It’s a common assumption that good communication is merely based on the right choice of words. However, this is not entirely true. Human gestures, facial signals as well as the tonality are just as important as words, if not precede it. For example, consider a scenario where one says ‘Thank you’ with a scowl on their face. Such a situation often leaves the listener in a dilemma and arouses confusion, such as – ‘Was he being sarcastic? ’. Gestures, facial/vocal signals and words commingle to form what we call – ‘communication’.
Effective communication is an art; if mastered, could remove all barriers caused due to misinterpretations, help in solving problems and work as a confidence booster. With a passion for travelling, I intend to visit as many countries over the years as I possibly can and with such an inbuilt desire, communication becomes an essential tool for successful interaction with people belonging to different nationalities and varied cultural backgrounds. Furthermore, in today’s corporate world, effective communication can do wonders to a person’s career. Even as a student, I face various situations, such as interviews, presentations, meetings etc. where my personality is wholly judged by my gesticulations, expressions and words. In such situations, I believe, perfecting the art of communication becomes crucial for expressing my desired thoughts and feelings.
Since the human mind is mostly doubtful and sometimes cynical, it becomes one’s responsibility to ensure that the receiver is able to differentiate between sarcasm, humor, disappointment and gratitude. After all, any form of communication is said to be effective only if the sender and the receiver are in sync with the message being conveyed. As Murphy deduced -
“If a message can be understood in different ways, it will be understood in the way which does the most harm”.
Effective communication bridges all interpersonal voids and via this module (ES2007S – Professional Communication) I hope to enhance, if not perfect my communication skills.
I liked the way you structure your blogpost by starting and ending with very relevant and inspiring quotes, great effort there! But perhaps you could elaborate more on the quote about “The art of Communication is the language of leadership” as I don’t quite get the main idea (: The focus of your message is very clear and indeed facial expression, human gestures and tone make up a huge component of communication that we simply cannot ignore! You have also addressed the question well by illustrating it using the example of your passion to travel around the world, hence requiring effective communication skills (and perhaps most importantly, knowledge of quite a handful of different languages as well) to interact with people from various nationality and culture.
ReplyDeleteHi Lucinda,
ReplyDeleteYes,if I really want to travel around the world, I must learn new languages apart from instilling good communication skills. I am considering learning French, as a wide portion of the society speaks the language. During my work as a volunteer for the Youth Olympic Games, I was amazed to see how people belonging to different countries from South America, Africa and of-course Europe spoke French. I guess, it can be considered as a universal language, second to English.
My interpretation of the quote - "The art of communication is a language of leadership" is as follows -
Effective communication is a form of art. Mastering this art form will instill a sense of security, confidence, leadership and above all remove all interpersonal barriers. Once this has been achieved, a person is free from fears of any kind as he/she has the potential of conveying his/her needs precisely. This inculcates the strength of leadership,like say leadership in a communication. Hence mastering the art is equivalent to learning the language of leadership.
I hope I was able to put my point across,else I must work on my effective communication skills ;)
Hi Shruti, I espcially like this phrase you mentioned, "where my personality is wholly judged by my gesticulations, expressions and words". Exactly, no matter how unfair it is for people to judge us solely through the way we communicate, it is only how this society works. :(
ReplyDeleteNow that you've learned how effective communication could be important, I believe traveling around the globe would be of no problem to you! ^^
Cheers,
Alicia
http://alicia-almighty.blogspot.com/
Thanks for the sharing, Shruti, this is an informative and interesting post.
ReplyDeleteYou shared that effective communication is an 'art' - what about it being a science? Is it a science? What do you think?
Your post ended with a light-hearted quote, mirroring the strategy used to open the post, which is excellent in terms of structure development. That being said, the appropriateness of the quote used is just as important.
In your quote from Murphy "If a message can be understood in different ways, it will be understood in the way which does the most harm," – certainly this cannot be true? What would the world come to if this is indeed the case?
You also shared that "the human mind is mostly doubtful and sometimes cynical." My feeling is that you may have to provide factual evidence should you wish to persuade your readers that the above is true.
Good effort on this first blog post. I’m already looking forward to the next!
Hi Shruti, yes you have clarified my question about the quote! It is indeed very true that one will be able to play a lead role in terms of communication if he/she mastered the art of effective communication! Thank you! (:
ReplyDeleteDear Ms. Lim
ReplyDeleteThanks for going through my blog post and providing constructive feedback.
Yes, I do believe that effective communication can be considered as a science as well.Going by the definition of science, which says - "Science is, in it's broadest sense,any systematic knowledge that is capable of resulting in a reliable outcome."; effective communication is a form of knowledge that we need to learn in order to ensure that the message being received is at par with the message being sent.
Regarding the quote, I guess it's more of a warning that Murphy is trying to send out to people, than just a deduction. I think he's trying to say, that ,if you don't master the art of effective communication, you might be heard/considered from an entirely different perspective,which most likely will not be to your liking.
Again thanks for the pointers Ms Lim. Will definitely work on my upcoming blogs.
Dear Alicia, Lucinda
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. :)