Communication Skills

Poor communication skill causes a number of problems both with the learning process and the confidence of the individuals on the wrong end of it.  The purpose of this article is to highlight a number of areas where the communication process goes wrong and offer advice on better methods which you may like to consider adopting.

Have you ever wondered why some instructors are well liked and some are not, why some have many students and others have few. The answer could be in the way that they communicate.

Many instructors have good intentions with the directions they give but unfortunately do not use the right words in the right way and as a result create problems without realising that they have done so. The effect of this statement will become clear when we consider first what your intention is when you give instructions and what results are you expecting, and later the effect of poor instructions

The first thing to think about is “WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO ACHIEVE WHEN YOU GIVE COMMENTS ABOUT A PERFORMANCE”. Examples may be:

1. are you trying to make someone look small,

2. are you trying to embarrass them,

3. are you trying to point out faults,

4. are you trying to discourage them

5. are you trying to correct them,

6. are you trying to provide them with information which will help them to improve,

7. are you trying to build confidence,

8. are you trying to encourage them.

I hope that most of you would answer that items 5 to 8 apply to you, and you would never operate with 1 to 4 as your objective. I am well aware that many instructors wish to apply 5 to 8 but due to poor communication skills apply items 1 to 4 without realising that they have done so. In order to build confidence rather than cause embarrassment, and to correct rather than criticise it is important to communicate your instructions and comments clearly and constructively.  In my experience people do not make mistakes simply to wind up their instructors although I know a number of instructors who act as though they do. Comments I have personally heard are:

“How many times have I told not to do that”

“You are moving to slow”.

“Why on earth are you doing it like that?”

“You are leaning forward again and your balance is poor”.

“If you do not block my kick this time I will kick you with full contact”.

All of the instructors making these comments were genuinely trying to help but when examined closely, each comment simply CRITICISES or gives NEGATIVE information. These comments provide no assistance to help correct the problem and merely insult the individual and destroy his confidence. Better comments, are those which provide CONSTRUCTIVE information without criticism. Examples are as follows:

“Move your knee over your toe and you will have better balance when you kick.”

“Move faster”.

“Try it this way and it will be more efficient”

“Push your hips forward to help keep your body upright which will help your balance”.

“Turn your body at 45% when you block to position your shoulder forwards which will allow your arm to cover your head when making your blocks”.

Each of the above offers advice on how to improve the problem and makes no comment about the individual. It must always be remembered that your students DO NOT MAKE MISTAKES DELIBERATELY. If you accept this as a fact, then it is wrong to criticise and any problem should be accepted as a genuine mistake which is simply part of the learning process. “BEFORE YOU PUT SOMEONE IN THEIR PLACE YOU SHOULD PUT YOURSELF IN THEIRS”.

An instructor’s prime objective should be to assist his students to improve. Giving instructions full of information which helps them to perform, not only improves techniques and skill, it also motivates and gives them confidence. Any student who is constantly being criticised and told how poor he is, will quickly become demoralised will not improve because he does not have the necessary information to do so, and may well stop training. It is my opinion that poor communication skills by instructors is one of the major reasons that people leave the karate world,  I strongly urge you to think before you speak and take care to ensure that your comments are carefully chosen and I am sure you will reap the benefits.

My advice is that you avoid highlighting the problem if at all possible. If you cannot you must immediately follow up with comments as to how to correct the problem. I suggest that you stick to the facts, and limit your comments to what is necessary to improve the problem. Give clear instructions as to what should be done and nothing else. Occasionally it may be necessary to explain why something is not working correctly to assist understanding before giving advice on how to proceed.

I would also suggest that you never get personal when stating that something is wrong. It is always better to comment about the behaviour rather than the person (e.g. your fitness level needs to be improved rather that I don’t know why you have let your fitness levels become so poor). The first comment is constructive in that it is impersonal and tells the student what to do to improve, whereas the second is a criticism which attacks the individual personally and offers nothing constructive.  In this way you do not attack the person’s integrity, intelligence, or attitude which will often cause a strong defensive emotional reaction and will do nothing to build confidence or moral.

One other area which is often totally ignored is the ability and necessity to listen. Communication is two ways and involves both a communicator and a listener. Due to the very strict hierarchy and discipline in the Karate world it is not often that an instructor is questioned or encourages questions. It is also a fact that the status and personality of some instructors actively discourages questions and discussion and many students are simply in awe or are frightened of the senior instructors. I am also aware of some instructors (thankfully they are rare) who run their dojo’s like a dictatorship and questions and discussion is actively discouraged. Usually the system is for the instructor to instruct and the student to perform and there is usually no discussion on the matter. There may however be reasons why someone is not performing correctly and that cannot be known unless the student is allowed and encouraged to comment, offer explanations and/or raise questions. If you continually criticise your students or make sarcastic comments when they raise queries or give reasons for not being able to do something then they will stop communicating altogether and will often stop training. No one likes to be embarrassed or made to look foolish especially when they are offering what they believe are genuine comments or explanations. You should listen without making judgement and attempt to offer solutions even if the solution is a little obvious to you. Poor communication may be better understood from the following examples;

1. A student does not train for two weeks and when he arrives after his absence is criticised in front of the class for not training regularly. The student having been embarrassed and thinking that anything he says will be thought of as an excuse says nothing. It may be that there was an illness, a death in the family, exams holidays etc all of which are perfectly good reasons for not training. If this is the case the criticism was totally unjustified and may well result in resentment from the student who could stop training or train elsewhere. It would have been better to take the student to one side and ask if everything is OK as he has not trained for two weeks despite his general enthusiasm, and you were concerned for his welfare. When he provides his reasons they can then be discussed and any assistance to help with the problem can be provided. This is more likely to keep the student training and acknowledges that we all have problems in life and with good communication we can help each other. On a personal note I never criticise anyone who misses training and I find that all of my student will happily come over discuss their reasons without being prompted. I believe that this works because I never judge them or criticise or take their lack of training personally.

2. A student cannot make a technique work despite repeated efforts on the part of the instructor who points out every error as it occurs. The student loses confidence and believes that Karate is not for him and he stops training. This is a problem of negative communication which does not provide the necessary information to correct the problem. The continual criticism without knowledge of how to correct the problem makes the problem seem insurmountable and as a consequence destroys confidence and the will to persevere. It would be better if the problem was analysed by the instructor to determine what was causing it and the training methods to be used to improve it were discussed and explained. The training should then be adjusted to correct the problem. This gives confidence in that if a problem occurs assistance will be given to improve it and progress will be made. People only want to improve and if they can find a way with your instruction they will stick with you no matter what. However if you do not help them and merely point out their errors with constant criticism they will either stop training or go elsewhere.

3.  A student is having a problem blocking a front kick and gets hit every time. The instructor then spars with the student and informs him that if he does not block the techniques he will be hit by the instructor who then proceeds to attach hard and fast. As a consequence of this treatment the student loses confidence, believes he is not suited to Karate and stops training. This type of instruction is simply a form of bullying and never works. All it does is make the problem worse by completely destroying the confidence of the student who has no idea why his blocks don’t work has no idea how to correct the problem, and is being punished for his lack of ability. The solution is simple “STOP THE BULLYING AND TEACH HIM HOW TO BLOCK CORRECTLY”. Your students are not mind readers and cannot know how to correct the problem unless you educate them. They already know their current methods do not work and there is nothing to be gained from demonstrating further that they cannot block. Your students come to you for instruction to help them improve and are not there to allow you the opportunity to show that your attacks are better than their blocks.  To focus your comments on the fact that someone cannot block correctly is a complete waste of time. It would be better to analyse why the problem exists and to demonstrate how to execute the block correctly. This should be followed by slow practice which is checked regularly by the instructor until the student learns the correct method and is confident to practice at faster speeds.

4. A student shows a lack of respect for his fellow students and trains with the wrong attitude. The instructor seeing this problem decides to spar with the student to teach him a lesson and proceeds to knock seven bells out of the student without any explanation. This process I have personally witnessed a number of times and is a complete waste of time if the guilty party does not know why it is happening. He will usually know that he has done something wrong, but unless he is informed what he did, how can he know what it is and what he has to do to correct the problem. It would be more sensible and much more likely to change his behaviour if someone takes him to one side, explains his mistake and how he should behave. If after this is actioned there is no change in his behaviour then knock seven bells out of him (ONLY JOKING).

It may be that some of the above situations are similar to those that you have experienced or if you are an instructor have been responsible for. If that is the case I sincerely hope that you will give some thought to the points made and in the future will think carefully about your communication methods. My comments are not meant to be a criticism of instructors and are merely to point out that we are all human and can make mistakes without realising we have done so. My intention is to highlight a problem that may exist in some dojo’s that can be addressed and improved with a little thought. Effective communication is quite a large and broad subject and this article only scratches the surface. I would strongly recommend that all instructors read up on the subject which I firmly believe will benefit everyone. I hope that my comments will help improve instructor’s ability to communicate which will benefit the whole of the Karate world and keep our membership high.