Importance of Effective Communication

Importance of Effective Communication

Dr.S.Elangovan, Sri Venkateswara College of Engg&Technology, Thiurppachchur, Tiruvallur.631203 Tamil Nadu State; India

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What is communication?

 Communication is a reciprocal sharing of information and ideas of written, oral, non-verbal information according to a common set of rules.

“ If you want to drink and drive, take cocacola” is a better way of communicating with drunken drivers and a better way of  communicating the message “drunken driving is risky”

In any profession be it engineering, or medical or legal business executive, it is imperative that the professional should be competent in both oral as well as written communication

Effective Communication is the success of any  Organization

Effective communication is the secret of any organizational success. The root of   problems in any organization is poor communication.

People in any organization spend 75% of their time in an interpersonal situation.

For teachers, especially English Teachers, effective communication is the key to excellence. First of all the class-room environment should have better view of the teacher. It should encourage individual participation.

Ways to improve Communication : To begin with, let us  have simple presentations with grammatically correct sentences, in  the chosen language.

1.Listening  Listening   is    vital part of communication. Be a good, active listener. Most importantly communication in its highest form extends beyond talking and listening. It includes behavior. Effective communication is dynamic, continuous, irreversible,   interactive   and a culture of service excellence and mutual understanding.

2. Be an effective listener: Listening is compared to storing vast quantity of  potential water in a reservoir of dam. There are ways in which we can improve the art of listening. Listening is an intellectual activity whereas hearing is not so . In listening our brain processes the data received. But hearing is just perceiving the sound.

How to be an effective listener?  1.Establish eye contact with the audience. This will impress the listeners and they will feel the speaker is paying them individual attention  to them. 2. Take notes effectively when someone speaks will help the listener to recapitulate the important points.3. Prepare well before communicating.4.Avoid negative mannerisms like speaking to fellow audience when someone speaks.5.Listeners should follow golden rules.

The four Major goals of communication: 1. To inform 2. To request or to convince 3. To persuade 4. to build relationships.

 First we must have  set goals for ourselves  for communication. Perhaps “Rowing harder doesn’t help if  the boat is headed in the wrong direction”

“A man cannot manage his own life, much less the life of others if he does  focus on his goals ” Chengis Khan.  Secondly you must Define what you want.  Stedman Yitaham observes “To know yourself is the first and most important step to pursuing your dreams “

Define what  you want is the first critical step in almost any critical situation. You can have anything you really want, but you can not have everything you want.

  Focus on what is important and don’t pay attention to things that would distract. In organizations, the root of problems is poor communication.

For us , teacher, communication is very essential. For everyone, be it  teacher or student focusing on what is important and paying  no attention to things that would distract, that will make the communication all the more effective.

For example, when a teacher or student is talking about mobikes he or she can mention about the aspects like fuel consumption, pulling power, pollution, drunken driving, electric bikes etc, rather than speaking about brand names like Hero-Honda, Yamaha, bullet etc, which will  take the listeners picturesquely to various thoughts.

Role  Played by Your   Dream of Ideal communication: 1.Create a dream that is so big that it will keep you excited 2. Define the dream in minute details 3. Live in the dream so that   it becomes real to you on the inside and then. 4. Hold on to it so tightly that no one can take it   away from you. Purpose of presentation: To make your presentation more effective you must have the following as your objectives Purpose of presentation:  Primarily Building Interpersonal relationships; Giving   presentations and debating view points effectively.

 Communication includes Presentation Skills:  Presentation skills can be defined as ‘ideas, concepts or issues talked about or spoken to a group or audience.

Presentation Skills: Preparation, planning is the first step on the   ladder of success. 1.What do you want to present , 2.Why do you want to present; 3.Whom will  you be  presenting? 4. How do you want to present? 5. Who is your audience?Building interpersonal  relationships must be the prime objective of communication. . Giving presentations and debating view points effectively.

To Make your communication effective   a) Body language. For example in an interview sit upright and look face to face the interviewers. Perhaps “Action speak louder than words”. On entering give a firm, warm hand shake.  Don’t shuffle the shoes as it would reflect on your attention, getting diverted. B) Improve pronunciation and diction a) slow down the rate of speech. Practice voice modulation. To achieve the above, first of all have proficiency in the language you communicate.

Spruce up your writing skills:  Five exercises to practice everyday to make your communication and presentation better. 1. Pretend that  you are a News-caster and read  before mirror. 2. Read standard News papers 3. While reading a book underline or mark difficult words and refer the meanings of the same with the  help of a Standard  dictionary.4. See to it  that at least such new words in conversations and writing. 5. Speak English in the class and in family and with friends and where ever possible as everyone wants to  be fluent in English.

 Conclusion:  In any field better   communication helps to   sort out things, solve problems, dispels misunderstandings.  Communication also saves life as the   communication (verbal or non-verbal or   gesture) between   doctor and patient in giving the doctor a lead to treat or between the pilot of an aircraft and the control room traffic engineer who warns about the presence of mountains on the flight route, or communication between lawyer and Judge etc.

If we can improve our standard of life by improving communication skills, it would be better for us   to strive to develop   it .