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

Abstract

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.