Developing Listening and Oral Expression Skills: Pillars of Influential Oral Communication

• Published in: Journal of management education Vol. 44; no. 2; pp. 129 - 164
• Main Authors: Costigan, Robert D., Brink, Kyle E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.04.2020; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Business Administration Education; Business Education; Classroom communication; Communication Skills; Correlation; Creativity; Graduate Students; Group Discussion; Instructional Effectiveness; Interpersonal communication; Language Skills; Learning; Listening; Masters Programs; MBA programs & graduates; Online Courses; Oral Language; Self Directed Groups; Skill Development; Students; Taxonomy; Teaching Methods; Verbal communication; listening; pedagogy; oral expression; leaderless group discussion; oral presentation with question and answer; influence
• ISSN: 1052-5629; 1552-6658
• DOI: 10.1177/1052562919890895

Influence is a critical competency for success in the workplace. Past research has shown that two oral communication skills (listening and oral expression) are associated with interpersonal influence. This exploratory study examines the effectiveness of two pedagogies (leaderless group discussion [LGD] and oral presentation with a question and answer time [P+Q&A]) in developing these oral communication skills. MBA students enrolled in online courses participated in this pedagogical research. The results of paired-sample t test procedures and correlation analyses of self- and peer ratings suggest that LGD and P+Q&A are effective in developing listening and oral expression skills, which, in turn, are related to interpersonal influence. Other key findings indicate that the reactions of the MBA students to LGD and P+Q&A are favorable, and the intentions of MBA students to transfer these communication skills back to their jobs are strong. We discuss the two pedagogies from the perspectives of relevance, improvisation, inductive/deductive discourse, and Bloom’s taxonomy of learning. We end with a discussion of the implications of these findings for business education priorities and business instructors.