Communication is more than just being heard. We cannot be the speaker all the time, hence it is essential for us to also learn to take on the role of a listener. Developing effective communication skills involves active listening- a crucial skill in many occasions i have encountered such as
- listening to a lecture to obtain information
- listening to a project presentation in order to evaluate one's argument
- lending a listening ear to friends in trouble and offering our advice.
Effective communication involves interpreting nonverbal communication cues which is also a reason why we should empower ourselves with these skills. These nonverbal communication cues may seem insignificant but they do send out powerful messages. A moment of an awkward silence during a conversation may indicate that the other party is feeling uncomfortable. Also, seating postures of the audience could serve to indicate how interested they are in the presentation. These are all personal real life encounters which underline the importance of effective communication.
Maintaining a vast social network through communication opens up job opportunities through friends'/lecturers' recommendations and also forms a support group upon which I can rely on whenever help is needed. Things get done faster too, through friends' connections within workplaces.
Personally, i feel that these skills are not only applicable in working environment, but useful for fostering strong family bonds. Generation gaps can be bridged and conversations could be more open if we use the right communication techniques to address family issues.
Effective communication is a life long skill. Graduating in two years time, i really hope to find my dream job. Drafting an excellent resume and job application letter will definitely increase the chances of me attaining this goal. This is when effective written communication comes in. Furthermore, job interviews will never be as stressful as it used to be with the right communication skills!
Everyone can communicate, but not everyone is an effective communicator. Realising that effective communication skills are important in our lives brings us one step closer to being one.
Finally, here's an interesting screen shot of National Day Rally 2007! ENJOY!
Tired or bored?You decide. For the full article, visit this forum- http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=178693 =)
5 comments:
Hey Edwin! You Fei here. I truly agree with you that everyone is a communicator but not everyone is an effective communicator. People often wonder what went wrong in a relationship or a team project even though they had tried their best to communicate. This is where being a effective communicator comes to play. It isn't easy being an effective commnicator as certain ideas and emotions are most definitely a challenge to convey. A wrong choice of words may very well distort your own original intention or idea. I'm sure you'd agree that this is very important in drafting job application letters. i.e. how to make yourself sound capable yet not proud/arrogant. agree? In addition, taking into account the duration of one's attention span is also crucial in being able to make sure the other party got down all you had to say. I mention "say" as written works can be put off for a while before resuming the reading, unlike when the person's talking, when you miss the point, you miss the point. I'm not sure about you, but I definitely pause and re-play the webcasts I watch at home, to make sure I caught the right content. =p
hello.=)
I commented on Shuan's post that i'm more of a visual person so the picture at the end caught most of my attention once again.I guess the speaker (you and I know who.) needs to brush up on his communication skills. haha. Maybe, more eye contact or a livelier tone would prevent the audience from dosing off. Yet, does the problem lie only on the speaker? I guess not. The audience is probably not participating in active listening. Or it might be due the nature of the content. i.e. heavy political agendas. Like you have mentioned, everyone can communicate, but whether or not they can do so effectively is another issue altogether. I would think that an effective communicator must first be confident of what he or she has to say before the message can be brought across clearly. For instance, if a speaker was unsure of the content, and used 'uh....' every now and then, the audience would have doubts about him or her.
Hey Edwin! This is a very comprehensive and concise post and the picture at the end really sums up what you said about the nonverbal cues regarding sitting postures and expressions (or the lack of it)! Learning to interpret the various non verbal cues is indeed important to gauge whether people are interested in or getting bored of whatever you are saying (Maybe they really are just not practicing active listening).
Another good point that you mentioned is the importance of social networks. Personally, I have found numerous part time jobs during my holidays with the help of my friends. Having an extended social network does indeed give you an edge over others without such contacts.
Finally, I agree that effective communication is a life long skill that everyone should work towards acquiring. -Shaun
Hi Edwin, I too believe that nonverbal communication cues are vital in picking up signals which best indicate an audience’s respond to a presentation. I have been to numerous lectures where the lecturer simply rattles on with what he has to say, without realising that half the students have fallen asleep and the other half are in a daze. And at the end of the lecture, the students do not learn anything. In my opinion, the lecturer should have been aware of the student’s body postures, and perhaps given them a short break before continuing. This would have been more productive and would have undoubtedly been a more effective way of communicating his lecture contents to the students.
Hi Edwin, you have definitely thought through the topic and tried to cover as many areas as possible - communication channels, active listening, NVCs and communication networks. What I especially liked was this sentence, "Realising that effective communication skills are important in our lives brings us one step closer to being one." So very true!
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