I think that developing effective communication skills are important to everyone as we communicate in our daily life. Effective communication is needed at home, at work, between friends and in a relationship. Hence it is a fundamental part of the common core. Well, it is important to be able to communicate both on a one-on-one basis and in a group context. Communication is not just about the words we use, but also our manner of speaking, body language and, above all, the effectiveness with which we listen.
As a student, effective writing skills are particularly useful when writing academic papers, reports, letters and emails, while effective oral skills are required during project presentations. As I will be entering the workforce in the near future, it would be important for me to learn to present myself well during interviews, build relationship with my colleagues and clients, and to communicate effectively with my colleagues. Even when I am giving tuition, good communication skills will come in handy in rapport establishment with my students.
Voice can be an intentional or unintentional communication of feeling. I believe that one way we can achieve effective communication skills is to develop our voice. During an interview, if we stammer when we say “I am confident in doing this job well,” might present doubts or nervousness to the interviewer instead of confidence and this definitely affect our performance. How we should vary our pitch, the tempo of the conversation and the volumes of our voices play a vital part as well, especially when we are talking to our family members, boy or girl friend and colleagues. Arguments and conflicts can arise if it is not handled appropriately.
Developing effective communication skills takes effort, but they can be learned in lifelong and hence, through this course, I hope I can acquire the skills and techniques that will aid me well in life.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I agree with Xiao Ting that communication is a fundamental part of the common core. We spend most of our time communicating with people around us. She had gave a few good examples of her stand as a student. Maybe she can give more examples about how effective communication can help her in the workplace in future.
Overall it is pretty well written. I do agreed that developing effective communication skills is important as one needs to communicate often in daily life. The points and examples mentioned did supported her stand. However, active listening is as important factor to enhance effective communication too.
Hi Sheral,
I do agree that effective writing skills are in fact very useful, seeing that the current trends are blogging as a part of lifestyle and emailing as a part of work. And yes, these are lifelong skills that we can keep, so i guess this will be a great module to take!
Hi Xiao Ting,
Apart from the academic field, there are times when having black and white makes communication so much easier than face-to-face channels. In my post to Chiew Yen's blog, I mentioned that the written form of communication would alleviate much confusion in my job. If my friends had just written "Model: Mary Janes ; Size 6", I would have got the message straightaway.
Voices are probably one of the easier NVCs to identify. One of the key ways to tell if someone is lying is through his/her voice. Hesitation, changes in pitch and stammering are just some of the way in which the voice can give one away.
Hi Seow Teng, you brought up an interesting point about voice and how our nonverbal cues (NVCs) may actually contradict our verbal language. As you rightly pointed out, "how we should vary our pitch, the tempo of the conversation and the volumes of our voices play a vital part as well". My father used to tell me, "It's not what you say but how you say it."
Unlike Xiao Ting, I don't know what you mean by "it is a fundamental part of the common core.." What is the "common core"?
Do be careful how you phrase your sentences, eg. "... but they can be learned in lifelong...".
Lastly, glad you realise that "developing effective communication skills takes effort" and that it is a life-long process!
Post a Comment