The Key to Effective Demonstrative Communication

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Communication is a part of every person on this planet. It is the way we communicate our intentions and responses to our friends and other people whether in our personal or professional everyday lives. Chapter one defines human communication as “the process of understanding our experiences and the experiences of others through the use of verbal and nonverbal messages” (Quintanilla, K., & Wahl, S., 2014, p. 10). We as everyday communicators believe that we are all superior at communicating because we do it every day of our lives. People do not believe they can you be bad at something as simple as communication. People that have the belief of great communicators, when in fact they are the total opposite, exemplify a behavior called “communication bravado (Quintanilla, K., & Wahl, S., 2014)”. The same goes for hearing and listening. They are two entirely different things but people believe that they are one and the same. Hearing is your physical ability to detect sounds like a car horn or a dog barking. “Listening requires you to concentrate on the verbal and nonverbal messages being sent and to determine the meaning of those messages” (Quintanilla, K., & Wahl, S., 2014, p. 51). To be an effective listener, a person must listen and not just hear. A good listener listens between the lines of the conversation. They are listening for meanings which are not put into spoken words by the speaker. They also look for nonverbal communication such as gestures, facial expression, and tone of voice of the speaker. Listening is very hard and the ways to become a good listener is to avoid falling victim of the barriers to listening. Some of the barriers of listening include external and internal noise. External noise can be anything audible such a... ... middle of paper ... ...formation received or the sensitivity to nonverbal and contextual aspects of the message” (Quintanilla, K., & Wahl, S., 2014, p. 60). Evaluating involves the critical listening of the message making sure that the listener is free from distractions or bias. The last step of the HURIER model involves responding to the speaker whether it is by verbal or nonverbal communication. The keys to listening excellence include knowing yourself, evaluating the professional context, your communication interaction occurs, and the last thing is to step back and reflect. Using the “KEYS” acronym is an excellent way to remember the way to conduct yourself professionally and develop excellent listening skills. Works Cited Quintanilla, K., & Wahl, S. (2014). Business and Professional Communication: Keys for Workplace Excellence (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage, p. 10, 51,56,59,60.

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