

Surveying a text
Skimming and Scanning

 Skimming / Surveying
• This is the process of looking over a text quickly
to get a general idea of the text. Reader’s eyes
move fast at the titles of the materials, Index,
tables of contents and the first and last sentences
in paragraphs to get a general idea of the
information inside.
 Cont…

• Skimming is also done when we pick up

Newspapers or magazines- whereby we glance
through the pages to see what items of
interest attract our attention. We are advised
to skim materials in libraries to see if they are
relevant for our defined purpose before we
start reading them or before we buy them for
use
 Cont…

 Scanning / Search Reading

• In scanning, a reader looks over a text quickly
to search for specific information. Usually, a
reader has a specific information or concept in
mind and he/she looks it up in the material/s
to find its meaning and other related
information.
 Cont…

• The specific information as such time, place,

names, a word, meanings etc. For example,
one may open specific pages of a book (or
dictionary) and quickly jump to a specific
paragraphs or lines to get needed information.
 Cont…

Intensive and Extensive Reading.

Intensive Reading
• This is a type of reading which involves a
concentrated approach to details and
meanings, and which may involve note-
making (Mohamed, 2010). In this approach,
the reader reads and thinks about what is
being read so that it is understood,
remembered and contextualised.
 Cont…

• It needs to be worked at, with time for

reflection, thought analysis, criticism,
comparison, notes made, points highlighted
and emphasised, the whole summarised.
Study reading is done when one is reading for
an assignment or a presentation. Students are
encouraged to do intensive reading in order to
write meaningful assignments, reports and
presentations.
 Cont…

 Extensive Reading
 Extensive reading involves reading many and a
variety of books for general understanding or
universal meaning and pleasure. In this type of
reading, people choose what they want to
read and read variety of materials in terms of
topics and genres.
• Normally this concerned with ones hobby
• It`s reading which is not regarded in terms of
time, course, programme, curriculum etc.
 WRITING SKILLS.

• Writing Process
• Note Making
Once you have taken down notes in lectures, the
learning process is not complete. The next
step is the note-making process.
 Reviewing lecture notes

Your lecture notes form the basis of your final

consolidated notes and your entire examination
preparation is based on these. The following should be
done on a daily basis:
• Read through your lecture notes.
• Underline headings and subheadings.
• Correct spelling mistakes and rewrite illegible portions.
• Fill in any gaps.
• Underline or highlight important sentences or
paragraphs.
• Make sure you understand the concepts.
• If you use the Cornell system, fill in the key words in the
left-hand column.
 Integrating lecture notes and readings

• The main aim is to integrate your lecture notes

with reading from articles, prescribed and
recommended books or tutorials.
• It is best to use your lecture notes as the basis
of your integration and not rewrite these
unless your handwriting is extremely poor.
• Mind-map summaries can be made to give
you an overall picture of the topic.
 Punctuations

• Punctuation marks are little symbols used in a

text to denote various meanings. Punctuations
are text signs which guide the reader through
her reading process. The punctuation marks
which are used in English language are as
follow.
 Cont…

• The Apostrophe
• The comma
• The colon
• The semi colon
• The inverted commas
• The parenthesis
• The dash
• The hyphen
• The question marks
• The full stops
• The capitalization
• The paragraph
 Cont…

 The Apostrophe.
• This may be placed in various positions.
• Before or after `s` to denote the possessive of noun
and pronouns. Eg do not touch Mjema`s glass.
• Before a final `s` to show that the `s` is forming
plural of a word symbol which is not usually
admitting plural. Eg. People`s sound is God`s sound
• Used in place of omitted letters or figures in
writing eg, in `15 general election, 12 candidates
contested in presidential position.
•  
 Cont…

The Comma (,)

• The correct use of comma is generally acquired through practice,
observation and common sense.
• Comma with Adverb and Adverb Phrase.
Eg. Belief, without steps, is dead
Belief without steps, is dead
`of course`,…….. `Moreover`,………
• The comma with series
Eg, the key components of communication process are: encode the
message, the medium, the decoder and the feedback.
• Comma in Clarifying Meaning
• Separate two independent clauses joined by any of the following
coordinators.
`and`, `but`, `for`, `no`,
• Comma with coordinated clauses.
Eg, I came, I saw, I conquered.
 Cont…

• The Colon (:)

– Making the antithesis between two sentences. Eg,
to some extent democracy is a tool of peace: in
other way is used to oppress a certain group of
people.
– Introducing an explanation or introduce a list or
series: eg, some of major punctuations are:
comma, full stops, inverted commas, the colons.
 Cont…

 The Semi colon (;)

• It marks a longer pause, a more definite break
in the sense more than the comma. Eg, there
is a for a province, namely, the business of the
reporting sport; but commentary is function
for modality.
 Cont…

 Invented commas (“………………….”)

• Enclosing Direct Quotation
• Here is also known as quotation mark. It is used to
enclose word quoted from mouth or a certain readings.
Eg, The chair person closed the meeting by saying, “I will
be very happy if those issued discussed will be taken in
consideration” the he declared the meeting is closed.
• Enclosing the title of Articles in Journals or
Chapters in book.
• Eg, Joshua, J.M and Kilatu, E. (2014) “Interrogating
Leadership and Ujamaa Ideology” TESOL QUARTERLY,
18/3, pp.: 115-132.
•  
 Cont…

 The Parenthesis
• It may be marked off by comma, dashes or brackets
which can any of the following
• Round bracket ( )
• Square brackets [ ]
• Braces { }
• Angle brackets < >
• Eg, Mjema J. (2005:12) says that, A woman without
her man, is nothing and Joshua M. (2007) says that,
A woman without her, man is nothing.
•  
 Cont…

 The Dash ( - )
– The Dash in pairs for a parenthesis
• Eg, as other media are also available – flags,
gestures, drams, writing – and since the same
message ……..
– Introducing an explanation amplification,
paraphrase, particularization, or correction of
what immediately proceeds it.
 Cont…

• Eg, the purpose of the writer will be the same

– to make the reader understand.
– Gathering up the subject of a sentence.
• When the subject is very long to be able to
recollected when reading.
– Repeating a word or phrase.
• Eg, Citizen of Burundi are still in peace talks –
the talk that are beginning to bear fruits.
 Cont…

• The Hyphen ( - )
• Used in a compound adjective to avoid
ambiguity as in first class, six – feet tall, cooper
-coloured metal.
 Cont…

 The Question marks

– At the end of a direct question
• Eg, who likes to dance?
– At the end of the request
• It is usually but not necessary comes at the end
of request or order (it is only if they are put in
the form of question)
• Eg, Will I go with you please?
– At the end of question tag
• Eg, You will be my advocate. Won`t you?
•  
 Cont…

 Full stop (.)

• It is used to separate the statements, which have no
continuity of though between them.
– At the end of the sentence.
• It is used to complete the sentence. The sentence may be
short which comprise short strings of words ie, I came. I
know. And other long sentences ie, The law school
student has become a vice president of the University.
– Full stop within or at the end of abbreviation.
• Eg, Prof. Ifunyilo started as a vet. Officer before he
became a full Professor in Agro-business.
– After initials or titles.
• Eg, Dr J. Fungameza, Sir. George Kahama, J.J. Mjema
 Cont…

 The upper case (Capital)

• The upper case is used for the first letter in every
sentence, for proper names, the names of months and
days, titles of the books, news papers and journals.
• Eg, My certificate is more useful in this company than
in the previous one.
• We will look for Dr Mshindo and no else.
– Upper case may also be used in abbreviations and
acronyms
• Eg, AMREF, UNICEF, ILO, TAMWA, TAWLG, TANAPA,
CHAWAKUKI, CHALUFAKITA etc.
• U.N.H.C.R, TPDC, CCP, CDA, MCC, USSR etc.
 Cont…

 The Paragraph
• Division of texts in the paragraph is one of the
problems of most of writers. The main
problem leads to luck of organization of ideas
in the text because paragraph division is a
function of unit of thoughts and not length.
 Essay writing

The term Essay can be defined in different ways

such as:
• A prose composition with a focused subject of
discussion. Or long systematic discourse.
• An essay is a piece of writing that methodically
analyses and evaluates a topic or issue. 
Fundamentally, an essay is designed to get
your academic opinion on a particular matter.
• There are three poles in which an essay can
exist these are:
 Cont…

The personal and autobiographical: The essay writer

that feels most comfortable in this pole write
fragments of reflective autobiography and look at
the world through the keyhole of description.
• The objective, the fact, and the concrete particular:
the essay writer do not speak directly of themselves
but turn their attention outwards to some literary or
scientific or political theme.
• The abstract: Essay writers who do their works in the
world of high abstraction are never personal and
seldom mention the particular facts of experience.
 Function of an Essay

This involves which entails thinking of what to write and how to

write so that it can appeal to the audience. Function on Essay
writing can be inductive or deductive.
• Inductive function: Proceeds from specific aspect or details to
the general aspects or idea.
• Deductive function: Proceed from logically general facts to
the specific details or aspects.
• Generally,
• Essays are set by teachers for their students, as both learning
tasks for students, and as evidence
• Most essay assignments test more than your knowledge
about a subject - they are testing a combination of different
intellectual and communicative abilities e.g: analytical,  
interpretive, argumentative, organizational, and
communicative.
 Basic Forms of an essay

Pre- writing stage

• The process which is to be done before starting
writing an essay and it takes the following activities.
• Understand the question: Read and understand the
instructional words such as discuss, evaluate,
describe, attempt, outline etc.
• Preparing an Outline of relevant points: This helps to
create logical flow of ideas when you start writing an
essay.
• Writing the thesis statement: This is the sentence that
explains the controlling idea of an essay. It is placed at
the end of the introductory paragraph of an essay.
 Writing stage
This stage takes place after known and understood well
the question and prepared a well outline points and
developed a thesis statement.
An introduction and statement to an essay
• As the first section in an essay the writer should do the
following:
• Define terms
• Preparing background information
• Indicating an organization of an essay
• Writing the thesis statement.
• NB do not provide all essay`s information in this stage
you should provide information which show the
summary of what you are going to do.
 Body of an Essay

• This is the stage where the writer provides the

following
• Required argument
• Required details
• Required reasons
• Supporting examples
 Cont…

• The paragraph should have the following

• Unity
• Coherence
• Cohesion
• Each paragraph should have topic sentence.
• Topic sentence is a sentence that carries the
main idea of the paragraph which tells what
the paragraph is all about. The paragraph can
be inductively or deductively.
 Deductive Paragraph

• This is the paragraph in which the main idea

comes first following with ideas where the
writer begin with main or general idea or
argument and provide the specific details and
evidences to support the argument.
• Diagram
Main Idea

Specific details and examples

 Inductive Paragraph

• This is the paragraph in which specific details

come first and end with main idea. Here the
writer can provide first case study information
from various cases ie, people, place, objects
then follow with general idea.
Example
• Specific Idea and Example

• Main Idea
 Writing a good Conclusion

Summarizing main idea and providing final

statement. It is the last and emphatic of an
essay. It should be convincing which includes
the following:
• Restating the thesis statement
• Summarizing main idea
• Providing concluding remarks
• Giving the final statement
• This also is the stage where the writer can
show his standing and shoe personal touch of
the essay.
 Reviewing Structure

• A critical article or report evaluation, a general

survey of something especially in words a
report or account of something.
• The process of going over a subject again in
study, recitation in order to fix it in the
memory or summarize the fact. It also can be
an inspection or an examination by viewing
especially a formal inspection, eg, any military,
naval force or the like.
 Cont…

So, a review is a survey over a whole subject or

division of it or especially an article making a critical
consideration or summary of something written.
• To look over, study, or examine again:
• To consider retrospectively; look back on:
• To examine with an eye to criticism or correction
• To write or give a critical report on (a new work or
performance, for example).
• Law To evaluate (a decision made by or action taken
by a lower court) to determine whether any error
was made.
 Cont…

• To subject to a formal inspection, especially a

military inspection.
•  
• To go over or restudy material
• To write critical reviews, especially for a
newspaper or magazine.
• A reexamination or reconsideration.
 Cont…

Examples
• A restudying of subject matter.
• An exercise for use in restudying material.
•  
• A report or essay giving a critical estimate of a
work or performance.
• A periodical devoted to articles and essays on
current affairs, literature, or art.
• An inspection or examination for the purpose of
evaluation.
• A formal military inspection.
 Cont…

• A formal military ceremony held in honor of a

person or occasion.
• Law An evaluation conducted by a higher
court of a decision made or action taken by a
lower court to determine whether any error
was made.
• A musical show consisting of often satirical
skits, songs, and dances; a revue
 Content Relevance

1. Relevant content adds value to the

conversation
• Many companies today are not sure where to
start. One way to determine if and where the
conversation is happening about the brand is
to conduct a conversation audit.
• where the conversation is happening (forums,
blogs)
• nature of the conversation (sentiment,
product, brand or both)
 Cont…

• share of voice in comparison to competitors or

the general market category
• influencer identification; their total reach,
community size and where they spend most of
their time online
• competitive audit i.e. competitors community
size, growth rate, web traffic
 
 Editing Paragraph

• The Improving Paragraphs section of a

standardized test presents a draft of a short
essay, which you must read and answer
questions about
• Many questions require you to understand the
essay as a whole. For example, a question
might ask about a particular sentence in the
context of the paragraph it is from. The
questions might provide a variety of editing
options and ask which revision is most
needed.
 Proofreading

• Proofreading is the reading of a galley proof

or an electronic copy of a publication to detect
and correct production errors of text or art.
 Professional proofreading

• Traditional method
• A proof is a typeset version of copy or a manuscript
page. They often contain typos introduced through
human error. Traditionally, a proofreader looks at an
increment of text on the copy and then compares it to
the corresponding typeset increment, and then marks
any errors (sometimes called line edits) using standard
proofreaders' marks. Thus, unlike copy editing,
proofreading's defining procedure is to work directly
with two sets of information at the same time.
 Alternative methods

• Copy holding or copy reading employs two

readers per proof. The first reads the text
aloud literally as it appears, usually at a
comparatively fast but uniform rate. The
second reader follows along and marks any
pertinent differences between what is read
and what was typeset. This method is
appropriate for large quantities of boilerplate
text where it is assumed that the number of
errors will be comparatively small.
 Cont…

Double reading. A single proofreader checks a

proof in the traditional manner, but then
passes it on to a second reader who repeats
the process. Both initial the proof. Note that
with both copy holding and double reading,
responsibility for a given proof is necessarily
shared by two individuals.
 Cont…

• Scanning, used to check a proof without

reading it word for word, has become
common with computerisation of typesetting
and the popularisation of word processing.
Many publishers have their own proprietary
typesetting systems, while their customers use
commercial programs such as Word. Before
the data in a Word file can be published, it
must be converted into a format used by the
publisher. The end product is usually called a
conversion
 Cont…

• If a customer has already proofread the

contents of a file before submitting it to a
publisher, there will be no reason for another
proofreader to re-read it from copy (although
this additional service may be requested and
paid for). Instead, the publisher is held
responsible only for formatting errors, such as
typeface, page width, and alignment of
columns in tables; and production errors such
as text inadvertently deleted
 Quotation and Citation

What is quoting?
Quoting is where you copy an author's text
word for word, place quotation marks around
the words and add a citation at the end of the
quote. Quotes should be using sparingly as
over quoting can suggest a lack of
understanding of the text you are referring to.
 Cont…

• In scientific writing, it is generally the case that

you should paraphrase from sources, rather
than quote directly. Quoting more extended
sections of text tends to be more common in
arts and humanities subjects where it may be
appropriate to quote frequently from the
literature that is being analysed.
• As you take notes, ensure you clearly mark
where you have quoted directly from the
source.
 Direct quotations

• If you use a direct quotation from an author,

you should:
• enclose this in quotation marks
• give the author, date and page number(s) that
the quotation was taken from, in brackets.
• Example:
"Language is subject to change, and is not
caused by unnecessary sloppiness, laziness or
ignorance" (Aitchison, 1981, p.67).
 Cont…

• If the quotation is more than two lines:

• It is separated from the rest of the paragraph
by one free line above and below
• It is indented at left and right margins
• It may be in a smaller point size
• It is preceded by a colon
• It does not use quotation marks
• The citation includes author, date and page
number(s) that the quotation was taken from.
 Cont…

Example:
• One answer to this is that language has always
been subject to change, just as everything else
in the world is, and we should not feel that
this is a bad thing. As Aitchison (1981, p.16)
puts it:
• Language, then, like everything else, gradually
transforms itself over the centuries.
 Cont…

• The quotation is the text included within the "

" marks. The citation is the indication of the
source of the quotation.
• A citation is when you cite a specific source as
the resource from which you gleaned certain
information. If you cite a source, you might or
might not use the exact language from the
original source. Or, you might use the exact
same language and then "cite the source," of
that language.
 Cont…

• A quotation is the direct use of specific

language that comes from another source,
using the exact same wording as the original
source. Generally, in formal writing, one
would "cite the source" of the quote.
• A citation is something written and a
quotation is something spoken.
 
 Formatting Quotes
• Using direct quotations involves using the exact words
of others in your paper, and under the MLA format,
you must format quotations differently depending on
their length.
• Short quotations are less than four lines of prose or
three lines of verse (poetry)
Long quotations are more than four lines of prose or
three lines of verse (poetry) and include multi-
paragraph quotes.
• In addition, you might sometimes need to add words
to direct quotations for clarity, or omit words that are
unnecessary from the quotation. In MLA format,
certain formatting rules apply in these situations.
 Editing Quote

• You may want to make minor changes to a direct

quotation. This is possible (as long as you don't
change the meaning), but you must follow the
rules.
• If you omit parts of the quotation, use an ellipsis.
An ellipsis consists of three dots (...). Do not begin
or end a direct quotation with ellipsis points. The
reader already assumes that the quote has been
excerpted from a larger work
• If you want to insert your own words, or different
words, into a quotation, put them in square
brackets [ ]
 Cont…

• If you want to draw attention to an error in a

quotation, for example a spelling mistake or
wrong date, do not correct it; write [sic] in
square brackets
• If you want to emphasise something in a
quotation that is particularly relevant to your
essay, put the emphasised words in italics, and
state that the emphasis is your own
• If the original has italics, state that the italics
are in the original
 Cont…

Example 1:
Language changes are natural and inevitable.
It has been argued that language:
• gradually transforms itself over the centuries.
In a world where [everything changes], it
would be strange if language alone remained
unaltered. In spite of this, large numbers of
intelligent people condemn and resent
language change (Aitchison, 1981, p.16, my
italics).
 Cont…

Example 2:
• According to Smith (1992, p.45), "Aitcheson
[sic] appears to believe that everything
changes; but this is questionable" (italics in
original).
 Citation

• A "citation" is the way you tell your readers

that certain material in your work came from
another source. It also gives your readers the
information necessary to find that source
again, including: information about the author.
the title of the work.
 Cont…

Importance of Citation
• In all types of scholarly and research writing it
is necessary to document the source works
that underpin particular concepts, positions,
propositions and arguments with citations.
These citations serve a number of purposes:
 Cont…

• Help readers identify and relocate the source

work.
 
• Readers often want to relocate a work you
have cited, either to verify the information, or
to learn more about issues and topics
addressed by the work. It is important that
readers should be able to relocate your source
works easily and efficiently from the
information included in your citations
 Cont…

• Provide evidence that the position is well-

researched.
•  
• Scholarly writing is grounded in prior research.
Citations allow you to demonstrate that your
position or argument is thoroughly researched
and that you have referenced, or addressed,
the critical authorities relevant to the issues.
•  
 Cont…

• Give credit to the author of an original

concept or theory presented.

• Giving proper attribution to those whose

thoughts, words, and ideas you use is an
important concept in scholarly writing. For
these reasons, it is important to adopt habits
of collecting the bibliographic information on
source works necessary for correct citations in
an organized and thorough manner.
 Cont…

Types of Citation
• 1: Book Citation
 
 Cont…

• 2: Popular Magazine Article Citation

 Cont…

• 3: Scholarly Journal Article Citation

 Cont…

• 4: Government Publication Citation

 Cont…

• 5: Article or Chapter in a Book

 Cont…

• 6: Internet Source Citation

 Electronic Citation

MLA / Basic Elements of Electronic Citation

• Electronic citations should follow the same
basic format as their print counterparts, with
the same goal in mind -- that is, to provide
readers with a way to locate the information
themselves. Often, extra information may be
necessary (e.g., access date, electronic
address) and some standard information may
be unavailable (e.g., page numbers). Different
types of sources as well as different media
may have different requirements
 Cont…

• Dates: Whereas in the case of print citations,

only the publication date is usually listed,
many electronic resources are updated
regularly. Thus, when citing electronic sources
you should include both the date of original
publication (if available) and the date on
which the material was accessed.
 Cont…

• Electronic Address: The MLA Style Manual

recommends including the online address of
electronic materials, where available. You
should include the access-mode identifier
(e.g., http, ftp, gopher, telnet, news) as well as
the path and file names. The address should
be given inside angle brackets:
<../index.html/Handbook>.
 Cont…

MLA / About Page Numbers

• Many electronic sources don't provide
standard page numbers. The MLA Style
Manual recommends that writers include the
number range or total number of pages or
paragraphs if they are numbered. In cases
where page numbers are unavailable, the MLA
Handbook requires that "n. pag." (no
pagination) be included in the "Works Cited"
entry (see Handbook, pp. 136-37,
 Cont…

MLA / Parenthetical Reference within Your

Paper to an Electronic Source
• When documenting a work within your paper,
use a parenthetical reference (see Handbook,
pp. 104, 184-205). The reference should:
• point to the source in your Works Cited section
by the author's last name, or, if the author isn't
given, by a portion of the title; and
• identify the location of the information by
page number if possible. Omit if not, but
include "n. pag." in the "Works Cited" entry
 Referencing and Bibliography

Referencing
• Referencing is the process of citing or
documenting the sources of quotes, theories,
ideas, illustrations and diagrams that you have
used in writing your university assignments.
When we acknowledge sources in this way, we
give credit to another person’s words, ideas or
opinions in the form of a note and/or
bibliographic reference or citation.
 Cont…

There are a number of reasons why you need to

reference your work:
• To show that relevant sources have been
investigated
• To enable the person reading our work to trace
the original sources we have used
• To provide documentary support for an argument
• To give differing points of view of an argument
• To indicate that we have not used someone else's
ideas and claimed them as our own
 Cont…

• Referencing your work adequately will ensure

that you are not accused of plagiarism. You
must acknowledge (reference or cite) any
work, or part of any work, that you quote,
paraphrase, summarise or copy. You do not
have to reference information that is
considered general knowledge…..
 ORAL PRESENTATION SKILLS
Reading background Materials.

Preparing your Presentation

• A good presentation should be prepared well
so as to make the audience understand well
the message. The better you prepare the more
confidence you get.
 Cont…

The following are the steps to prepare a good Presentation.

• Determine the purpose.
• The purpose of presentation may be: to inform, to instruct,
to persuade, to entertain.
• To inform:- the committee reports is to inform the
executive and the employees about activities done during a
specific period of time.
• To Persuade:- persuasive speaking is to influence your
listeners` altitude, believes or behavior. This is through
policy, claims etc.
• To Entertain:- it may be the celebration of anniversaries of
the organization, congratulating the colleagues who have
attained some positions or award.
 Cont…

• Analyse the audience and the situation.

• This will provide you with valuable clue to the
function and scope of your presentation. The
information should be used throughout the
presentation process in determining the
introduction supporting materials and
methods of concluding the presentation.
• Before preparing the presentation you will
have to ask yourself: what type of people are
you going to address.
 Cont…

Will they be:

 Fellow workers in your organization?
 If so, will they be superior? Equals, below you or
collection of these?
 Will the members of the audience be known to you?
Or will they be strangers?
 What will be the size of the group? Their age range,
interest and occupation.
 How knowledgeable will they be in the subject of
your talk
 Will it be a friendly or unfriendly audience?
 Cont…

• Choose the main idea of your message.

• Research your topic thoroughly
Collect needed facts. The person can ask some
questions about message content. Such
questions are: where do the ideas come from?
How well grounded are they? How typical are
they?
• Organize the data and write your draft.
 Cont…

A good presentation has three parts such as Introduction,

text/Discussion and summary or conclusion.
• Introduction: make sure that your opening statement capture
your listeners` attention that it gives some background to the
topic and indicate the directions of the rest of your talk.
• Body: the place where a complete discussion of your purpose
is done.
• Summary or conclusion: this will draw together briefly all
necessary inputs which you want your listeners to remember.
Words which may be used are such as I will finish then by…..
to conclude it can be said that………. To sum up…….
•  
 Cont…

Plan visual aid if desirable

• The visual aids such as tables, charts,
pictograms are used to support the main ideas
in the discussion. A good visual Aid (VCA)
should follow the following guidelines.
 Cont…

 Not include information which is adequately

expressed in prose.
 Be introduced before you give details
 Not be crowded with too much information. It
might be necessary to provide two VCA to
avoid too much information in single VCA
 Contain every detail the reader needs to
interpret
 The layout, organization, print type, size of
VCA must be chosen to enhance visual quality
and interpretation.
 Cont…

• Rehearse the talk and revise where necessary

• Stand before a mirror and start making a rehearsal.
Doing so pay attention to the following:
 Act as if your audience is in front of you. Use
phrases such as The next section of presentation
examines……….. now I am ready to move on to……….
 Avoid long sentences and unusual words.
 Respond to your audience`s probable arguments
and questions. Think about their answers before the
actual presentation.
 Try to time yourself and stop at your allocated time.
 Cont…

Leading the Discussion.

• Discussion means changing an idea between
two or more than two persons. Number of
persons meet face to face and through oral
interaction among themselves exchange
information or attempt to reach a decision or
shared problems.
 Cont…

• It needs just a small number of people to

make discussion
• The discussion should be organized well in
order to meet the goal intended.
• The discussion may be made in group.
 Types of Discussion

 Group Dynamic
This is the interaction between people with
the same idea so as to get intended decision.
In group Dynamic it is difficult to identify the
number of participants that will make
discussion useful.
 Cont…

• There is no named leader of the group. As the

discussion proceeds one of the participants may
emerge as a leader.
• Each participant in the group should be given
and should give a fair chance to others to speak
and express their opinions. It may ensure
crystallization of thought and bring to light
different aspects of the topic under discussion.
• Emotional outburst and display of excitement
have no place in this type of discussion.
 Cont…

Advantages
There is a self imposed discipline on the
discussion and greater responsibility on
participants for making it useful.
 When the group discussion is taking place
some persons may be invited as observers. It
may be done for two purpose:
• To let observers learn the process of the group
discussion.
• To evaluate the contribution by members.
 Cont…

 Purpose
• Sometimes group discussion is used in addition
to written test or interview for employment.
 
 Organization
 There are two ways of organizing group
discussion.
 The topic is announced beforehand and the
participants are expected to have done their
homework before coming to the discussion table.
 Cont…

 Topic is announced after the members have

assembled and five to ten minutes are given
to them for collecting their thoughts.
 The room for discussion should be chosen
with care, it should have proper ventilation
and sufficient light.
 The chairs should be arranged in circle so that
member’s expression can be seen by all the
others.
 Preparing Handouts and Visual Aids

• Visual Aids can be only visual with no sound or

visual with sound which is known as Audio
visual Aid. The one which is more suitable
than the other is audio visual. The use of
Audio visual can greatly intense its value.
 Cont…

• The impact of what we see and hear lasts longer than

what we only see or only hear.
• The term Audio-visual Aids means the equipment available
to us for amplifying or supplementing our message.
• Audio-visual aids make the communication vivid,
simulating and interesting.
• It helps the speaker to capture the attention of the
audience and enable him to enliven even a dull topic.
• Visual aids are such as blackboard, overhead projector,
filmstrip, and slide projector, movie film projector, video
tape recorder, audio tape recorder, cds etc.
• Sometimes graphic aids can be used such as charts,
diagrams and maps.
Basic Principles and Guidelines when decide to use Visual Aids

• Decide the content you want to support with aid.

• Choose the appropriate medium.
• Integrate the aid with the presentation.
• Choose the suitable place for the equipment to
be kept. Make sure that it is seen and heard by
everybody.
• Ensure that you have a basic non-technical
knowledge to operate the equipments. If you are
not even a little familiar find someone to help
you.
 Cont…

• When the equipment is not in use keep it away or

covered.
• Inspect the venue of presentation if possible to make
sure that physical arrangement such as switches, power
supply, size of the room, lectern, pointers are suit to
support the aid.
• Prepare the visual aid with great care emphasizing those
aspects which you consider significant. In emphasizing
aid use devices such as underline, arrows, colours etc.
• Number the visual materials when you use them for
several times.
• Make sure that their existence and appearance are
properly timed.
 Types of Aids and their Use.

The following are visual aids that can be used in

oral presentation, panel discussion, seminar or
conference.
• Blackboard
• This is very normal equipment which is
cheapest and the most useful requiring a
minimum expertise.
• Advantages of using Blackboard
 Cont…

• Offers a lot of spaces to the user to present simple

drawings, diagrams, maps, graphs, words and phrases.
• You can give the audience feeling of opportunity. It can e
modified depending on new idea which can be occurred
during the presentation. Your audience suggestions or
comments can make you modify your aid.
• Listeners can be involved by demanding inputs from them
for incorporation on the board.
• The board permits the progressive development of a
design, process and idea.
• Variation of pace of writing to suit the speed of listener’s
comprehension is allowed.
• To a nervous speaker the board acts as a pressure relievers.
 BUSSINESS COMMUNICATION

• Announcement and notices

• Announcement
• An announcement is a public statement that's
usually formal and has a specific purpose.
• It is a public statement containing information
about an event that has happened or is going
to happen
 Cont…

• Notices
• Notice is a written information which tells about when
the specific event such as meeting is going to be
conducted. It follows the rule of procedure for the
conduct of meeting in an organisation.
• It should mention the name and address of an
organisation, the date on which it is issued, indicating
the day, date, time, and value of the meeting.
• If the number of item is small, the business to be
transacted should be mentioned.
• If the number of item is large, it should be indicated in
separate sheet and enclose with notice as annexure.
 Cont…

• Memos
• Memo is an abbreviation of the word memorandum
which is derived from a Latin word “memorare” changed
to “memorandum”. It means to provide information.
• A memo is written statement that provides information
by a person or a committee to other people. It is
circulated to one or more than one person depending
on the nature of information circulated.
• Memo is similar to a letter in the postulation of the
subject and points discussed.
• The language to be used is polite and courteous and
there is no breach of good will in the memo.
 Advertisement

• This is a form of communication intended to

promote sales of products or services to
influence public opinions to advance a
particular cause, to gain a political support or
to elite some other response desired by the
advertiser. It is used directly to enlighten the
public at large about new products and
services.
 Cont…

Characteristics of Advertisements
• Catching attention
• Stimulating interest
• Arousing desire
• Supplying convincing details
• Motivating action
 Cont…

Main Characteristics of Advertisement

• Media
• Media which are commonly used are such as
Newspaper, magazine, radio, television,
billboards and direct mails. The choice of
media will depend on:-
 To whom is the advertisement made to.
 What are the content of the message
 How much money is available for the
purpose?
 Cont…

Newspaper
• Through newspaper the company will cover
the wide area and reach millions of people at
a low cost. A newspaper has a space for
advertisement.
 When making advertisement in the
newspaper consider the language to be used
ie, first word of the first line is printed in
capitals and sometimes in the entire line
boldface type are used.
 Cont…

Magazine
This is less like that of newspaper. But this has
an advantage which is:
 Paper is of good quality and so you can decide
to use colours in your advertisement.
 Deciding add to use, two factors should be
considered
 The likely costumers of the product
 The readership of the magazine.
 Cont…

NB. Magazine unlike a newspaper is read at

greater leisure and reader may go back to it
again and again.
• The magazine is attractive because sometimes
may use colour picture or colour word.
 Cont…

Radio.
• The radio has become powerful media in
broadcasting and advertisements. The
production of a lengthy commercial may
require sophiscated professional comments
but the production of simple short commercial
is written within your competence.
 Cont…

• What is needed is a script written like a screen

play, talented voice, recording equipment and
sound proof room.
• Through this media one can have an access to
all section right from elite to the peasant to
the workers.
 Cont…

Television
• Advertise is more illustrative than any other
media. It combines the advantage of colour,
sound and language, which gives the clear
visual perception of the object being
advertised.
 Cont…

Billboard
• This is a principle form of outdoor advertising.
The display is done sometimes in a wall but
usually a big panel is used for a purpose.
• It is an interesting feature.
• Being immobile it can go to customers they must
come to it.
• It takes a little time and reading effort to go
through this type of advertisement
 Cont…

• It may use both languages and illustration

such as cartoon, pictures which may be in
colours. The advertisement materials may be
bold and clear enough to be capable of being
read from a distance.
 Cont…

Direct mail
• Advertisement is written directly to a consumer
sometimes even by names. But the media is experiences
to use but it has the advantage.
 
Language
• The language used in advertisement should be able to
catch the attention of the reader and motivate him to take
immediate action.
• The language of advertisement makes an extensive use of
lexical and rhetorical to convey the message.
• There is a large varieties of linguistic devices used in
advertisement. They are under eight categories, four of
them are self explanatory.
Cont…
 Cont…

Formatting
• 1. A plan for the organization and
arrangement of a specified production.
• 2. The material form or layout of a publication.
 Cont…

Government letters
• Government letters are written for a vast
number of reasons. Some pen letters like this in
order to complain or express dissatisfaction
towards the performance of a government
official or government agency. Others write
them to ask or propose for a change in policy or
legislation. Some individuals also choose to
correspond with the government to commend
an individual or group of people for a job well
done.
 Cont…

• Government letter sometimes called Official

letter, Formal letter or Business letter.
• The Government letter should always be
complete, concise, logical planed, clearly and
politely expressed in grammatical correct and
accepted language ie, English.
 Cont…

Parts of Government letter.

• Letter head
• Sender`s address
• Date
• Inside address
• Solution
• Body of the letter
• Complementary close
• Signature
 Cont…

SENDER`S ADDRESS
• This is the address which show where the
letter comes from and direct the receiver
where to reply the letter. Sometimes
organizational logo stands for address as it
may contain address of the organisation.
 Cont…

INSIDE ADRESS
• Include the name and designation of the
receiver or the title of the firm or to which the
letter is written, with residence, place of
organization, business or any other place which
may be appointed for the receipt of the letter.
• It corresponds with the address on the
envelope except that in the inside address the
town or city and district and country can be
written on the same line.
 Cont…

THE SOLUTION
• This is the greetings or an open of the letter. It
starts with capital letter follow with colon or
comma. If you do not have a name to write omit
the solution line. Use the attention line with the
name of pertinent department or job title. Avoid
begin ladies and gentlemen.
• If you are sure of the gender of the receiver, start
with Mr, Mrs, Ms. Use dear Sir or Madam if you
do not know or you are not sure of the name you
send the message.
 Cont…

HEADING
• The heading of this kind of letter should be
very brief (if possible not more than seven
words)
• Start heading with RE: although it is an old
style. The heading should carry the message,
theme, of the whole letter. If the letter is
typed do not underline the heading or put full
stop at the end.
• Eg, CALL FOR INTERVIEW
 Cont…

BODY
• The body contains message or information to be
communicated. It also be brief and good form is
desirably.
• There should be a margin at the left hand side of
the page. All except the paragraph line should
begin at the same distance from the age of the
paper.
• No regular margin can be left on the right hand
side of the page. But the end of the letter should
be in the same line vertically if possible which can
be by dividing the long word at the end of syllable.
 Cont…

• Dividing words at the end of syllables use hyphen ( -

) to show the division and words of one syllable
should not be divided
• The body should leave space for a complementary
close and signature. When there is necessity of
using more than one page make sure that you
number them.
• NB: Do not use second or third sheet simply for
complementary and signature.
• Write according to the order of importance and
each topic should have its paragraph. The body of
the letter should be well punctuated.
 Cont…

COMPLEMENTARY
• Complementary close is placed two times
below the body of the letter and consists of
words of respect.
• It always consist of salutation, and its word
should never be abbreviated
 Cont...

Salutation
Complementary Close
• Dear Sir, Madam, or Dear Sir, Sir or Gentleman, Madam or
Mesdames
• Yours Faithfully,
• Usually in Government or official correspondence only
• My dear Sir, My dear Madam, Dear Mr
• Yours very truly…………….
• Yours Sincerely ……… or for some one you know.
• Dear Miss….
• Sincerely

• It shouldn’t be connected with the last sentence of the body of the

letter. The best way is like - I have the honor to remain, Yours
Faithfully…
 Cont…

THE SIGNATURE
• The name of the writer of the letter or
company s/he represents should be placed
after complementary close. Print your name
below or under the signature. The company
name may come either above or below your
name.
• If you are typing a letter use short paragraph
single space within the paragraph and double
space between the paragraphs.
 Cont…

Things to note about official letter writing

Official letters should be in a good structure.

Official letters should be short: You should not

bore your addressee by writing a very long
letter, you should avoid putting superfluous
information in your letter. Include only the
necessary information in your letter (i.e. the
purpose of writing the letter) since you will
attach your CV with the letter. Your letter
should be limited to one page.
 Cont…

Formality: Your letter should be formal and

polite, do not use colloquial or shortened
words in your letter, even when the addressee
is your close friend. You should be polite even
when you are writing a letter for complaint.
Formality and politeness is shown through the
choice of words in your letter.
 Parts of official letters

• Your address: This is written on top of the

right hand corner of the paper. It should be
only an address and don’t include your names
in this part.
• Date: It is important to show the date of
writing the letter. Date helps for references
when needed in future. It also helps in
understanding if the letter is received in time,
or there were some delays somewhere.
 Cont…

• Reference number: When organizations write

letters they use a reference numbers which
are identification number to help in keeping
and retrieving the file when needed.
Reference numbers vary depending on each
institution or organization. They may be
arranged department wise, school wise or
depending on any other section in the
organization.
 Cont…

• MUMCC/AC/PF538/6. MUMCC stands for the

Mzumbe University Mbeya Campus College; AC
stands for academic staff; PF538 stands for
personal file number 538; and 6 stands for the
number of the letters written to the particular
staff. If you are replying to a letter which had a
reference number, you should repeat this on
your letter above the addressee’s address (It
should be preceded by the words “Your ref:).
Leave a space between the reference number
and the addressee’s address.
 Cont…

• The name and address of the addressee, the

person you are writing the letter. This is
written below the date, on the left hand
corner of the paper. You should start writing
the address with the title of the addressee.
For example, “The general manager,” “The
head master,” “The DVC ARC, The DVC A&F”
etc.
 Cont…

• Salutation: This is written below the

addressee’s address. Leave a single space
between the addressee’s address. Salutation
depends on whether you know the person you
are addressing the letter, i.e. if the addressee
is a man or a woman.
 Cont…

• If you know the sex of the person, just write

Dear sir! (For a man), Dear madam! (For a
woman). Again, salutation depends on the
status of the person you are writing the letter.
For example, if the addressee is your
subordinate, salutation can include his/her
name, e.g. Dear Joshua. /Mr. Joshua. /Dear
Flora/Mrs. Flora. / etc.
 Cont…

• Title of the letter: This is written below the

salutation. It is the synopsis of your letter.
Normally, the addressee will first look at the
title of your letter before looking at anything
else. Since the title of the letter introduces the
aim of your letter, it should be formatted to
catch your readers’ attention. Therefore, the
title of the letter should be either bolded or
underlined. You should only underline it when
your letter is hand written. Don’t do both
bolding and underlining at the same time
 Cont…

• Body of the letter

The body of your letter should be structured
in four short paragraphs with the following
contents:
 Cont…

• Paragraph one: State why you are writing the letter and
where you saw or heard the job advertisement. For
example you may write:

I would like to apply for a post of …as it was advertised in

the daily newspaper on 21st August 2012. Or With reference
to you advertisement on the daily newspaper of 21st August
2012, I am writing to apply for a job as … at your
organization. Or I would like to apply for a position as a
teaching partner at your organization, if there is any
position to offer me. I have learned about your organization
through its outstanding performance in serving the
community at rural areas in Arusha against HIV/AIDS
related problems.
 Cont…

• Paragraph two: Briefly explain about your

qualification and experiences, especially that
which is related to the job you are currently
applying. You may give the following
arguments for example: I have two years
experience of working as …During this time I
gained enough experience in designing and
preparing new television programs. Or working
as a customer care officer for two years, I
gained enough experience in understanding
and working on customers’ needs, especially
with new customers in an organization
 Cont…

• Paragraph three: Show that you believe that you are

suitable for the job that you are applying. Explain why
the company should employ you. Or why are you are
seeking to change the job you are currently employed.
For example you may provide the following arguments:
Given the experiences I have in this job, I have a feeling
that I can work to meet the needs of the organization.
Or I believe that I will be able to bring my useful
experiences to the success of your company. Or if you
offer me the opportunity to work at your company, I will
use my talents, experiences, and creativities to work
hardly for the success of your organization.
 
 Cont…

• Paragraph four: Tell the reader that you are

ready to be interviewed when needed. If the
advertisement for the job did not require your CV,
include your phone numbers in this paragraph so
that they can contact you for an interview. For
example you may provide the following arguments:
• I am ready for an interview when needed. I can be
contacted at 0761 000 001. Or as requested in the
advertisement, I am attaching a copy of my CV with
this letter. I am ready to appear for an interview if
contacted three days before the interview date.
 Cont…

• Ending: To end the letter you would write

yours sincerely or yours faithfully, etc.
• Signature: You should sign your letter before
sending it. This should come after ending your
letter and your full name should appear just
below the signature.
 Form and Layout of business letter.

• Most business letters must include a return

address (letterhead or your name and
address), date, an inside address (receiver's
name and address), a salutation, body
paragraphs, and a closing. However, there are
several ways to format this information. For
example, return addresses can be centered or
begin at the left margin or begin at the
horizontal center of the page.
 Cont…

• Modified block form

• In a Modified Block Style / format letter, we
usually put all text aligned to the left margin,
except for the author's address, date, and
complimentary closing. All paragraphs we
write in a modified block style are not
indented. The author's address, date, and
closing begin at the center point. See the
following modified block style sample
 Cont…

• Application letter
• A job application letter. A job application letter or
cover letter is a document sent by a prospect
employee to a prospect employer. This job
application letter is usually followed by the
prospect employee's resume to provide
information on his or her skills and experiences.
• Due to different situation and circumstances, a job
application letter will be written differently. The
followings are some situation and circumstances
that influence the word choices when writing a job
application letter
 Cont…

• Application Letter Format. When we write an

application letter, we usually use the following
format :
• Applicant's Personal Identity
• Applicant personal identity usually consists of :
 Cont…

• Name
• Address
• City, State Zip Code
• Phone Number
• Email Address
•  
Date
• After we write our personal identity, we usually
put on the date. Examples :
• October 13, 2013
• November 1, 2013
 Cont…

• Body of the Letter

• Right below the salutation, we begin writing
the content of our application letter. It usually
consists of three paragraph.
• The First Paragraph
• The first paragraph of our application letter
usually states the reason we are applying for
the job, what position we are applying for and
how we know the vacant position.
 Cont…

• The Second Paragraph

• The second paragraph should convey the
information about our qualification,
experience, and educational background.
• The Third Paragraph
• The third paragraph usually convey our
gratitude to the person we are writing to, how
and when we can be contacted for an
interview. We can also put our email address
or phone number here.
 Cont…

Complimentary Close
• We usually put complimentary close just before
our signature. Examples:
• Sincerely yours,
• Cordially yours,
 
Signature
• The last thing we have to put in our application
letter is our signature. Learn more about parts
of business letter here.
 Cont…

• Confidential letter
• Protect yourself and your business when
sharing confidential information with another
business or individual. This basic letter of
confidentiality contains everything needed
when you need to quickly import the value of
your confidential information on the other
party.
 Cont…

When to use this confidentiality letter

• Use this letter of confidentiality:
• when you want to share confidential information with
another business (or individual) using the most
straightforward type of non-disclosure agreement
(NDA)
• when you first start sharing information, or if you
frequently do so, and quickly need to agree an NDA to
protect your information
• to impress upon the other party the value of your
confidential information
• to impose restrictions on use and disclosure of the
confidential information
 Cont…

This letter of confidentiality covers

• definition of confidential information
• protection of confidential information
• what confidential information can be used for
• who can receive confidential information
• disclosures required by law
• how long the information remains confidential
 Cont…

Claim letter
• A Claim Letter is a tool informing a company of
the partial or full damage done and requesting
a decent reimbursement against it. It however
may either be written by the claimant
informing about the loss or the company
giving the reimbursement informing the
claimant of the reimbursement that is on its
way may also write it.
 Cont…

• A letter of claim (sometimes known as a letter

before action) is a letter asserting wrongdoing
of some kind by the recipient. It is most
commonly used as the first step in the legal
process of a personal injury claim. For
example if you slipped on an unmarked wet
floor in a restaurant, you or your lawyer may
write a letter briefly outlining the facts as you
see them, noting that you will be officially
perusing a claim against them.
 Cont…

• Letters of claim are also often used to notify

someone of incomplete or unsatisfactory work
on a specific project, or more formally a breach
of contract. For example, if you hired someone
to decorate your office, but they never finished
the job or did not complete it to your
specifications, you would write them a letter of
claim stating you grievances and possible
reparations. Like an injury claim this is the first
step before proper legal action is taken.
 Cont…

DO`S AND DON’T’S OF CLAIM LETTER

• A Claim Letter should be written by the claimant as
soon as the damage is done
• It should be written by the company as soon as the
reimbursement is being sent
• The letter must bear the date on the top left corner
indicating details of its origin
• It should be brief and to the point
• Only the details of the policy and reimbursement
requested/agreed should be dealt with in the letter
 Cont…

• A Claim Letter should always have a reference

number against which the claim is being
requested/agreed so that it becomes easy to
track its past record
• The letter should always be only addressed to
the person with the full name and address
who is being given the claim or to the
company with its full address who is being
requested for the reimbursement against the
claim
 Cont…

• A Claim Letter should give all details about the

policy against which the claim is being made.
For example, the claim reference number, date
when the policy was taken, terms of the policy,
how much reimbursement is due, what is the
timeframe within which the reimbursement will
come through
• A Claim Letter has to always be accompanied by
documents supporting the damage or loss, for
example the police report, death certificate, etc
 Cont…

Adjustment letter
• Doing business is not always easy. Sometimes,
there are some circumstances that are out of
our hands. Although we tried so hard to avoid
our customer's disappointment, it does not
happen. Therefore, at times some of our
customers send us complaint letters.
Nevertheless, It is our role to remain calm and
to use this complaint as opportunity to deliver
the services they expect, even to exceed their
expectation.
 Cont…

• To resolve our customer's complaint, we can

write an adjustment letter. This adjustment
letter should be delivered not longer than one
working day after we receive our customer
complaint letter. Make sure we put the date
on it. A good adjustment letter cannot only
prevent our customers from leaving us but
also strengthen their loyalty to us. A good and
effective adjustment letter should consist of
the following items:
 Cont…

• Acknowledgment of receipt of our

complaining customer.
• Expression of our apology
• Explanation of the problem
• Solution of the problem : It can be an action or
reimbursement.
 Cont…

• An adjustment letter can be written in different

styles or format. See different adjustment letter
format here! You can choose full block format,
semi block style etc. The most important thing
we need to pay attention is the body of the
letter. Let's see the arrangement of the
adjustment letter below:
• Letter Head ( Company Address )
• Date
• Inside Address ( Our customer's name who
complains )
 Cont…

• Attention Line ( optional : If you address this

letter to a specific person in an organization or
company.)
• Salutation ("Dear Sir/Madam")
• Reference / Subject Line ( The issue we are
going to deal with )
• Body :
– Introduction : acknowledgement of receipt of the
complaint."We have received your letter about
the damaged goods you received."
 Cont…

– Expression of our apology :"We are

extremely sorry about it."
– Explanation / admitting / own the
problem:"We will struggle to send goods in
a proper way."
– Solution :"We will deliver the replacement
for the damaged goods today. We also
enclosed a free $ 25 voucher that you can
use anytime."
 Cont…

• Complimentary Closing (Cordially : )

• Signature Line ( Signature )
• Identification Initials ( Optional )
• Enclosure Reference ( Optional : a voucher)
 Cont…

Collection letter
• Business collection letters usually adjust their
tone to the amount of time an invoice is
delinquent. While the primary goal of a
collection letter is to persuade the customer to
submit payment, the collection process shouldn't
jeopardize the business relationship. Companies
may use collection letters as the only means of
communication when they attempt to collect
past due invoices. Some might use them as a
supplement to collection calls.
 Cont…

Tone
• The collection agent should write the letter in a
tone that is both firm and considerate, reminding
the customer of the amount that is past due and
that the business would appreciate a swift
payment. For example, a collection letter for a
debt that is 30 days past due might start out by
stating, "We have yet to receive payment and
would encourage you to send it as soon as
possible in order to maintain your credit
privileges."
 Cont…

Content
• The content of any business collection letter
usually states the nature of the complaint and the
steps that the recipient needs to take to resolve it.
For example, a letter for a debt that is 60 days
past due might state: "We still have not received
payment for Invoice #19 dated January 2, 2012.
On March 2nd, we sent a past due reminder but
have not heard back from you. Please contact our
office as soon as possible to arrange payment."
 Cont…

Consequences
• Business collection letters that are final notices will
typically inform the customer that his debt will be
referred to a collection agency after a certain date.
In some circumstances, a final notice may also
state that the company will file legal action or
repossess unpaid property. Final notices usually
occur with debt that is 90 days or more past due.
For example, a final collection letter for payment
on furniture might state, "Unless payment in full is
received within two weeks from the date of this
letter, we will be forced to repossess the property."
 Cont…

Payment Negotiation
• A business collection letter that attempts to
preserve the well-being of the relationship
between the merchant and the customer may
offer a revised payment plan. For example, a
company may offer partial payments to a
customer who is past due by 30 days. The
collection letter could state, "We recognize that
you may be experiencing financial hardship.
Please contact us as soon as possible to set up an
alternate payment agreement."
 Enquiring letter
• Write an inquiry letter to ask for more
information concerning a product, service or
other information about a product or service.
These letters are often written in response to
an advertisement that we have seen in the
paper, a magazine, a commercial on television
when we are interested in purchasing a
product, but would like more information
before making a decision. Inquiries are also
written to ask for business contact information
to develop new business.
 Cont…

• Remember to place your or your company's

address at the top of the letter (or use your
company's letterhead) followed by the
address of the company you are writing to.
• The date can either be placed double spaced
down or to the right.
 Cont…

Important Language to Remember

• The Start: Dear Sir or Madam
To Whom It May Concern - (very formal as you
do not know the person to whom you are
writing)
• Giving Reference: With reference to your
advertisement (ad) in...
Regarding your advertisement (ad) in ...
 Cont…

• Requesting a Catalog, Brochure, Etc.: After

the reference, add a comma and continue
- ... , would (Could) you please send me ...
• Requesting Further Information: I would also
like to know ...
Could you tell me whether ...
• Signature: Yours faithfully - (very formal as
you do not know the person to whom you are
writing)
 Quotation letter

• A letter of quotation is any letter written in

reference to the price of a service or product.
This could range from a customer or client
requesting or accepting a quote, to the
supplier or service provider sending the quote
amount. Either of these letters could be
headed as a letter of quotation
 Cont…

• Quotation is a specific offer for sale. It is sent in

response to an inquiry from a particular person
or business house. Thus it is a reply message to
an inquiry from potential buyer. A quotation
includes details about the prices of specific
goods selected, terms of payment and conditions
of delivery, while writing such letter, seller should
clearly state everything as inquired by the buyer.
The letter must be written to the point with
conciseness and complete tone. Seller must have
intention to create goodwill through such letter
which will establish business relation.
 Example:
Twendepamoja telecommunication
Karume district.
Box 29390
Mbeya
1st August, 04
Sales Manager
Tele-Communication Ltd.
25, Gulshan, Dhaka-1212
Ref; An inquiry for price of Mobile sets
Dear Sir,
Would you kindly give us detailed information about the “Nokia 2100” mobile sets recently
advertised by you in the “Daily Star.” we are impressed by the description of the respective
mobile set as advertised by you and expected to purchase if terms and conditions are found
to be suitable. Our annual requirement of such set is around twenty five thousand (25,000)
pieces.
As we handle a large quantity of mobile sets each year, we hope and trust you will quote
the most favorable prices and terms.
Yours faithfully
J. J. Ramachandran
Purchase Manager,
Helpline Communication
 BUSINESS MEETING

• Business, Government, Civic and religion

affairs face to face communication, technically
called meeting which is being either to give
information or solve problems.
• Most important management decisions are
taken in meeting.
 Cont…

• What is business meeting?

• Is a gathering where purposive discourse
occurs among two or more people who
exchange information on a common topic or
problem for a better understanding or for the
solving problem.
• Unless meeting has clear objective, it will fail
to be effective or worthwhile.
 Cont…

• Categories of Meeting
• They are five.
• Annual general meeting which is open to all
members.
• Ordinary meeting which is open to all
members of organization. It can be held
monthly, quarterly or in a year.
 Cont…

• Standing committee meeting which is set up by

parent`s body on permanent basis and meet at
the regular intervals. Eg the appointment of
staff and development committee.
• Occasion adversary committee meeting
conducted several times in order to deal with
specific issue and then disband when the task is
completed.
• Ad hoc Meeting – A meeting called for specific
reason when necessary. It do not form part of
any committee structure.
 Planning and preparing meetings

• Purpose of the meeting.

• To take decision or form policies. Eg meeting
of board of director.
• To consult or to exchange information or idea
• To inform or instruct
• To persuade or influence the action and policy
 Cont…

Purpose of the meeting.

• To take decision or form policies. Eg meeting
of board of director.
• To consult or to exchange information or idea
• To inform or instruct
• To persuade or influence the action and policy
 Cont…

• To solve specific problem

• To negotiate and bargain
• To generate enthusiasm and positive attitude
• To advice persons in power to take decision
• To get immediately reaction to new ideas,
proposals and plans.
• To brief members on plans already made or
work already done.
• To serve time on communication
• To convey a message to a group at one time.
 Planning the Meeting.

• Planning: Ask yourself whether the meeting is

necessary (The purpose)
• Think through the objectives the meeting, be
sure on what the meeting is going to achieve.
• Pre – notification: decide who are supposed to
attend the meeting, where and when. Inform on
what is to be discussed ie, distribute the agenda.
• Circulate the minutes of the previous meeting
and any other document needed to be read
before the meeting.
 Preparation of the meeting.
• Arrange well the agenda in logical sequence. Be
sure all members have full and correct
information in advance and that they have
considered it.
Something to note before starting the meeting.
• The announcement for every meeting must be
made in writing at least a week before the fixed
date.
• The notes should be sent to all members even if
it is known that some of them would not attend.
• The notes should be clearly state the agenda ie,
programme of business to be transacted.
 Agenda

Is the list of items to be discussed at a meeting

which fulfill two functions.
• To act as structural basis for discussion
• To inform the members of the topic to be
dealt with.
 Cont…

Content of Agenda.
 Decide what topic needs to be included on
agenda. If necessary check with members to
see if they have any item to submit.
 Logically: put the item in logical sequence
which will be decided by:
• The urgency of the item
• The length each item will take.
 Cont…

 Give guidance: make sure that each item is

described in enough detailed. This will help
each member to take necessary preparation.
 Circulate: circulate in good time before the
meeting, remember to attach any report or
written brief relevant to topic the agenda.
 Chairing and running meetings

• One of the most important roles of the

Chairperson is steering a Management
Committee through its business effectively
and efficiently. A good Chair will be mindful of
the following basic points!
 Cont…

Before the Meeting

• Plan the agenda with the chief officer and
officers. Include items brought to you by other
members. Decide the order and timing of the
agenda, and who will introduce each one.
• Identify which agenda items are for
information, discussion or a decision.
• Be well briefed about each item, and actions
taken since the last meeting.
 Cont…

• Ensure all necessary background papers

(including the last meeting's minutes) are sent
out with the agenda beforehand.
• Check with staff that all relevant practical
arrangements have been made, e.g. room
layout, visual aids, etc.
• Arrive in good time before the meeting is due
to start.
 During the Meeting

Communicate
• Start the meeting. Welcome any new members.
Make any necessary introductions.
• Receive apologies for absence.
• Check for Conflicts of Interest on the items on the
agenda.
• Ensure that additions or amendments to minutes
are recorded.
• Set the scene. State the objectives of the meeting
and each item.
• Try to be brief when making a point.
 Cont…

Coax
• Ensure full participation.
• Draw out quieter members and discourage
those who are monopolising the meeting.
• Be prepared to highlight issues that no-one
else will, and to be the one who always has to
ask the awkward questions.
 Cont…
• Compare
• Weigh up contributions impartially.
• All points in favour of a point should be
summarised against all points not in favour.
• Clarify
• Ensure everyone understands what is being
discussed.
• Summarise.
• Ensure that if jargon and abbreviations are
used, all present understand them.
 Cont…

• Ensure that decisions are recorded, together

with who is going to implement them. It can be
useful to record decisions on a flip-chart as they
are made.

Decision Making
• Ensure that decisions are taken in the context of
the organisations strategy and that they are
recorded, together with who is going to
implement them.
 Cont…

Guide
• Remember that above all you are there to
guide the meeting.
• Steer members to work harmoniously and
purposefully as a team.
• Keep an eye on time.
 At the End of the Meeting

• Summarise decisions taken and action points to

be followed up e.g. who's responsible, by when.
• Agree a date for the next meeting - it is usually
best to set dates for the year's meetings well in
advance.
• Agree what special items will be put on the
agenda of the next meeting and what work
needs to be done, by whom etc.
• Ensure that the minutes are written up, checked
by the Chair and sent out in good time.
 Cont…

If you have the responsibility for planning,

chairing, conducting or managing successful
meetings, these practical tips will help you:

• Set a specific meeting outcome

Ensuring you as the chair, and the meeting
participants have a clear outcome for the meeting
will bring clarity, purpose and a measure of
success to the participants and avoid wasted time.
Try our handy meeting preparation checklist to
ensure you have all arrangements in place.
 Cont…

• For example, you may set an outcome such as

‘to gain an agreement on the key problems
with our current invoicing system and produce
a list of recommended solutions’.
• You will then be able to write your agenda,
select the key participants that really need to
attend the meeting for each specific agenda
item; plan the time needed and establish the
most appropriate working methods that will
help you achieve the meeting outcome.
 Circulate an agenda in advance of the
meeting
• Circulating a timed agenda and any supporting
relevant documents well in advance of the
meeting will enable each meeting participant to
prepare and fully contribute to each agenda
item. This will result in a more focused
discussion and decision making process.
• Avoiding the use of ‘any other business’ as an
agenda item helps to retain the focus of the
meeting and helps you to conduct the meeting
in the most effective manner.
 Cont…

• Check the meeting room in advance

Regardless of who has arranged the meeting
environment and logistics, it is always
advisable to arrive 15 minutes ahead of the
meeting start time to ensure the meeting
room, layout, catering, lighting and
temperature are all conducive to an effective
meeting.
 Cont…

• Simple things like ensuring any refreshments

you wish to provide arrive 10 – 15 minutes
before the scheduled start time of the
meeting, will help to ensure the meeting starts
on time and you avoid the clattering of coffee
cups!
 Cont…

Manage the time and maintain the scheduled

meeting timings
 Being disciplined to start the meeting on time
regardless of attendance will help you conduct
the meeting, run to time and encourage
meeting participants to arrive promptly at
future meetings.
 Cont…

• Keeping track of the time during the meeting

(or delegating the task to another participant)
and ensuring your meeting finishes on time
will add to the meeting efficiency and
encourage future attendance of the meetings
you conduct.
 Cont…

Assign roles and responsibilities

Dependent upon the size, style and the
desired outcome of meeting, it can be helpful
to the chairperson conducting the meeting to
enlist some advanced support. A minute
keeper can record attendance, the key
discussion topics, decisions made and the
agreed action points with the support of the
chairperson.
 Cont…

• A facilitator can be brought in to increase the

meeting effectiveness by identifying the best
methods of group working to achieve the
desired outcomes whilst retaining neutrality
on the meeting content and bringing out the
best from the meeting participants. They can
help establish an acceptable meeting code for
all participants at the first or a set of regular
meetings such as a project team.
 Cont…

• Use the timed agenda to guide the meeting

A timed agenda will enable you as the chair to
keep the meeting discussion structured;
participants’ contributions focused and
highlight closure to each item. If you find
yourself needing more time, you and the
participants can decide if you wish to allocate
more time to the topic, schedule additional
time outside the meeting, or move to the next
agenda item.
 Cont…

• Having a flipchart “car park” for example, can

enable you to quickly “park” any comments
that are important but not relevant to the
specific agenda item, enabling the group to
remain focused.

• Encourage and manage meeting participant

contributions
Encouraging and stimulating meeting
participant discussion is critical to the successful
implementation of any decision taken.
Summarise key decisions and actions agreed

• Periodically summarising what has been

discussed so far around a specific agenda item
will help clarify and focus the meeting
participants, enabling them to make a clear
decision and move on. If the action points
have been captured during the meeting, time
can be allocated at the end of the meeting to
summarise the agreed decisions/actions back
to the meeting participants.
 Cont…

• The process of then identifying those who will

take responsibility for achieving each of the
action items within an agreed timeframe will
then become easier for self selection and may
encourage more of a team spirit.
 Review the effectiveness of the meeting

• Asking meeting participants to review the

meeting effectiveness and how effective you
have been at chairing the meeting can
enhance future meetings as well as give you
some great personal feedback and insights.
Simply reviewing and asking ‘what did we do
that worked well’ and ‘what could we do
differently next time’ can draw out some
helpful insights and learning.
 Follow up and review the agreed action points

• The follow up to the meeting is just as important

as the meeting itself. It is vital to ensure that the
agreed action points are completed within the
agreed time and prior to the next meeting.
• The first point of any regular meeting that you
chair should be to ask those responsible to
report back on their progress from the previous
meeting, stimulating action, responsibility and
commitment, and encouraging resolution of
challenges in achievement of the action points
prior to the next scheduled meeting.
 Team building skills (Participation)
• Team building skills are critical for your
effectiveness as a manager or entrepreneur. And
even if you are not in a management or leadership
role yet, better understanding of team work can
make you a more effective employee and give you
an extra edge in your corporate office.
• A team building success is when your team can
accomplish something much bigger and work more
effectively than a group of the same individuals
working on their own. You have a strong synergy of
individual contributions. But there are two critical
factors in building a high performance team.
 Cont…

• The first factor in team effectiveness is the

diversity of skills and personalities. When
people use their strengths in full, but can
compensate for each other's weaknesses.
When different personality types balance and
complement each other.
• The other critical element of team work success
is that all the team efforts are directed towards
the same clear goals, the team goals. This relies
heavily on good communication in the team
and the harmony in member relationships.
 Cont…

Here are some additional team building ideas,

techniques, and tips you can try when
managing teams in your situation.

• Make sure that the team goals are totally clear

and completely understood and accepted by
each team member.
 Cont…

• Make sure there is complete clarity in who is

responsible for what and avoid overlapping
authority. For example, if there is a risk that two
team members will be competing for control in
certain area, try to divide that area into two
distinct parts and give each more complete
control in one of those parts, according to those
individual's strengths and personal inclinations.
• Build trust with your team members by spending
one-on-one time in an atmosphere of honesty
and openness. Be loyal to your employees, if you
expect the same.
 Cont…

• Allow your office team members build trust

and openness between each other in team
building activities and events. Give them some
opportunities of extra social time with each
other in an atmosphere that encourages open
communication. For example in a group lunch
on Friday. Though be careful with those
corporate team building activities or events in
which socializing competes too much with
someone's family time.
 Cont…

• For issues that rely heavily on the team consensus

and commitment, try to involve the whole team in
the decision making process. For example, via
group goal setting or group sessions with
collective discussions of possible decision options
or solution ideas. What you want to achieve here
is that each team member feels his or her
ownership in the final decision, solution, or idea.
And the more he or she feels this way, the more
likely he or she is to agree with and commit to the
decided line of action, the more you build team
commitment to the goals and decisions.
 Cont…

• When managing teams, make sure there are no

blocked lines of communications and you and
your people are kept fully informed.
Even when your team is spread over different
locations, you can still maintain effective team
communication. Just do your meetings online and
slash your travel costs.
• Be careful with interpersonal issues. Recognize
them early and deal with them in full.
• Don't miss opportunities to empower your
employees. Say thank you or show appreciation of
an individual team player's work.
 Cont…

• Don't limit yourself to negative feedback. Be

fare. Whenever there is an opportunity, give
positive feedback as well.
• Finally, though team work and team building
can offer many challenges, the pay off from a
high performance team is well worth it.
 Writing minutes

• These are the official recordings of the

meeting. They include the permanent record
of decision and action of constituted body and
serve and reminder of subject previously dealt
with and signed they are acceptable with and
the conclusion reached. Once approved and
signed they are acceptable in a court of law
evidence of proceeding.
 Cont…

• Taking the notes

• Writing up the minutes

Taking the notes.

The record of the time, date and place of
meeting should be recorded before starting
taking notes in the meeting.
Names of all members who attended should
be taken by circulation of attendance paper.
 Cont…

• All apologies should be also recorded. All

members who are not attending the meeting
with no apology should appear in the absent
section.
• A secretary, after that preliminary start taking
notes which the meeting is going on. Watch
for the chairperson`s interim and final
summaries for guidance.
 REPORT WRITING

Definition and types of report

• The definition of report writing is creating an
account or statement that describes in detail
an event, situation or occurrence, usually as
the result of observation or inquiry. The two
most common forms of report writing are
news report writing and academic report
writing. Report writing is different from other
forms of writing because it only includes facts,
not the opinion or judgment of the writer
 Cont…

• News reporting typically involves writing about

what, when, where and why an event
happened. The foundation of any news report is
facts. However, eye witness accounts and
interviews with experts are often added to
strengthen the story and provide more details.
News report writing is usually organized with
the most relevant information at the beginning
and supporting details or background
information at the end of the report.
 Cont…

• On the other hand, academic report writing

focuses on summarizing the process of
conducting research
• A document containing information organized
in a narrative, graphic, or tabular form,
prepared on ad hoc, periodic, recurring,
regular, or as required basis. Reports may refer
to specific periods, events, occurrences, or
subjects, and may be communicated or
presented in oral or written form.
 Types of report

• Reports are written for different purposes.

They therefore, contain different information
and structures, including headings and
subheadings, and these form the outline of
the report. The table below shows the
sections commonly found in these types of
reports.
• Informal Report
(b)Formal Report
(c)Feasibility Report
(d)Technical and Special Report
 Cont…

Although the types are seen as four but they

merge in to two major types which are:
• Informational
• Analytical
 
• Informational Report
An informational report as the name suggest
entails provision of all details and facts
pertaining to the problem.
 Cont…

The sequential arrangement of issue or topics

in informational report could observe any one
of the following ways of presentation.
• Chronology
• Importance
• Sequence or procedure
• Category
• Alphabetization
 Cont…

Structure
• As the presentation of information is the basic
purpose of the report, details are worked out in a
systematic and coherent manner. The structural
orientation in informational report should be
clearly, evident to the reader and its significance is
also grasped.
• In this kind of report the various sections are simple
and self explanatory. The introduction is following
with the presentation of information or facts and
summary thereafter where all details are collected
in brief for a recall or recap of earlier section.
 Cont…

Analytical Report
• The report comprises the stages in which there is a
proper identification of the problem, analysis and
subsequent interpretation. Recommendations or
suggestions are then incorporated in the report
depending upon what is required by the report
writer. The problem solving method and steps are as
follow:
 Draft problem statement
 Evolve criteria
 Suggest alternative and evaluation
 Draw conclusion and make recommendation
 Cont…

Structure
• The structure of Analytical report could follow
any of two patterns which are deductive and
inductive.
• An inductive ordering follows a simple, logical
arrangement in which you proceed from the
known to the unknown. There are two premises
or syllogism that conjoins to yield a final
conclusion.
 Cont…

• Syllogism 1: Jeremiah is a man and he is

mortal
• Syllogism 2: Shemahonge is a man and he is
mortal
• Syllogism 3: ……………………………………….
• Syllogism n ……………………………………….
Conclusion Therefore, all men are mortal.
 Cont…

• Deductive ordering observes a reverse

ordering where it proceeds from the unknown
to the known. The universal truth is taken as
the formulation point for the problem. The
various alternatives are suggested, evaluated
and conclusion drawn keeping in mind the
original problem stated.
 Cont…

• ConclusionAll men are mortal

• Syllogism 1: Jeremiah is a man and he is
mortal.
• Syllogism 2: Shemahonge is a man and he is
mortal
• Syllogism 3: ………………………………………….
• Syllogism n ………………………………………….
 Cont…

Short report
• Title page
• Introduction
• Discussion
• Recommendations
• References
 Cont…
Business report
• Title page
• Executive summary
• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• Recommendations
• Appendices
• References
 Cont…

Engineering report
• Title page
• Executive summary (optional)
• Introduction
• Objectives
• Analysis
• Discussion
• Recommendations & action plan
• Conclusion
• Appendices
• References
 Cont…

Research report
• Title page
• Executive summary
• Introduction
• Method / methodology
• Results / findings
• Discussion
• Conclusions
• Recommendations
• Appendices
• Bibliography
 Characteristics of good report

• A lot of reports are written daily. Some of them

are intended to document the progress of
some activities, feasibility reports, investigation
reports, some of the reports are for monitoring
purposes, some are evaluation reports but it is
clear that all the reports have some objective
and purpose behind it. That objective and
purpose can only be achieved if a report has
the following qualities and characteristics:
 Cont…

• It should be factual: Every report should be based

on facts, verified information and valid proofs.
• Clear and Easily understandable: Explained below
• Free from errors and duplication
• Should facilitate the decision makers in making
the right decision:
• Result focused and result oriented
• Well organized and structured
• Ethical reporting style
 Cont…

• When you write a business report, focus on

the subject at hand. Information included in
the document should be accurate, relevant
and informative to its readers. When reading a
report to gain a deeper understanding of an
issue, a businessperson shouldn’t have to sift
through paragraphs of filler content. A good
report speaks to the reader in terms she can
understand.
 INTERVIEW

• An interview is a conversation between two or

more people where questions are asked by
the interviewer to elicit facts or statements
from the interviewee. Interviews are a
standard part of qualitative research. They are
also used in journalism and media reporting
(see Interview (journalism)) and in various
employment-related contexts.
 Cont…

• The qualitative research interview seeks to

describe and the meanings of central themes
in the life world of the subjects. The main task
in interviewing is to understand the meaning
of what the interviewees say. Interviewing,
when considered as a method for conducting
qualitative research, is a technique used to
understand the experiences of others.
 Characteristics of interviews
• Interviews are completed by the inter man based on
what the interviewee says to be conformed and done.
• Interviews are a far more personal form of research
than questionnaires.
• In the personal interview, the interviewer works
directly with the interviewee.
• Unlike with mail surveys, the interviewer has the
opportunity to probe or ask follow up questions.
• Interviews are generally easier for the interviewee,
especially if what is sought are opinions and/or
impressions.
• Interviews are time consuming and resource intensive.
 Cont…

• The interviewer is considered a part of the

measurement instrument and has to be well
trained in how to respond to any contingency.
• Interviews provide an opportunity of face to
face interaction between 2 persons; hence,
they reduce conflicts.
 Types of interview

Screening Interviews
• Screening interviews are generally conducted
when an employer has a large applicant pool
which they want to narrow down to a more
manageable number. The purpose is to “weed
out” the applicants who are obviously not a
fit. Screening interviews are usually done by
phone, tend to be very short, and the
questions will focus on basic qualifications.
 Cont…

Phone Interviews
• Most screening interviews are done by phone,
but phone interviews will also be used for
other reasons, such as geographic obstacles –
the applicant lives in another city or state. In
this case, phone interviews will be longer and
more detailed. Here are a few do’s and don’ts
of phone interviews in all situations:
 Cont…

• Be well prepared.
• Never conduct a phone interview in your car
or in a public area – you need to focus all your
attention on the interview.
• Use a land line to avoid the possibility of a cell
phone call being dropped or poor reception.
 Cont…

• Conduct the interview in a quiet private area.

• Ask family members and friends not to disturb
you during the interview.
• No eating, surfing the web, I/M or text
messaging during the phone interview – avoid
distractions and focus on the interview.
 Cont…

• Also, phone interviews are often not

scheduled in advance, they will just call you. If
you are busy, driving or in any way not able to
focus 100% on the interview, tell them you are
busy and ask to schedule a time later in the
day or week. Don’t worry, interviewers know
they are calling you without an appointment
and are very flexible – they will work with you.
 Cont…

One-on-One Interviews
• This is the most common interview method and
involves you and the interviewer alone in a
private office. Once you are face-to-face with
the interviewer your dress, appearance, non-
verbal communication skills and other visual
factors, as well as your verbal communication
skills will come into play. Building rapport with
the interviewer is usually easiest in this setting.
 Cont…

Panel Interviews
• Sometimes the employer will have a “selection
committee” or for some other reason there will
be multiple people involved in conducting
interviews. They may want to conduct a “panel
interview” in which you will be interviewed by
several people at the same time. Panel
interviews are very efficient from the
employer’s perspective because it allows them,
in effect, to do many interviews all at once.
 Cont…

• Remember that, in a panel interview you must

connect with and engage every member of the
panel, not just the person asking the question.
Make sure you get a business card from every
panel member and send each a thank you note
afterwards.
• Always bring extra resumes and offer one to
each member of the panel at the beginning of
the interview.
 Cont…

Serial Interviews
• In a serial interview you will meet with several
people throughout the day, usually back-to-back.
One person will interview you, then pass you to
the next person, and so on throughout the day.
Serial interviews are physically and mentally
tiring because they can often take the entire day.
Remember that each time you are passed
onward your chances of being hired improve!
• Serial interviews are typically used for senior-
level positions, but there are exceptions.
 Cont…

Lunch Interviews
• Sometimes the employer will take you to an
interview lunch or even dinner. Interview lunches
are very unstructured, and they will probably be
evaluating your social skills and manners. If you
haven’t yet done so, make a point of attending the
University Career Center Professional Etiquette
dinner to familiarize yourself with the basics of
dining etiquette. When ordering off the menu, stick
with something in the mid-range of prices that’s
easy to eat. Never under any circumstances order an
alcoholic drink during a lunch or dinner interview.
 Cont…

Group Interviews
• You may be asked to do a “group” interview,
which is the opposite of a panel interview.
Instead of several interviewers and one
candidate, one interviewer will sometimes
interview several candidates at the same time.
The interviewer will ask questions of no one in
particular in hopes that a “leader” will emerge.
Group interviews are not very effective for
most situations and are rarely used.
 Cont…

Stress Interviews
• Stress interviewing is a generally ineffective and
antiquated interview method, and most – but
unfortunately not all – employers have discontinued
this practice. The theory is to see how you react to
stress. The interviewer may make the room physically
uncomfortable by turning up the heat, make the
candidate sit in an uncomfortable chair or sometimes
even stand, ask off-the-wall questions that have
nothing to do with the job and possibly refuse to
answer your questions. Today’s job candidates are too
sophisticated to tolerate these methods and this
technique is very ineffective.
 Cont…

Roles of Interviewer and Interviewee

• An interview works best if there is co-
operation on both sides. Consider the
following descriptions of roles which may be
helpful to a successful outcome

• See the chart below

 Cont…

Rules and principles of interviews

• The purpose of an interview is to gather
information about the applicants’
competencies and work experience so that
you can select the best qualified candidate.
The key to an effective interview is having
clearly defined selection criteria with related
interview questions, developed before the
interview.
 Cont…

Guiding Principles
• Your goal is to have a fair and effective process
for conducting interviews. Statutes governing
fair employment cover the interview process
as well as the selection of the candidate. To
ensure fairness, you should:
 Cont…

• Conduct structured interviews in which each

candidate is asked a predetermined set of
questions and all candidates are measured
against the same criteria
• Treat all candidates in a fair, equal, and
consistent manner
• Eliminate cultural or other forms of bias in the
interview process
 
 Cont…

• Evaluate candidates effectively by developing

and asking a variety of questions, including
direct, open-ended, and situational questions
 
• Keep your top candidates interested by
completing the interview process quickly
 
• Choose the best candidate for the job
 Cont…

Interview Ethics
• Ethics are morals and values abided by a
person, organization, or institution (culture).
• Truth/Honest- Provide true information. Don’t
offer false information to impress the
interviewers.
 Cont…

• Concealment- Do not tell the entire truth, usually

present one side of an issue which favours you. Do
not tell what would jeopardize chances for success).
• Fairness - Question candidates within reasonable
and necessary boundaries. Avoid questions on
disability, family and relationship issues, race or
religion issues, personal history issues not related to
the position).
• Confidentiality and privacy- Don’t reveal
interviewee’s information to unauthorized person
without one’s consent or misuse them in
unintended task.
 Cont…

Approaches and Techniques during the

Interview Session
• Approach your interview with a reasonable
degree of confidence and self assurance.
Convince yourself that you can do the job as
well as the next person and probably better if
you put your mind to it. Recruiters are
invariably impressed with an interviewee who
displays real interest and enthusiasm.
 Cont…

• You should, therefore, give display of your all

around abilities: personality, speaking power,
knowledge, tact, intellect, mental fitness and
good manners. To exhibit such characteristics,
the interviewee needs to behave in the
following ways:
 Cont…

• Avoid picking your nose or teeth, chewing gum,

cheeks, smoking, licking lips, etc. These may
signal bad manner as well as lack of confidence
to the interviewee.
• Maintain eye contact; otherwise you will give
the impression that you are disinterested or
untrustworthy, but do not stare at interviewers.
• When inevitable to sneeze or blow your nose,
do it undisgustingly to avoid embarrassment to
interviewers.
 Cont…

• Take care of your posture - sit upright and don’t

cross your legs (at the knees).
• Avoid irritating manners such as grunts, clearing
throat or gap fillers, like eh.., you know…, okay…
• Attend to the interviewer's body language and
other cues to sense when the interviewer is
concluding; do not stay behind.
• Show enthusiasm and laugh or smile only when
appropriate. Jokes are usually initiated by the
interviewers.
 Cont…

• Since tone, speed, pitch, volume and clarity mark

emotion and feelings, they need to be regulated
and handled with care.
• Do not respond to something you did not
understand. Ask for clarification or if you are
unable to respond satisfactorily, admit the fact.
• Take few seconds before answering the questions
if you need to think.
• Be concise and precise to save time - Answers
need be sufficient but not too long to affect the
allocated time. Maximally, two minutes can do for
typical responses.
 Cont…

• Listen to the questions carefully - Avoid

assuming that you know what the question is
going to be as soon as the interviewer begins.
Wait till the interviewer completes talking (do
not interrupt or cut in a talk).
• When the question is repeated, stick to your
previous responses again and again.
• When paraphrasing what the interviewer has
said (for clarity) do not correct one.
 Cont…

• Hold your temper (especially when you face a

hostile remark). Sometime such remarks are
deliberately imposed to cause anxiety and
stress to decentre the interviewee to let one be
oneself.
• Restrict your responses to what has been asked
only unless the addition is to your advantage.
• Answer the questions honestly, rather than
telling the interviewer what you think
• she/he wants to hear.
 Cont…

Ending the Interview

The interviewee may ask few sensible questions
before leaving. The questions may be like:
• How soon will the decision for this position be
made and which medium will be used for
feedback?
• What are the opportunities for advancement in
your organization?
 Cont…

• What are the criteria for promotion in your

organization?
• Does the organisation provide additional
education for employees who want to develop
their skills?
• Are there any benefits provided by your
organization to employees?
• May you let me aware of the salary embraced to
this position? This may also be asked after one
has received a letter of offer for the position.
 Cont…

Thank the interviewers for short listing you

among the interviewees.
Leave with a warm smile and you may
handshake if entertained by the interviewers.
Let them initiate if not just leave.
You may write a follow-up thank you letter
expressing gratitude and asking to know any
new information.
 Curriculum Vitae (CV)

• A Curriculum Vitae (usually abbreviated as CV)

is a document that contains detailed
information about an individual possessing it.
It is a short written document that lists your
education and previous jobs, which you send
to employers when you are looking for a job
 Cont…

• A CV is usually attached with an application

letter when someone is applying for a job
somewhere, though some people may just
submit their CVs at an institution to show
his/her qualification for getting employed
when the institution needs a person with such
qualifications; some people also publish their
CVs through the internet or mass media like
newspapers; this is a good way to advertise
you widely.
 Cont…

• CVs are also required by some organizations

and institutions when one is applying for a
scholarship or is applying for further studies.

Important information in a CV
• Any CV must contain your personal
data/information, your education background,
your current and previous job(s), membership
and association you have been attached to,
additional skills you have and your referees.
 
 Cont…

Personal data
• This is an essential part of a CV, it tells people
about your social and biological information.
At this place, include your full official names
(some may begin with their surname, followed
by first name and other names, and others
may begin by their first name followed by
other names). Indicate your sex here, i.e.
whether you are a man or a woman, also
indicate whether you are married or not (your
marital status), and also if you are divorced.
 Cont…

• It is important to indicate your sex because

some positions may have been reserved only
for a certain sex, or there are important
arrangements like accommodation to be
made, your names may not be good sources
of identifying your sex. You should also
indicate whether you are married or not. Your
contacts, i.e. e-mail address and
telephone/cell phone contacts are also
required here for your employer to contact
you when satisfied with your qualifications.
 Cont…

• Other important things to include at this

section are your addresses. Two addresses
should be included here. One is the address of
the place you were born. This is important
because it will help your employers find
necessary information about you when the
information are needed, for example if you are
seriously sick and they need to send you back
home, though someone is also required to say
about his home of residence after
employment
 Cont…

• This is also important for your employer to give

you the benefits you disserve, for example
transportation costs and similar benefits. This
address will also help your employer to know
your nationality. Another address to include is
the address of the place you are currently
living. This is important to help them know, if
they want to send you a letter of reply, where
will the letter find you. It is also important to
show your nationality here.
 Cont…

Education background
• Show your education background starting with
the highest level of education you reached to
the lowest level of education, that is be
primary school for our case in Tanzania. You
should also include the dates for each level of
your education and the awards (certificates)
you received at each level of education (i.e.
Bachelor of Arts with Education, Advanced
Certificate of Secondary Education, etc.).
 Cont…

Work experience
• In this part indicate the works you have ever
done before, include also the job you are
currently doing, if any. It is also important to
show the institutions and the dates and the
positions you held at the institutions.
 Cont…

Publication and international conference

papers
• For academicians and others like
governmental leaders, it is important to show
if there are papers you have published or
presented in international conferences. They
are helpful in showing your intellectual growth
and abilities.
 Cont…

Membership and associations

• You should also indicate if you have been or
you are currently a member in a certain group
or association. Indicate the name of a group
and if you held or hold. This is important for
your employer to know if you are good at
cooperating.
 Cont…

Extra curriculum activities

• It is important to show what other activities
you do apart from those required at your job,
i.e. those things you do when you are not at
work. In this section say whether you do
things like reading (and what materials do you
read), watch movies, you are a professional
singer, professional footballer, etc
 Cont…

Referees
• These are people who may be asked to provide
information about you when you are asking for a
job. Some employers or others may want to know
about you, especially your working behavior, before
they employ or give you a chance you applied. Your
referees should be people who supervised you at
work, your teachers at school or instructors at
college. They should not be your relatives, because
your relatives may not be honest about you. You
should provide at least three referees.
 Cont…

• Make sure that you indicate necessary

information about your referees, which is their full
names, their contact address and phone contacts
and the names of institutions they are working
and the position they hold at their working
institutions. Make sure that the people are
informed before you use them as your referee. It
is also important to arrange them according to
their ranks, for example a professor must come
before a Doctor or an Assistant Lecturer. See the
examples of a CV in the next pages.
 Cont…

• See example