No man is an island. Cooperation is one of the main requirements for the society to work properly. In order to cooperate with other individuals, we must communicate. Communicating could be anything though, even something as subtle as crossing one’s arms over the chest, as a sign of defence. Arms wrapped around oneself are also a way of getting warm, so it could simply mean “I’m feeling cold”. In order to make the society and every day life pass by in a smooth way, we must avoid sending out unclear messages. We must communicate effectively.
In your private life, effective communication is a prerequisite to make you relationships work properly. Instead of giving you a hug to give your warmth when you’re cold, your partner might think you’re angry with him or her because your sending out a message saying “I’m defending myself against you” when your crossing your arms over your chest. Unnecessary conflicts can be avoided if you in a clear and lucid way explain what’s on your mind. Also, by using the right words and the way of presenting them, it could be easier to have your will through and get where you want. Put in another way, it’s possible to manipulate people by your way of communicating.
Effective communication is also necessary in public or at work. When negotiating or in other ways interacting with people in a more formal way, your message must be clear, or a lot of money and time could be lost. Think of what a society would be like if the prime minister communicated “I need defence” (like arms crossing), when he or she really meant “I need help” (like a warming hug). All the power in the world is useless, if you don’t know how to communicate it.
Effective communication with others simply makes the island we share with them a better place.
I love the birds in the top right corner. I also like how you explain the effectiveness of communication skills. And the fact you made a symbolic conclusion is really nice.
ReplyDeleteI feel though that you emphasized a lot in non verbal communication more than verbal communication.
In the last part of your post, I think a better example would be one of uncompleted sentence, like "We need defense to protect our country", which would show that the prime minister has his country at heart. Unlike "I need defense" which shows he thinks about himself first than about his country. It would be hard to think that the prime minister needs affection when it symbolizes political weakness.
Rami
PS: Comment on my Post :)
Btw, your username is called unknown. You have to go to "dashboard" on the top right corner and click on "edit profile" then search for "Display Name" which is under "Identity".
Hope that help :)
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ReplyDeleteThanks, Anna, for this clear, concise post. I appreciate your many examples of what makes for effective communication, and the value of that. I suppose I can infer from this general discussion of communication what skills you feel you most need to work on: nonverbal and verbal, clarity, negotiating, cooperating. Or not? See, in fact, while you discuss the general value of good comm skills here, I don't get to see your specific needs, your context, your sense of what the priority for comm skills study is right now.
ReplyDeleteHi Anna,
ReplyDeleteYou start off very well.
And as Rami said, you focused a lot on non-verbal language.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that though since body language is the most widely used language :)
In addition, as Brad mentioned, you can make this post even more engaging if you provide examples from YOUR real-life story.
Cheers,
Tong