WHY STUDY COMMUNICATION | COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Daniel Webster

“If all my possessions were taken from me with one exception, I would choose to keep the power of communication, for by it I would soon regain all the rest”

GOALS OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Goals for studying communication skills are:

• Communication to gain self-confidence.
• Communication for better understanding of relationships.
• Communication for freedom of speech & professional success.
• Communication for important life skills.

Communication to gain Self- Confidence

The picture is quite self-explanatory, isn’t it? This basically refers to our perceptions of us.

We all perceive ourselves differently; don’t we? And more so when it comes to how others see us? So, what’s your response? This is a totally exciting debate, but correctly brings out the significance of self-perception and its effect on our conduct.

The point right here is that we count on certain roles in our lives without being aware of them. However, as soon as aware, how well we adjust to those realities dictates our conduct and the roles we count on. If we do not become aware, we end up playing those roles throughout our lives without ever getting the chance to change them. It is vital that we realize what role we are playing. Awareness empowers us to “select” the role we need for ourselves.

We want to realize our very own perception of ourselves to communicate ourselves more directly to others. Rightly perceiving helps in bridging any gaps among how others understand us and the way we understand ourselves. We should remember that perceptual distortions are potent barriers to sending, receiving and understanding messages and in the end leading to miscommunication or communication breakdown. Can you remember any example where your perceptions have ever led you to misunderstand others or vice versa?

Communications for better understanding of Relationships

The function of communication in relationships can hardly be over stressed. It is proven truth that our quality of relationship is directly depending on our quality of communication. Our powerful communication can enhance our knowledge of people and people’s knowledge of ourselves, which in return allows our relations to flourish and prosper.

Communication for Freedom of Speech

If communication with others fail, our existence and our being does not matter to them. Then freedom of speech does not have a value whether we have the it or not. Those of us who are good communicators are recognized and are generally appreciated for their ability in an unbiased environment.

In case of a biased environment, barriers and miscommunications that can be fatal for our professional lives and careers, needed to be avoid. To be in the top slot of any organization effective communication skills are required.

Technical skills or knowledge only take us forward to a certain limit; on the other effective communicators carry the day and also the dream employment or the desired promotion that everyone was expecting.

Professional Success

Organizations need leaders to steer them and the role of communication skills in leadership has been acknowledged universally. The most revered leaders in the human history are the ones with high level competency in communication. We need leadership in many ways, whatever the domain we work in. Teachers’ role as leaders, who develop nations, is the most celebrated one, universally. For example, a teacher fails to communicate in the classroom. S/he surely wasted a great chance; to say the least.

Communication for Important Life Skills

In our daily life, we’re faced with issues and troubles that need us to perform certain roles and certain tasks.

The need of communication is generated by others who want to interact us, as we are social beings. If you are better at communication, then there are greater chances of success for you in performing the roles of your career and life.

Given the human variety and perceptual variations there would always be conflicting perspectives, views, thoughts and situations. Look at this ‘yin’ and ‘yang’ given below and tell me whether the boundaries of white and black join them or separate them?

Is the shape of one let’s say “Yin” sustainable without the shape of “Yang”? If you see, it is the shape of one that gives the shape to the other but at the same time they contradict each other both in shape, color and characteristics. One explains the other. One can’t exist without the opposite. It means that there is always unity in diversity or for that matter diversity in unity. We as humans have one thing in common and that is that we all are different.

So, we can say that this co-existence is viable because of our ability to communicate and we communicate for different resolution.

Communication is nothing without Decision making. Because on the basis of decision making, we communicate and decide what to communicate. Every communication situation is essentially a decision-making situation. There are three styles to responses to a communication situation according to personality styles– Aggressive, Assertive and Submissive. We can tell a lot about anyone’s personality by observing the decisions they make in a communication response and by this we can probably map an image of that person.

Also read: WHAT IS COMMUNICATION | COMMUNICATION SKILLS