Effective Communication

As a child, I found effective communication; the ability to put one's ideas through to another person to be simplest solution to most of life's problems. Growing up and experiencing life only served to strengthen this belief.

In all honesty, I never considered myself lacking in this department. Being fluent in both the English language and Mandarin gave me the confidence I needed to interact with various groups of people (lecturers, classmates, friends, family, etc) easily. I always thought myself to be a relatively sociable person. In my opinion, communication skills were instinctual rather than learnt. Presentations and interviews did not prove to be problems as well, as they mostly involved being engaging and spontaneous, both of which I was confident of doing well.

Attending this particular class enlightened me on the fact that there is so much more to effective communication than just speaking. It never occurred to me that the choice of words as well as the various body postures and gestures played such an important role in a conversation. Lessons taught me that proper articulation, the ability to listen carefully to ideas before speaking as well as the proper body language was the key to preventing miscommunication.

Knowing what a dog eat dog world it is out there in the working environment, it is vital that we master the art of effective communication both informally and formally. In formal cases (as when speaking to a colleague or superior), tone, conduct as well as the choice of words could make a significant difference to your position on the business hierarchy. Effective communication summed up, is the answer to forging strong bonds with people regardless of whether they exist in your business circle or your social one.

I am thankful for this class as it promises to equip us with the skills that we need for life after university. Although most of us may supposedly be good speakers, this will help to complete our range of communication abilities, making this one of the more relevant and useful classes. (: