In my opinion, effective communication occurs when a person's message gets across and is understood by the other party. We live in a world where we are surrounded by many different people, therefore effective communication is vital for us to connect to and interact with people around us. There will always be a need for people to interact with one another, therefore good communication skills are important to ensure that routines in life can continue as usual.
As someone who is often described as quiet and soft-spoken, without much patience to repeat myself too many times, I find it very important to be able to articulate my sentences properly so that my message gets across to the other party. When I meet people, I talk to them to find areas of common interest, and build up the friendship from there.
I find that it is important, for myself in particular, to learn the skills that are required for effective communication. It helps save time and also helps avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble if things are communicated properly at the start. Misunderstandings arise due to people getting the wrong information, be it from their own misinterpretation, or a poor delivery of the information. I understand the frustrations that can result because I have experienced such situations before, and most of the time these problems can be avoided had there been more effort in ensuring that the communication process was done properly.
Effective communication ensures that what I am trying to say gets across to my audience. When that happens, things can move smoothly and there can be progress in whatever we are doing.
Thanks for this clear, concise and well-focused post, Jun Xiong.
ReplyDeleteAccording to a research conducted by Stanford Research Institute, 85% of our success is related to our people skills (communication skills) while only 15% is related to our technical skills and abilities - so what you'd shared made a lot of sense in many aspects - effective communication saves time, ensures that jobs progress, and builds friendships.
Looking forward to reading your next post!
Hello Jun Xiong!
ReplyDeleteI can relate well to the point made in the third paragraph. Sometimes, our intentions are good but once we try to put that intention across to the other party, we end up hurting them unknowingly.
At times, I envy those who can seem to get their points across easily. For my case, it can be a hit and miss affair. It is like trying to pour water into the wrong end of a funnel, a process that needs a great deal of effort. Handle it wrongly and you make a mess out of the situation.
Hi Jun Xiong,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your comments! I really benefit from that and will keep trying those skills, such as to turn a closed-ended question open, to find common interest etc.
I agree with you about your analysis on misunderstanding. It may be the problem of the message sender or that of the message receiver. Hence to ensure an effective communication, two parties involved should be both a good speaker and a good listener at the same time.
Hi Jun Xiong!
ReplyDeleteI do agree that a lot of misunderstandings and problem can be avoided if more effort had been put in to ensuring that the message was put across in the correct manner. However, like you mention, there are cases where the root cause is because of misinterpretation by the receiver rather than ineffectiveness by the speaker. It is in these cases that we should attempt to reconcile the different perspectives by viewing through the person’s point of view and in future communications be aware of the differences and try to avoid any miscommunication. Hence in order to be a good communicator, we need to know our ‘audience’ well. The ability to know our audience is not attained overnight but through constant practice and interaction with different people. Therefore, the most effective communicator is not one with the gift of the gab but one who has practiced and always put in effort to communicate well.
Hey Jun Xiong,
ReplyDeleteI think your writing skill is rather effective. I do agree with you that effective communication can save time and energy in trying to get ideas across to the listeners. In fact, that's one element of being "effective" - being understood in a possible short time. Although you may think of yourself as a "quiet" and "soft-spoken" person, I highly regard you as a thinker. You may be critical thinker who has accumulated lots of insights and wonderful ideas within. I'm more than willing to understand you better. Looking forward to being enlightened by your "buried" insightful thoughts.
Hi Jun Xiong,
ReplyDeleteWhen I first come to NUS, I have problem communicating with people as I am not getting used to express myself using English. Therefore, I experience the same situation as you-breakdown in the communication flow.
As for the impatience to repeat yourself too many times, I would suggest that next time, you can try putting yourself in the listener's position: surely you won't want the person you talk to shows sign of impatience and wants to end the conversation quick. Most probably, both of you will end up in frustration. It is just some suggestions from me, hopefully it does help! =)
@Sheah Shiuh
ReplyDeleteYup okay I understand what you mean. I know how it feels when I see people getting frustrated when they have to repeat themselves. Will keep that in mind when I communicate with people in future.
@Xiaoxing
Haha yes people have often said that I am a thinker. Will contribute if I think that what I have is useful.
@Jonathan
Yes yes, indeed. The most effective communicator is not the one with the gift of the gab. I have seen that for myself, how certain people speak "words of gold". They may speak only a few words, but what they say are of vital importance to the topic.
@Wang Chen
I have also learnt that what many people want is to have someone to listen to them. When we truly listen, we will know the right questions to ask, but that takes practice nonetheless. It will be evident when someone is genuinely interested in the conversation, and the speaker will definitely appreciate it.