Effective Communication

Most Important Concepts

Effective communication possesses concepts that are essential to every area of my life. In my personal, academic, and professional life, I will meet people from all walks of life who interpret and understand communication differently. Communicating efficiently is vital to fostering good relationships, dissolving problems, and creating a coherent atmosphere.

"I'm a great believer that any tool that enhances communication has profound effects in terms of how people can learn from each other and how they can achieve the kind of freedoms that they're interested in."

Bill Gates

Conciseness and Clarity

When delivering messages verbally or through emails, I learned that too much information can confuse the receiver, lose readers' attention, or cause the main message to be lost in all the other information given. Providing only the necessary information and using standard terms and phrases is essential to reduce future problems. To accomplish this, take a moment to prepare your message or ask a peer to overlook the message you are about to deliver for clarity.

Non-Verbal Communication

When speaking to an audience or a single person, facial expressions, wondering eyes, arms crossed, smiles, tilted heads, etc., will occur. These are all examples of how people use their bodies to show emotion. Most importantly, they are non-verbal communication queues that convey a message to the speaker. Identifying and understanding non-verbal communication cues is vital because it enhances my ability to respond or adapt to unsaid signals and body language.

Tone of Voice

My tone will set the mood of any conversation I have or start. My tone will indicate whether I am angry, excited, uninterested, relaxed, and more. This also applies to emails and text messages. Writing a message in all caps with exclamation marks can be interpreted as yelling and screaming, giving off the wrong impression (OER, n.d.). I learned that I must be aware of my tone of voice and match it to my message to avoid offending or confusing others.

Presentations

Most people fear giving oral presentations, but it is also a highly desired skill that can enhance their professional and personal lives. The most important thing is to prepare and know my subject. Not preparing causes mistakes and anxiety to happen during the process. Most of the time, when giving a presentation, audio-visual equipment is used. It is a good idea to memorize my presentation and have a hard copy of my information in case of equipment failure (Vogel & Viale, 2018). Knowing my audience helps me use the correct speaking style. For example, if I talk to a room full of top executive officials at work, I will use a professional style versus casual or relaxed.

Active Listening

Active listening is fundamental to professional interactions, and mastering it requires deliberate practice (Tennant et al., 2023). When you receive a message, it is important to acknowledge what was said to avoid missing information. Another essential concept is seeking feedback. Feedback encompasses an acknowledgment from the receiver and a recapitulation of the message (Tennant et al., 2023). Recapitulation, reflecting, and paraphrasing the message helps me remember and understand the message. It also displays respect for the sender. Ideas I incorporate in my life when communicating are making eye contact with the sender, asking for clarification, and concentrating on what is being said.

References

OER Commons. (n.d.). Characteristics of effective communication. Retrieved from https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/89683/overview?section=2
Tennant, K., Butler, T. J. T., & Long, A. (2023). Active Listening. Nih.gov; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK442015/
Vogel, W. H., & Viale, P. H. (2018). Presenting With Confidence. Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology, 9(5), 545. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6505544/

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