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The Use of Effective Communication
- 1. The Use OfEffective Communication Thomas King
- 2. Interpersonal Skills VerbalConversation Lip Reading Sign Language Body Language Use of Intonation Nodding Summarising and Paraphrasing
- 3. Barriers of Communication Language Noise Lack of Concentration Distractions
- 4. Questioning Techniques ClosedQuestion Open Question Probed Question Response Times
- 5. Written Communications Emoticons Note Taking Reports Letters Faxes Emails
Editor's Notes
- #3 Interpersonal skills are used in every conversation within groups of people, or just one to one. These are the building blocks to every conversation and how the conversation will work.Verbal Conversation: A medium for communication that entails talking using the spoken word, such as talking face-to-face, on a telephone, or as a speech. Different situations severely affect how the verbal communication will be understood by the person you will be talking to. If you can see the persons face then because you can see the persons lips then lip reading along with your hearing ability will increase your chances of understanding the person, and thus being able to make a better conversation. However if you are talking on the telephone then you are less likely to fully understand everything that the person will say. Phones do not have the best sound quality so this is one of the reasons as to why it can become quite a large barrier.Lip Reading: The ability to communicate effectively by learning to understand verbal communication by being able to interpret lip movements from someone using verbal communication. Lip reading aids listening to a person as not everything will be heard. By following their lip movements you will understand more of what the person is saying. However if someone is blind this is something that will not be able to happen. Many blind people have extremely good hearing however as an aid to them conversations can be written in Brail which they can then read and understand to make sure that they have gathered everything.Sign Language: A system of communication using visual gestures and signs, as used by deaf people. Sign language is a very effective way of communicating, to deaf people especially as they cannot hear what a person is saying. This no longer becomes a barrier at they can then understand what the person is saying through the fact that sign language is being used as a communication method. Body Language: The process of communicating nonverbally through conscious or unconscious gestures and movements. Body language can be vital as it shows someone how interested you are, how much you are willing to engage and how much information you are taking in. If someone is leaning forward to the speaker, who looks interested and has a very good body posture then they are more likely to be taking in what the other person is saying, and the other person will feel like they are being listening to, and reciprocate the feeling to the other contributor. However if someone is slouched, with their body not facing the other person and no eye contact then they are going to feel like the other person is uninterested and not listening to them. Therefore body language is very important as it can show how interested someone was and how much they were willing to listen to the speaker at the time. It can also shape how the conversation will pan out.Use of Intonation: The ability to change the pitch and tone of your voice, the rise and fall of volume, depending on the situation the person is in. A person should use intonation situationally as it is a very important skill which can perceive how you are feeling about the situation. If someone is angry then they will change the tone and pitch of their voice to portray how they are feeling to the person they are addressing. This can be very important for both the person receiving the details and the speaker.Nodding: The ability to show an understanding of verbal conversation by using a movement of the head to make the person feel comfortable and understood. A nod can be used to signify that the other person has understood what was trying to be said. If someone agrees and shows it then it gives the conversation the ability to make the conversation flow.Summarising and Paraphrasing: The ability to give a brief statement of the main points of what someone has said. Summarising and paraphrasing is very useful as it shows that the other person is in the conversation has been listening, and can show that they have understood what they have said. It can also be a useful tool for the speaker as they can sum it up if someone has not understood or if they were not listening to the conversation in the first place.
- #4 Language: There are many different languages in the world and it can be difficult to communicate if two people speaking are not familiar with the other persons spoken language. The conversations time span can be increased depending on how similar the languages are. There are now ways of getting over these barriers which lead to effective communication. Some of these include pocket dictionaries which can help with basic vocabulary, online translators to understand blocks of text, or even human translators which can help as an aid to try and lead to a conversation flowing.Distraction: A distraction is something which cause you to lose your concentration and become unaware of the speaker.When you are communicating with someone there are lots of things that could either catch your eye, or take your attention away from the conversation which is taking place. A way to avoid this would be to maintain eye contact with the person you are talking to as this would help to make sure your full attention Is on them. Also nodding or agreeing to what they say every so often is very helpful as it gives you the ability to stay tuned in and make sure you are listening to so that you know you are agreeing with the right thing.Noise: Noises can be a very big distraction when you are trying to communicate with someone. Not only because they impair your hearing and as you may of found it hard to understand what the person is saying they may think you have not been listening. Also the source of the noise may distract your attention as they will want to know where the source of the noise is and will not be concentrating on the person they are conversing with. A way to avoid this is to stand reasonably close to the person you are communicating with or to go to a quieter place when communicating. If this happens there will be less chance of noises disrupting your conversation.Lack of Concentration: A lack of communication is very bad as you may not understand or listen to what the person is saying and this may make the other person feel insignificant or worse. Some ways to overcome this barrier could be to have a leant in body position as this would make you more drawn to the person and more intrigued as to what they are going to say. Conversing equally also means that you have to be concentrating on the person to make the conversation flow. Eye contact also means that you are concentrating on the person talking to you.