When I first think of effective communication, I think of the strong, tall, sharply dressed, confident young business man/woman who everybody notices when he/she walks into a room. The man/woman who can win you with a smile and eye-contact, who gets to the top of the pecking order without any conflict or demonstration of ability. This is the person whom you can never win a public debate with, because the listeners hear the certainty in his/her voice, not the reason and groundings of your argument. His/her ideas always win support, he/she will get the promotions, he/she will get the sales, and the connections. He/she is a leader, for better or worse.
He/she is also no accident. He/she is the product of years of training and experience, of honed communication skills, both verbal and nonverbal.
Effective communication to me is being able to say what you are thinking; to let other people see your thoughts. This is often very complicated, as thoughts and ideas usually come in a quick burst, containing many layers of thoughts, reasons, and justifications, all of which needs to be quickly slowed down, decompressed, prioritized, layed out in a coherent order, and presented in a specific fassion of speaking. Effective communition is no easy task.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hieyo Matt!
ReplyDeleteI do actually have a different interpretation of someone whom everyone notices when he/she walks into a room. To me, that is charisma. This is because the person is noticed even when there is no communication (albeit, verbal) involved. Maybe you are thinking towards non-verbal communication.
In any case, I agree with you that effective communication is to be able to convey your thoughts to the other party. Often, people usually interprete the speaker's intentions inaccurately. I have had misunderstandings with people because I understand their intentions accurately. Also, effective communication is definitely not an easy task!
- Kalene
Hi Matt,
ReplyDeleteI guess the introduction was the image and success of effective communication, that’s a good one!
I like the way you explained why it is difficult to let other people see your thoughts. It’s true that we need to “pack” our thoughts neatly and present in a favourable way, thus it’s not easy especially when we are running out of time.