COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR AGENTS/SPONSORS

Communication is a process by which two or more people exchange ideas ,feelings,facts or impressions such that each part gains understanding.
For communication to carry more weight and conviction.The communicator (sender) must posses certain qualities that is confidence in the subject matter ,credibility as viewed by the audience reliability.
Messege is the link between sender and receiver or the information the sender wishes the audience to receive.
When Giving a talk,many people are nervous for the first time they give a talk to the audience even through the phone.It is wise to keep on your toes and prevents you from thinking .
Most of the times the nervous caused poor preparation .The prevention is to be courageous and prepare your materials in time .You should have confidence in yourself,your materials that is the knowledge of the subject and a lot of rehearsals is necessary.Addressing lack of confidence is to prepare materials and arrange them inorder and using aid diligently.
During the talk have time for lighter moment by giving jokes. The fear of being frank from what you do not know or limited knowledge. It is very possible to be honest with yourself and refer whatever you do not adequately know to experts.Reasearch material in time.You may have the full knowledge of the subject matter but what may lack is preparation of your homework.
When communicating in the written words:Don't hedge know what you want to say .It is appropriate to use active sentences that is
subject/verb /object
For example "The compost pile will built by Farmers" it is wrong and the correct is :"Farmers will built the compost pile."
It is necessary to writing jargon and complicated sentences.And the dates need to be written in the correct format these days starting with month ,day and then year(06/24/2010).

Quality of an Agent/sponsor:The roles of an agent/sponsor is to be an Educator,Coordinator ,Organiser,Advisor,Advocate,Facilitator ,Communicator ,Motivator,Listener,Intiator,Demostrator or Provider.
All the roles above develops the skill and the motivation to solve the general problems. The agent/sponsor provides link between the customers/clients and the organisation and put in place mechanisms for clients/customers to gain knowledge of the products or services or the skills.The information includes the technicalities,access relevant information and help to learn new things whilst adapt new changes.
The four qualities of knowledge the Agent/sponsor should have are:
Technical the sponsor/agent must be adequately trained in the technical aspects of the work.
The sponsor/agent must well versed with local traditions and values.The understanding of customers/clients ' culture and social fabrics (networks).
The organisational policy,goals and vision should be familarised.The knowledge of th developmental programmes and bureacratic procedures.
The skill of facilitating adult education since the sponsor/agent will work with all community people so the familiar with the approaches of adult education.
Personal Skills arean organisational and planning the abilities to plan the work and organise its implementation.
Communication is effective with the good knowledge of the common language in the community both verbally and non verbally.
Analysis and diagnosis of the problems,must be able to examine situations and propose the course of action to be taken.
Honest ,realiable and trusted.
Punctality that is time conscious to attend every scheduled progrmmes.
Communication is about expressing what we think and feel.Its not about talking ,but listening is also very impartant to make it a complete thing.
Communication is more than words it includes our appearance, and our habit when we expressing our emotions and appreciations.
As human beings with unique talents of communicating we should learn to communicate better with other people so that we can share our views without hurting their feelings.
Communication tips:
Always talk to anyone with respect,listen with your full attention and encourage other people around you,even children to express their views freely.Be open to them as you can assist everyone to understand his/her feelings by asking questions and say out their feelings ,like "you feel angry" or frustrated or happy.
Encourage some people to solve their own problems ,but give them tips wherever necessary.Never deal with issues when you are angry .
Hold meeting with people and discuss problems and decisions and give everyone a chance to talk.
People are very excited if they are given opportunity to express their feelings including their happiness ,disappointments and anger.