Enhancing Communication for Effective Teaching

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“Talking for a Purpose”™

Language to Increase Compliance

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Overview Of Session….

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Ms Morrish – Background and experiences

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Outline explaining the origins and development of “Talking for a

Purpose”

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Complete all the sub-sections of the program including various

activities.

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Introduce to you Aaron (case example)

Background & Experiences

Empowering Teachers, Parents and Children

Teacher

Focused

Teacher self

management skills

Philosophy

Beliefs, Thoughts and Philosophy

Teacher Focused

Behaviour Training

What would you

like to learn from

today’s training?

The Origins of

“Talking for a Purpose”

“Talking for a Purpose”

Overview

To:

•

Reduce oppositional and defiant behaviors and increase compliant 

behaviours

.

By:

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Saying What You Mean:

Increasing teachers understanding in the importance, of 

their

responses and language

interactions, when managing children’s challenging 

behaviours

.

•

Meaning What You Say:

Developing appropriate behavioral language in order to increase compliance.

“Talking for a Purpose”

Components

Empowering Teachers - “but I just don’t know what  to do with him!”

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My behaviour matters – developing teacher regulation.

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Breaking the Cycle of Defiance

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Response Button

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Teachers Responses – effective?

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Redundant Questions.

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Exact Moment Behaviours.

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Effective Commands.

Theoretical Base

Eyberg (2001)

 PCIT (Parent Child

Interactional Therapy)

Baumrind (1960’s) parenting

styles

Patterson (1986) Coercion

Process

Introducing Aaron….

Teacher View

 Doesn’t

Follow

Directions

 Impulsive

 Explosive

 Aggressive

 Refuses

Manipulative

 Always

Wants The

Last Word

 Controlling

 Doesn’t

Follow

Directions

Hospitalised

 /

Self Harm

Bi - Polar

Single Parent

Younger

Brother

Sickle Cell

Dysfunctional

Relationship

With Father

Speech and Language /

Communication

Difficulties

Teacher View

 “I just don’t know what to do with him. He doesn’t

listen. He refuses to follow directions.

He disrupts the whole class and I just can’t teach. He

just wants to do whatever he wants to do, whenever

he wants to do it. I just can’t cope with him, he

frustrates me”.

What pushes your

button?

And…….

How do you

respond?

Teacher Responses

Verbal Response

Initial Response

Increasing Self Awareness

 “The first step toward change is awareness”

- Nathaniel Branden

Teacher – Self Management

 “Stop and Think

BEFORE

You Speak”

Effective communicators do not use

a lot of words, they choose their

words carefully, 

in advance

.

Activity

Divide a piece of paper into three sections

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 1 - Behaviour Concerns

Behaviour

Concerns

List 

five

 behaviours in your

class that you would like to

decrease

.

Section 2 - Responses

Responses

How did you respond?

Why don’t you

ever listen?

Redundant Questions

Why don’t you

ever listen!

Redundant Questions

Because you

never say what

you mean…….

What is a Redundant Question?

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A question that does not need to be asked.

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The question is not related to what the 

teacher wants 

to happen.

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Unfortunately, the students answers are not what the teacher wants to

hear.

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Students responses to redundant questions annoy of even infuriate the

questioner, as the answers are usually extremely relevant and precise.

Redundant vs Appropriate Questions

If you 

WANT

 the answer, it is 

NOT

 redundant.

Context in which you asked the question is a significant factor.

STOP

 and 

THINK

BEFORE

 you speak!

What are the 

three c

ommon categories of

Redundant Questions?

Common categories of Redundant Questions

Why

Will

Can

The Wills

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Will you ever grow up?

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Will you ever be able to walk without me having to take you?

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Will you ever understand what a good choice is?

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Will you sit still for once?

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Will you behave yourself?

The Whys

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Why do I have to ask you a hundred times?

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Why don’t you ever listen?

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Why are you running?

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Why do you have that hat on your head?

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Why are you talking?

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Why aren’t you doing your work?

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Why do I bother even trying to help you?

The Cans

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Can you stop talking?

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Can you listen for once?

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Can you even be bothered?

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Can you behave yourself?

Why do you think

Redundant Questions

are so common?

What is the question you ask yourself 

BEFORE

 you speak?

Self Evaluating Question –

Limiting Redundant Questions

“ Do I 

want

want

 an answer?”

Self Evaluating Question –

Redundant

Statement

The Don’ts

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Don’t run.

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Don’t shout

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Don’t put your picture there

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Don’t be silly

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Don’t sit there

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Don’t talk to me like that!

DON’T!!

Exact Moment Behaviour

‘EMB’

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Effective command can replace Redundant Questions.

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However, before that stage, teachers need to become conscious that

what they are saying is not what they actually want.

Exact Moment Behaviour

What you want 

in that moment 

is the 

ONLY

 thing you say.

Not the eventual outcome.

What is the question you ask yourself 

BEFORE

 you speak?

Self Evaluating Question –

Exact Moment Behaviour

“ What do I want him/her to do 

NOW 

? ”

Self Evaluating Question –

Only ask/state what you 

WANT

DO NOT 

ask/state what you don’t want

Remember!

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Why are you

running?

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Q

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Can you stop

pushing?

Will you stop calling

out?

                                                      Exact Moment Behaviour

                                                                                      (EMB)

What do you 

WANT

 to

Happen?

What are you going to

say?

Giving Effective Commands

When a command is given, the end result is not always

compliant behaviours. What needs to be addressed is how the

teacher is delivering the command.

When giving effective commands, 

four

 teacher behaviours need

to increase and 

one

 teacher behaviour needs to decrease.

Effective Commands

The “MB’s”

Why do you think it is important to

increase your proximity?

Increasing Proximity

When giving a 

command

, proximity needs to be increased as

this will help to:

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The clarity of the command

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Gain the student’s attention

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Reduce the risk of shouting and repetition

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Reduce the risk of negative responses if the command is “Ignored” or

not heard

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Reduce the opportunity to embarrass students infront of their peers.

Always Model What You Want To See or Hear

Reflective Questions?

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Do you always model positive classroom behaviours?

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Have you ever shouted (in frustration) across your classroom

asking for “Quite Voices” due to the noise levels?

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How do you model the required noise level in your classroom?

Effective Communication

It is suggested that:

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Words account for only 

7%

 of the message

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Tone of Voice accounts for 

38%

 of the message

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Body Language accounts for 

55%

 of the message

Tone of Voice and Body Langauage

It is often difficult to “look” and “sound” like you mean it

when giving a command.

Increasing tone of voice can be particularly difficult, especially if it is

viewed this as an opportunity to shout!

   Conscience that body language is non threatening or confrontational

.

Tone Depth

How does a deeper tone affect the listener?

Research done by Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh ,

USA indicates that people make instinctive judgements of others based

upon the tone of the voice of the speaker. Specifically, people judge

those with deeper voices as having more authority.

This is thought to be a linked to the time where status was based upon

physical power and strength. Heavier, physically bigger people have

deeper voices than smaller people. Bigger people were viewed as

dominant, so deep voices were associated to higher status.  So a deeper

voice lends more authority.

‘Drop and Stretch’

The Power Of Words

The Tone of voice we use is responsible for about 35-40 percent of the

message we are sending

.

I

didn’t say you stole my money.

I 

didn’t

 say you stole my money.

I didn’t 

say

 you stole my money.

I didn’t say 

you

 stole my money.

I didn’t say you 

stole

 my money.

I didn’t say you stole

my

money.

I didn’t say you stole my 

money

.

Activity

In pairs write out a classroom instruction,

using the same sentence seven times.

Then highlight the words to be emphasised.

Read the sentences to each other and note

the impact of the highlighted word.

Tone of Voice

Then ask 

yourself?

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Is my voice clear so that everyone will understand me?

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Am I shouting?

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Do I sound confident?

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Would people listen to me?

Reflective

Question

Be honest with yourself, do you need

to work on your tone?

Reflective

Activity

Talk to a co-worker and ask for their

honest

 opinion.

“What does my tone of your voice

sound like to you? Does it reflect

confidence? Strength? Assurance?

Fear? Boredom? Immaturity?”

Body Language

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In the Mirror

Would you take yourself seriously?

Impact of Gestures

“Your choice of words is important, but even more important is your tone of

voice and your body language.

The better you can coordinate all three of those ingredients, the more

impact your message will have, and the greater the likelihood that a person

will both understand it and react the way you want him to”

(Brian Tracy)

Additional Exercise:

Watch videos of famous speeches and instead of listening to the speech

focus on the speaker's body language. 

Turn the sound off.

When you turn it back on again, notice how speech and movement

combine to create the whole impression.

Effective Commands

The “MB’s”

What

decreases?

Decreasing Sentence Length

Words are often added when the frustration starts…

I just asked

you to…..

Ok, I will say it

again…

Effective Communication

Children with ADHD often only process

about 

30 % 

of what they hear.

(Barkley, 2002)

“

M

B

’

s

”

Teacher – Self Management

 “Stop and Think

BEFORE

You Speak”

Effective communicators do not use

a lot of words, they choose their

words carefully, 

in advance

.

Effective Pausing….

A pause in the right place at the right time gives YOU time to:

•

Breath

•

Think 

BEFORE

 you speak

•

“What do I want to happen now?” (EMB)

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“Do I want an answer?”

•

Become conscious of your tone and body language

•

Be comfortable with the silence

Remember Aaron….

“The way we talk to children

affects whether they comply;

but we need to say the right

thing in the right way, every

time.”

(Ms Morrish, Change 

Behaviour

)

Ms Morrish founder of Change Behaviour, reserves the rights of the

following behaviour interventions:

“Talking for a Purpose,” Language to Increase Compliance Say What

You Mean and Mean What You Say.

The above named behaviour intervention 

cannot be modified

 in

anyway or shared with any other interested parties, unless permission

is given by the Behaviour Consultant.

“Everything begins with the decision

to take the first step.

From that action, wisdom arises and

change begins.

 Without action, nothing changes.”

Ms Morrish

Independent 

Behaviour

 Consultant