Communication skills

'It's not what you say, but how you say it that makes all the difference.'

Communication is at the heart of everything we do at Build on Belief. To work well and effectively, a socially based befriending service needs a staff and volunteer team with good communication skills more that pretty much anything else!

We all learn to talk as children, and you would think that chatting to other's is the easiest and most natural thing in the world, wouldn't you? Strange that it can be so much harder than that! The Build on Belief training is intended to answer a host of questions around effective communication.

• What is active listening, and how do you hear what others are really saying?
• What part does your own thinking play in listening to others?
• Why is body language important, and what is effective body language?
• When talking to someone who is still struggling with their substance use, what might we need to bear in mind?
• What part does personal space play in communication?
• How do our own prejudices fit into our communication, and why are they important?
• How do you effectively listen to someone you don't like?
• Why is use of language so important?
• How can you tell when it's all going wrong, and what do you do next?

Our communication skills workshop will discuss all of these questions and more. With practical exercises and a range of discussion points, they will help you to feel calm and confident in you ability to chat to anyone who walks through our doors.