CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING

ON LIFE SKILLS
LATHA JAYACHANDRAN
LIFE SKILLS TRAINER
SKILLS
• Ability to do a particular work
effectively.
• A skilled person produces better and
quality results by using less time, energy
and resources.
LIFE SKILLS
 Lifeskills are abilities for adaptive and
positive behaviour that enable
individuals to deal effectively with the
demands and challenges of everyday life
(WHO).
 Adaptive means that a person should have
the flexibility to adjust according to the
situation.

 Positive thinking and look at

opportunities even in difficult situations,
in order to cope with the situation.
CORE LIFE SKILLS
 Self-Awareness  Empathy
 CriticalThinking  Creative Thinking
 Decision Making  Problem solving
 Effective  Interpersonal
Communication Relationship
 Coping with  Coping with Stress
emotions
Importance of Life Skills
Life skills help us to
 Understand the importance of healthy and
positive ways of living.
 Enhance creativity.
 Build self-confidence and self-esteem.
 Enable us to lead a better life.
Importance of Life Skills
Life skills help us
 Understand the importance of healthy and
positive ways of living.
 Enhance creativity.
 Build self-confidence and self-esteem.
 Enable us to lead a better life.
EMPATHY

 BasicEmpathy is the communication to

another person of your understanding of his
/her point of view with respect to his/her
experiences, behaviours and feelings
Empathy
 Empathy is a balanced curiosity leading to a deeper
understanding of another human being
 Stated another way - empathy is the

capacity to understand
another person's
experience from
within that person's
frame of reference.
Empathy
Most often the words Empathy is been misunderstood in the
context of Sympathy.
Difference between them - Sympathy as defined by the
Oxford dictionary is a feeling of pity and sorrow for
someone else’s misfortune; condolences.
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings
of another.
We can reflect empathy
• By caring for people and animals around us,
• By sharing people’s grief and being with them in difficult
circumstances,
• By assisting differently abled people,
• By not considering anyone as different or lower and in
many other such actions,
• By helping any animal in pain,
Altruism

 Altruism; A motive to increase another’s welfare without

conscious regard for one’s self-interests.

 Self-sacrifice for the benefit of others

• By not killing or hurting,
• By not making fun of people who are different from us,
• By not considering anyone as different or lower,
• By not mocking people who may not score high marks or
lack talents,
• By helping those who are in need,
 A little girl was returning from the house next door where
her friend had just died and her father asked, "Where have
you been?" "Next door," she answered. "Why did you go
there?" asked the father. "To comfort the mother," said the
girl. "How could you do that?" he asked. "I climbed into
her lap and cried with her."
Anonymous
 No matter what role we play in life, empathy remains the
primary tool by which we come to understand and
communicate effectively with others.
C.E.Rowe and D.S. MacIsaac, 1986,p 21
Practicing Empathy in Daily Life
Effective
Communication
Why do we communicate?
Have interaction & association
Make someone understand our
feelings or thoughts or actions
Have control over a situation

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Styles of Communication
Aggressive
Passive
Assertive: The person believes
that he /she as well as others are
valuable

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Ways of Communication
One Way Communication – from
single channel. E.g. announcement by
principal
Two Way Communication – between
two channels. E.g. discussion
between parents & children

21
Effective Communication
skills
Ability to:
Exchange the ideas, knowledge,
information, opinion, etc. effectively.
Use verbal (speaking) and non-verbal
(gestures & body movements)
communication.
contd…
22
Effective Communication
Use ways that are culturally
acceptable.
Listening skill is also an integral part
of effective communication.

contd…
23
Verbal Communication
One person talks & other listens to
be able to react
Can be informative, in the form of
questions, negotiation, statements,
open ended questions, instructions,
formal & informal message

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Non Verbal communication
Non verbal language gives meaning to
what is said.
It includes things such as tone of voice,
using silence, frowning, smiling, body
posture, touch, etc.
Body language can be easy to read, but at
the same time easy to misinterpret.

25
Listening
During communication, one person
talks and the other person listens.
The listener must give attention to all
that is said without interrupting the
speaker and afterwards to react
relevantly.

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 5 Gifts to Effective Communication
 Empathy: To be in the shoes of others, perceiving the
world as they do.
Verbal example: ‘I understand’, ‘I realize’, ‘I can feel’
Non verbal: Eye contact, leaning forward, body contact,
arms around shoulder, holding hands, etc.

 Reassurance: Being understanding and emotionally

supportive.
Verbal example: ‘Try not to worry’, ‘Things will be OK’
Non verbal: ‘Appropriate body language’, ‘Hand on knee or
arm’, etc.
contd…27
 Active Listening: Allowing other to talk, responding
without giving comments .
Verbal example: ‘Yes go on I am listening’, I see what you
mean’.
Non verbal: Being attentive and patient, reflecting concern
and emotion, smiling.

 Sensitivity: Accepting another’s feelings

Verbal example: ‘I am here for you’, Let me know if there is
something I can do’
Non verbal: Acknowledging feelings, being non-judgmental,
etc.
contd…
28
Genuineness: Being honest about reactions.
Verbal example: ‘I am happy for you’, ‘I am sad for
you’
Non verbal: Facial expressions and body language that
reflect inner emotions and thoughts, personal sharing

29
Communication Gap
No proper understanding between the two
persons.
When neither person can understand what
the other one is trying to explain.
One of them is under stress.
One person feels superior to the other
person.
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BARRIERS OF COMMUNICATION

 Linguistic Barriers

 Psychological Barriers

 Environmental Barriers

 Content related Barriers

Problem
Solving
Questions to be answered
 What is the problem?
 Is it my problem?
 Can I solve it? Is it worth solving?

 Is this the real problem, or merely a symptom of a

larger one?
 If this is an old problem, what's wrong with the
previous solution?
 Does it need an immediate solution, or can it wait?
 Is it likely to go away by itself?
 Can I be in risk ignoring it?
 What conditions must the solution satisfy?
 Will the solution affect something that must remain
unchanged?
Basic Guidelines to Problem Solving
 Define the problem.
 Look at potential causes for the problem.
 Identify alternatives for approaches to resolve the
problem.
 Select an approach to resolve the problem.
 Plan the implementation of the best alternative (this
is your action plan).
 Monitor implementation of the plan.
 Verify if the problem has been resolved or not.
Ability to:
 Clearly identifying the problem.
 Explore the available alternatives.
 Weigh the consequence of each alternative and
prioritize.
 Decide the best possible solution.
 If decision fails don’t panic try another
alternative/consult trusted person.
Develop alternatives
 Look at your problems in different ways; find a
new perspective that you haven't thought of
before. 
 need more information or new solutions
 can be combined or eliminated
 will meet opposition
 seem promising or exciting
THANK
YOU