Support to the community in the parish.

Training of animators for group communication Rogers Michael 5/5/10

Group communication is the interaction of people in a group; through conversation, discussion in this communication more than two people are involved. Group communication basically means a many-to-many communication style in a group; this goes beyond both one-to-one communication and one-to-many communication. Apart from the distinction in communication style, group communication, in most cases, requires certain reliability guarantees in terms of the messages sent from source (s) to members of a group. Communication is about expressing and conveying thoughts, feelings, opinions and ideas to another person or persons. Group animators are assisted to develop communication skills that can help them assist other members of the parish and confidently take charge of unfamiliar situations. When Animators are well formed, people are more likely to listen to them, whatever they say, if they can express themselves well, and this is particularly useful in influencing and negotiating important personal and social matters. Developing effective communication skills requires repeated practice, which animators can do by putting themselves frequently in situations where they can interact with a variety of people. We could consider establishing bible sharing clubs or public speaking Group communication is characterised by listening, sharing, dialogue, debate etc. Animators should be taught to effectively utilise these in their participation as they endeavour to communicate since they lead to being creative. Animators are made to realise their role in creating communion among the group, community building, and group animation and therefore the necessity for them to understand that they are intermediaries through which their sharing, inspirations etc can reach other members of a group, knowing that they need to be good communicators. And this entails careful listening and correctly responding. Animators are informed that many people today fear or deplore the loss of community and community spirit. Rather than bringing people together, we use communication often to isolate or divide them. Therefore, group communication can revitalize communities and rekindle community spirit, because the model for genuine communication, like that for communities of all kinds, group communication, is open and inclusive, rather than unidirectional and exclusive. References Jacob Srampickal & Leela Joseph (2003). Babel to Babri Masjid and Beyond, Media house Delhi. Chris Arthur, ed.(1993). Religion and the media, Cardiff, UK. http://www.gcomm.epfl.ch