Effective Communication

Communication

Do you think communication is a No-Brainer? Communication is consistently listed as one of the keys to success in business and life, and just as frequently identified by employees as a key missing link to maximum productivity and job satisfaction. We communicate every day verbally and nonverbal to co-workers, to people on the phone, and to our family. We’ve been communicating since the day we were born. Actually, we were communicating before we were born, in our mother’s womb. What is communication?

Communication is the process of constructing meaning together. We live in a world of meaning, and communication is the process of collaboratively constructing these meanings. We hope in this process, that presenting something to other individuals that we are getting our ideas across precisely. We would hope that through this process the receiver would be able to translate our messages into ideas. Unfortunately there are a lot of barriers to this process. I will be discussing four different topics, verbal & nonverbal communication, perception, listening, and self-disclosure. Through the presentation of these topics, I will demonstrate several ways in which we can communicate among ourselves more effectively. This paper will demonstrate how we can become more effective as communicators, and to be able to apply the four topics covered.

Verbal communication includes anything written, or spoken. Nonverbal communication includes eye contact, body movement, facial expression, tone of voice, touch, silence, and several different expressions. This book discusses verbal & nonverbal communication jointly. It has become obvious that you can't really separate the verbal & nonverbal parts. As stated by D.J. Higginbotham & D.E. Yoder, "It is impossible to study either verbal or nonverbal communication as isolated structures. Rather, these systems should be regarded as a unified communication construct."

One example that the author s John Stewart & Carole Logan use is that language be regarded in terms of a sliding scale. The main communication blocks on a sliding scale that runs from primarily verbal (written words) to mixed (vocal pacing, pause, loudness, pitch, and silence), to primarily nonverbal (gestures, eye gaze, facial expression, touch, and space). The degree that you can isolate the words speakers use, they might be considered primarily ...

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...t I forget that they were trying to tell me a story.

I'm really terrible at advising. I had a co-worker tell me a story recently. He was upset about something, and I tried to come up with a solution to his problem. I didn't even hear how this person was feeling and missed the most important part. He just wanted someone to listen to him and understand what he was going through.

This paper demonstrated how we could become more effective as communicators, and to be able to apply the four topics covered. Communication in a nutshell is the process of constructing meaning together. Our goal should be to strive to constantly improve our communication process. Most of us fall into certain habits. It's helpful to become conscious of our habits, but knowing that so you can change those habits is the critical point. Practice is the only way you will become a better communicator. As you incorporate these ideas into your life you will begin to notice an improvement in your overall communication. Sometimes, we lose site of the bigger picture. As the serenity prayer suggest, "Change the things that can be changed, accept those that cannot, and have the wisdom to know the difference.