Have you ever wondered why you never got called after your first date with that hot chick/dude you desperately wanted to get to know ? Or did your boss just gave you the 'blur' look after you just finished explaining to him what seemed to be an entire 'essay' of your work? Are things not really working out for you at home all cause people say you haven't been listening?
Well.... if these things have been happening to you, chances are you haven't been communicating effectively!!! Do you know a majority of problems faced by individuals of today is because of their inability to communicate effectively. And communication isn't about just listening and making sure ' you talk properly'. It involves a large variety of factors and is a skill itself that takes a long time to master.
Sometimes such skills are mastered by experience but since we are all going out to the working world one day, being able to communicate effectively takes major significance in our lives - and helps ease the process especially when we transit to the working world whereby a large majority of how effectively you perform depends on your communication skills.
A lot of people feel that communication is about practice.... "That practice makes perfect". Sadly thats not the case cause english is neither a science (as mentioned by Mr Brady in class ;) ) nor is it math. Communication is an art form which can be mastered like all other art forms. And like other art forms it enables one to master it in his/her's own way and preference. That is why there are so many variety of artforms, and thus a variety of communication methods as well.
Whichever way you choose to express yourself through communication there are three ways by which you can improve yourself. Cause in art, though it has no rules, it does give people the space to find and improve themselves so that they become masters in their own field.
Firstly observe people's reactions to whatever you have communicated with them. Usually thats a very good indicator of whether your just said something that was meant to create the result you wanted. Secondly, observe yourself!!!! Give yourself a minute to detach yourself and observe your own words and actions. Reflect on them. It is through refection that many find their faults. Accept when you go wrong and take action to overcome that. Hehe! That may include taking a course in your school called Professional Communication! hint hint! ;)
When you bother taking the following actions, you will realise the potential you have in persuading, charming and smiling your way through even the tighest of spots! Who knows! Maybe one day you might even cause a sensation in a room full of people with just your speech!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hello Varjeet,
ReplyDeleteProfesional communication is indeed such a profound art that has caused numerous interest and research on this complex topic. At times, in trains, I can spot other commuters reading up books on effective communication. It is a subject that city dwellers eagerly want to master given the heavy emphasis of effective interpersonal communications at home, in institutions ,in workplace, social gatherings,etc .
There are actually many private institutions orgainising interpersonal skills workshops for working adults to polish up on their communication skills.
Thankfully, we do not need to fork out additional cash to pay for these workshops if we master this art of communication well as we are already here in ES2007S.
Wish that all of us can work hard and achieve whatever we want from this course.
Cheers,
Serene
Hey Varjeet,
ReplyDeleteThat was an interesting post. I realise that I am not a good listener (which I thought I was), as I often find myself "multi-tasking" with other thoughts while listening to someone. As you said its a skill, which I need to master.
Also, I have never thought about observing myself while communicating, especially in an informal setting. That would be an interesting experience; maybe I would finally get to see what first impressions others would form of me. Then again, I can never really predict that because it would be biased according each individual's belief system. Oh well, its worth a try. :)
Thanks, Varjeet, for what seems to be a highly detailed expository essay on the importance of effective communication skills! You certainly provide a comprehensive view. I like the way you cover so many of the essential arenas, from the interpersonal to the workplace. One thing missing seems to be the personal touch, how such skills could be important for YOU in specific.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few areas of misinterpretation, too. For example, I wouldn't want to say that comm is only an art and not at all a science. In fact, the view held by Chambers as espoused in the text of the course intro seems too narrow to me. There has been lots of research done to demonstrate that comm skills can be studied, reflected upon, analyzed, and even improved. One area, for example, is the use of language to communicate, from that used by humans to that of chimps, dolphins and a wide variety of other creatures. So to just say it's an art misses some of the obvious, I think.
To take this idea further, in written communication we (scholars) can even do things like error analysis, studying the types of errors that most often appear in the writing of NUS students. Imagine that! We can also assess the workplace to see what forms of communication are most often employed. That's something you'll be doing as part of your project for this course!
One other area of confusion on your part is my name, Brad rather than Brady. No big deal...at this point. Ha!
In any case, I appreciate your effort with this post, Varjeet. I look forward to reading more of your writing!
Hi Varjeet
ReplyDeleteI had encountered the situation that you mentioned in the first paragraph - the boss giving you the 'blur look' after what you had said. This happened when i was working during the holidays. What my boss wanted was a brief summary of what I had done and modified on their excel worksheet after inputting all the information. But she can’t understand as I was speaking too fast?! And I didn’t realize that until she pointed it out to me. I was like “uh? Serious?” Now, I knew that I wasn’t communicating with her effectively at that time.haha..
Anyway, I do believe that communication is about practice. In my point of view, these effective communication skills could work out fine, only when we practice them more often. For me, I can’t just like go out there right now, standing in front of 10 people and make a speech and expect all of them to know what I’m saying. I have to practice for a few times and revise it in my head before going out. Or even when I was speaking to my friends, I think that the ‘filter’ in my head had filtered my ‘speech’ with these communication skills. Also, when I am writing out comments or blog post, I ask my friends to help me review the post a few times, as I was afraid that I might be sending out the wrong message. Thus I still do believe that communication does involve practice.
Let’s just hope that by the end of the semester, we “might cause a sensation in a room full of people with just our speech!”
See you in class=)