effective communication skills

effective communication skills

Enhancing Effective Communication Skills: A Comprehensive Guide

1. Introduction to Effective Communication

The absence of a formal definition is reflective of a generally superficial and limited understanding of what exactly communication is. Broadly and simply stated, communication is concerned with the transmission of meaning from one person to another. But a closer examination of this process reveals that effective communication implies much more than just the transmission of meaning; it requires the use of words to convey specific ideas and feelings; it calls upon both verbal and non-verbal skills; it necessitates both ‘talking’ and ‘listening’ and it supposes the creation of an atmosphere where sensitive and representative feelings can emerge.

1.1 The Concept of Communication

A direct result of active communication, effective communication involves the ability to express oneself skillfully. Calling for the cultivation of both a refined sensitivity to the human condition as well as a deep understanding of communication processes, it is a fundamental requirement for virtually every profession today. And just as is the case with acquiring any other form of expertise, the development of effective communication skills entails the acquisition of a sound conceptual foundation in communication.

2. Verbal Communication Strategies

Effective communication can be very serviceable, but it should prevent all attempts at systematic manipulation, and it should not only act in this way in formal speeches, but also in general discussion, conversation, and debates.

Why can people who are, in all other respects, equally capable and equally appealing, be judged differently according to whether they communicate well? This issue involves a number of important themes which demand close attention in the development of verbal communication skills. The previous explanation that communicators are judged differently because the criteria, when we use the word communicator to mean “person’s ability to communicate,” for effective communicators are noncognitive, does not recognize the degree to which cognitive-social factors play a role in presentations. Personality traits and appearances channel the functioning of the medium. It is essential that we give close attention to the role which impression management plays in the judgments we make of each other, and to the power aspects which this incorporates.

3. Non-Verbal Communication Techniques

3.1 Body Language and Posture Body language and posture are estimated to communicate more than half of all communication, both in terms of the individual broadcasting the message and the individual who receives it. Thus, it is paramount that we take these elements into serious consideration when communicating. In this respect, body language undoubtedly works for or against a person. Therefore, the message may not be heard if the body language does not augment the message. Positive body language such as a confident stance, good posture, and natural gestures will serve to complement the message; however, negative body language such as fidgeting, pinned arms, and crossed legs may detract and spoil the message.

The previous section detailed verbal communication techniques to enhance and strengthen your communication skill set within and without your organization. Now we will work through various non-verbal techniques to heighten your communication skills even further. The five non-verbal techniques which we discuss in this section are: body language and posture, voice modulation, visual contact, use of humor and dress, and office furniture. In addition to clarifying the importance of non-verbal communication concepts, we will also provide the appropriate guidelines associated with each technique.

4. Active Listening and Empathy

Empathy: Empathy means being able to understand and share others’ thoughts and feelings before providing thorough feedback on the person’s problem. The listener should act as if they were experiencing the speaker’s feelings, especially anger, sadness, and/or happiness. To that end, the listener’s facial expression and body gestures should reflect the speaker’s mood at any given time.

Active listening: Active listening requires the listener to both understand and respond to the speaker’s words. When you are an active listener, you restate the message you think the speaker is presenting, especially if the message changes your understanding of the speaker’s thoughts. You clarify the message if it is vague. You encourage speakers to continue by using feedback techniques that involve nodding, smiling, and speaking appropriate words or phrases. Finally, you indicate that you actually understand the speaker’s feelings.

Active listening and empathy are critical communication skills that involve focusing on the speaker’s message and making the necessary emotional responses. It is as important to listen to what the speaker does not say as it is to hear what the speaker does say.

5. Overcoming Communication Barriers

Communicators can alleviate the many impediments to communication by just paying more attention to the actual mechanics, rock, and methods of a successful application of these verbiage forms, and by avoiding the trap of participating in any activity for which little if any proficiency in this field is apparent, or goals are clearly not spelled out before a method is actually used. All too often, uncultivated, unpolished “professionals” attempt to sell their own or they’re ignorant and ignore seemingly unresolvable failed performance, rush headlong into ethnic councils’ words, and persist in the belief that gaffes and side effects can be ignored or papered over at will, until the overcapitalization and satisfaction derived from underperforming simmer away, delivering instead a ring of beads without color or luster, suitable only for the bottom of a parakeet’s cage. Greatness remains the province only of the genuinely committed.

The range of communication barriers to the process of communication runs the gamut of inconveniences, uncertainties, or misapprehensions caused by uses of unclear gestures or electronics, inattention (the portals of conception are closed), environmental noise at either source or receiver, the use of a method of communication (such as a memorandum or the doing of any task) incapable of achieving a preconceived result (a method which is inefficient or inadequate for the task), data overload without surcease, a shift in meaning from intended to nonintended during the communication event, lack of congruency between speakers’ or writers’ often unshared, in cohorts, or dueling mental images, or others’ perceptions of what’s going on, the absence of an appropriate protocol, impatience, incompatible objectives, personal photo hangs, clashing menageries, redundant structure of the organization which tries yet does not communicate equitably with itself and other members, vetting, voice lowlands, clearance lessened by administrative constipation, the overflow of the news stream (too many channels), bias or discretion, berrer, stereotyping and social profiling that have made honest men look biased (copy that), a word ill used or malaprop, gangsta posturing, prejudicial questions or bodacious leads, ease of access, skepto, politicians’ jargon, poor personal habits or vegetating, dealer principale, corrupt media, biased reporting, unfriendliness, loyalty was displayed, overdeployment of controlled language, aversion to media, we can’t talk now, data tailoring, demands grooming off, or all the subtleties of human nature yet recounted. The author acknowledges the help of the editor and the OMB in pointing to these.

A communication barrier is any impediment that may severely hinder the regular reception/processing of a message. The impediment to efficient communication might take the form of language, circumstances, information overload, differing perceptions, and emotional, physical, or cultural distractions.