Fundamentals of communication presented to Pidhorodne community by Svitlana Buhai

During the first day, business trainer and consultant Svitlana Buhai guided participants — representing business, government, and civil society — on how to communicate effectively, emphasizing both being heard and truly listening to others.

Svitlana Buhai began by emphasizing that communication is a multi-stage process with various types. She highlighted that communication issues often arise from how information is perceived, linking this to both a lack of listening skills and an unwillingness to truly hear others.

Therefore, she stressed the importance of active listening, offering key advice:

• Ensure attentiveness through your posture and gestures.
• Focus entirely on the speaker, avoiding distractions.
• Strive to understand not just words but also underlying feelings.
• Observe non-verbal cues.
• Maintain an approving attitude to foster a positive atmosphere.
• Utilize a broad range of active listening techniques.

Participants then practiced these techniques through interactive exercises. Svitlana Buhai also outlined different information perception styles: visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, and digital.

A significant point of the lecture was the presentation of methods for expressing constructive criticism. In today’s business environment, and indeed in general human interaction, there are moments when criticism can help people grow, but they may not know how to express it appropriately.

At the end of the training lecture, the instructor presented the participants with the stages of the negotiation process, which include preparation, discussion, signals and signs, making proposals, forming a series of questions, bargaining, concluding the bargain, agreement, and analysis.

According to participants, the training lecture was an excellent opportunity not only to gain new knowledge for running their own business but, first and foremost, a chance to analyse their own daily communication with their closest contacts.