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Home > Primary Industries > Primary Industries (240 hours) > Compulsory units > Participate in workplace communications > Participate in workplace communications

That’s what I thought you said!

Comprehension answers

1. Some of the communication problems portrayed by the words and actions of the young salesman include:
   • he may not have listened carefully to the woman’s enquiry.
   • he did not ask questions to clarify his understanding of the enquiry.
   • he misinterpreted the woman’s enquiry.
   • he assumed he knew what she was looking for in the store.
   • he was determined to sell his store’s latest range of garden watering supplies.
     
     
2. The woman’s initial enquiry could have led to the confusion and the salesman’s wrong assumption in this matter because:
   • she used words that were ambiguous, that is, the words could be interpreted in more than one way.
   • she may have spoken too quietly or indistinctly, leading to the salesman not hearing her clearly.
     
     
3. We know that the young man was not responsive to the woman’s non-verbal communication because:
   • he failed to observe the woman’s bemused look after he described the product range he thought she was seeking.
   • he continued his sales pitch even though the woman attempted to interrupt him.
     
     
4. The communication skills the woman employed to refocus the salesman’s attention were:
   • non-verbal – she looked him in the eye.
   • verbal – she clearly restated her initial request.
     
     
5. The woman’s final statement helped to clarify the situation for the salesman by:
   • adding the words “ladies underwear department”.
   • using a clarification technique to explain the real nature of her enquiry.
     
     
6. The key phrase that needed clarification in the verbal exchange between the woman and the salesman was:
   • “Where’s bras’n hose fittings?”
   • The above phrase included the archaic or old-fashioned term ‘hose’ which was used to describe stockings, socks, tights and panty hose. The young man may only have known the word ‘hose’ as the plastic or rubber tube used to water the garden.

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