Life Skills and Leadership Manual - Peace Corps

Life Skills & Leadership: Unit 2, Session 2: Positive Communication | Page 23 of 127

A. Practice, Practice, Practice: Direct and Indirect
Participants learn to distinguish between direct and indirect communication.

1. Give participants an opportunity to practice distinguishing between direct and indirect statements.
   Divide participants into groups of four or five and distribute copies of Handout 3: Change the
   Sentence. Say:

“I’d like you and your group to look at the statements and questions on this handout. If the statement is

direct, rewrite it so it is more indirect. If it is indirect, rewrite it so it is more direct. Let’s do the first two

together.”

2. Invite a participant to read the first statement and ask volunteers to give a possible answer then share
   your answer (such as “Please finish all your chores before you go out of the house”). Repeat with the
   third sentence (“That’s a very interesting answer on your test paper,” which can be changed to “Your
   answer on the test is wrong.”) Say:

“I’ll give you several minutes to work, then I’ll ask the different groups to take turns acting them out.”

3. Give participants about 10 minutes to complete the task. Then invite each group to take a turn sharing
   at least one statement that they rewrote. Participants will have different understandings about direct
   and indirect statements.

When is it important to be more direct or more indirect?

Is direct or indirect communication most valued in your culture?

Do you consider yourself more direct or more indirect?

Describe a time you might try making a statement that is the opposite of what you would

normally make.

Note: These questions are an assessment of Learning Objective 1.

4. Summarize by saying:

“You can see that there is more than one way to say the same thing and several ways to be more or less

direct. You can choose a way that will increase the chance of having a positive outcome to the

conversation.

B. Practice, Practice, Practice: I Statements
Rationale: Participants learn how to make I Statements

1. Distribute Handout 4: I Statement Practice, which has several examples of situations and ask
   participants to invent an “I Statement” about them. You can do the first two together then have the
   same small groups as before work on the rest. Say:

“Now I’d like to give you a chance to make I Statements. Let’s do the first one together. (Read the first

situation.) What is the behavior being observed? What might the person be feeling and what would be

a reasonable request? (Repeat with the next example.)