Communication Activities

Your Turn Form a group of five or more people. Play telephone by having the first person whisper a message to the second, who whispers it to the next, and so on. The last person repeats the message aloud. Try these variations:

1. Have each person write down the message before repeating it. Afterward, track where changes happened as the message was passed along. Discuss reasons for changes.
2. Play the game in a loud setting, such as the gym or the cafeteria. Compare the resulting final message with the one in the original version of the game.
3. Include one nonsense word in the original message (for example, “glimbot” or “gripshun”). Trace it to see how it changes and how other words change.

Your Turn After a lecture or presentation, perform one or more of the following to deepen your thinking.

• List the 5 W’s and H (who, what, where, when, why, and how) about the lecture.
• Paraphrase the main point of the lecture.
• Find one idea in the lecture that relates to an idea you are learning about in another class.
• Write at least one idea you can infer from the lecture.
• Ask yourself why this information is important and answer the question.
• Evaluate the support for the main point, indicating why it is or isn’t reliable.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the lecture in conveying the main point.
• Compose a response to the lecture, indicating what you still wonder about the topic.

Your Turn Introduce yourself to a classmate, telling who you are and why you are introducing yourself. Have the person reply, saying who he or she is. Afterward, analyze the communication situation by defining the sender, message, medium, receiver, and context of each introduction.

Your Turn Act out the following scenes with a partner. Continue acting for about a minute before shifting scenes. Change your formality level as you go.

1. A teenager (partner 1) talks to a police officer (partner 2)
2. A restaurant server (partner 1) talks to a patron (partner 2)
3. The president of the United States (partner 1) talks to a bodyguard (partner 2)
4. A patient (partner 1) talks to a surgeon (partner 2)
5. A scientist (partner 1) talks to another scientist (partner 2)

Your Turn Listen to a brief conversation in a movie. Create a conversation map by filling in the spaces of a chart like the one below. Quickly summarize what each person says and implies without saying it, and record any facial expressions or body language involved.