successful project management - Commonwealth of Learning

You will note that these are suggestions and the extent to which they will work for
you towards audibility and clarity depends on your eagerness to improve where you
think you have a deficiency. The bottom line though is that pace affects interactivity,
and should be the project manager’s concern to improve it.
?? Activity
1. In what way is diction linked with the specialist vocabulary of the area
of distance education from which a project of interest to you is derived?
2. What do you think is the distinction between pitch and tone? Explain
how each one affects clarity and audibility.
3. “The project manager has to speak fast in order to ensure that he/she
covers more items in the meeting”. To what extent do you agree with
this view?
Using pauses for successful interaction
A pause can be defined as momentary silence that is calculated to have some effect
on the progress of the dialogue. The purpose of a pause is to leave space for
reflection and for team members to fill in the gaps, and the good project manager
should not regard it as a waste of time. A pause can be timed to coincide with the
end of an important point, and this will allow interactants to reflect and digest the
point raised in retrospect. It can also coincide with an open-ended question to allow
team members to plan a fitting response in language that is appropriate to the
situation. In sum, the benefits of momentary silence are that it:
• creates a feeling of openness and spaciousness for yourself and
others;
• adds gravitas to how you come across;
• helps reduce cognitive load by allowing members time to think
prospectively; and
• serves as a sign of respect for the previous speaker.
When you use silence well, you will be more observant and focused.
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