Effective Communication is the co-creation of meaning focusing on how people use content to generate understanding within and across various contexts, cultures, channels, and media. It always includes a communicator, an audience, a subject, and a situation. Effective communicators create a purposeful message designed to increase knowledge, to foster understanding, or to promote change in the listeners’ attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors. Effective communicators understand their own style and the necessity of adapting that style to the needs of their audience, as the goal of communication is shared meaning.
Effective written communication is the development and expression of ideas in writing. Written communication involves learning to work in many genres and styles, and using different technologies, and mixing texts, data, and images. Written communication abilities develop through iterative experiences across the curriculum. Core competencies include: context and purpose of writing, content development, genre and disciplinary conventions, sources and evidence, and control of syntax and mechanics.
Advanced-level indicators are:
- Demonstrates a thorough understanding of context, audience, and purpose that is responsive to the assigned task(s) and focuses all elements of the work.
- Uses appropriate, relevant, and compelling content to illustrate mastery of the subject, conveying the writer’s understanding, and shaping the whole work.
- Demonstrates detailed attention to and successful execution of a wide range of conventions particular to a specific discipline and/or writing task(s) including organization, content, presentation, formatting, and stylistic choices.
- Demonstrates skillful use of high-quality, credible, relevant sources to develop ideas that are appropriate for the discipline and genre of the writing.
- Uses graceful language that skillfully communicates meaning to readers with clarity and fluency, and is virtually error-free.
Oral communication is a prepared, purposeful presentation designed to increase knowledge, to foster understanding, or to promote change in the listeners’ attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors. Core competencies include: central message, organization, language, delivery, and supporting material.
Advanced-level indicators are:
- Central message is compelling (precisely stated, appropriately repeated, memorable, and strongly supported.)
- Organizational pattern (specific introduction and conclusion, sequenced material within the body, and transitions) is clearly and consistently observable and is skillful and makes the content of the presentation cohesive.
- Language choices are imaginative, memorable, and compelling, and enhance the effectiveness of the presentation. Language in presentation is appropriate to audience.
- Delivery techniques (posture, gesture, eye contact, and vocal expressiveness) make the presentation compelling, and speaker appears polished and confident.
- A variety of types of supporting materials (explanations, examples, illustrations, statistics, analogies, quotations from relevant authorities) make appropriate reference to information or analysis that significantly supports the presentation or establishes the presenter’s credibility/authority on the topic.