Chapter Nine

Communicate Effectively

Communication is the exchange of information, ideas and insights from the sender to the receiver and vice versa. It contains seven elements such as sender, encoder, transmission, reception, decoder, receiver and feedback. The eighth element is noise, which is the culprit of communication. It is noise that is mostly responsible for failure in communication. There are barriers and filters that are responsible for poor communication. Barriers are physical in nature while filters are psychological in nature. In addition, there is a time-lag that is responsible for ineffective listening. Usually, an average person speaks 125 to 150 words per minute, and the average person appreciates listening to 500 to 600 words per minute. The listener wants more whereas the speaker has a limitation to deliver these many words in the same time. That is the reason why people don’t listen, as they crave for more words. Hence, the speakers must engage listeners effectively, to get their message across.

In addition, there is an inner noise running in all human beings during their waking hours. It prevents them from actively listening. People anticipate what others will speak and, at times, they assume communication. Most of the conflicts in the workplace are the result of assumed communication or due to the lack of listening or empathizing with others. Stephen R. Covey in his famous book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, emphasized the importance of empathetic listening. This means that all great people are great listeners. Therefore, is rightly said that good leaders are great listeners.

Tips to Communicate Effectively

Here are some tips to help you communicate effectively:

• Maintain eye contact with the speaker as it arouses interest and encourages the speaker to speak. In addition, it shows the respect for the speaker.
• Body language plays a crucial role in communication as it constitutes 55 per cent of communication while 7 per cent goes towards oral language and the balance 38 per cent goes towards modulation. Acquire knowledge about body language and demonstrate positive body language to communicate with others effectively.
• Pronunciation and pauses are required as it beautifies the language and communication like music. Communication without pronunciation and pauses is like a gun without bullets. This skill can be developed by listening to news readers in television channels.
• A good command over vocabulary and fluency in a language enhances oratorical skills and enables people to communicate effectively. It can be developed by jotting down unfamiliar words we read in newspapers and various magazines. Jotting down striking expressions will also help you speak fluently.
• Emphasize on accent as it brings rhythm to communication. It helps connect immediately.
• Be precise when you speak. Never talk too much as it is meaningless to use many words to say just a few things. Pythagoras rightly quoted, ‘Do not say a little in many words but a great deal in a few’. As everyone agrees that quality counts not quantity, similarly being precise counts in communication.
• Be in a good ambience, as it helps improve communication skills and network. A person can be defined from the friends circle he maintains.
• Never hesitate to speak with anyone you want to speak to, as it shows your courage, confidence and communication skills. Don’t be scared of making mistakes while communicating and don’t stress on perfection. John Kotter rightly said, ‘Good communication does not mean that you have to speak in perfectly formed sentences and paragraphs. It isn’t about slickness. Simple and clear go a long way’.
• Often the influence of the mother tongue ruins the beauty of the language and the effectiveness of communication. Usually people mix up their native language with their non-native language unconsciously. To overcome this, it is essential to neutralize the influence of your mother tongue.

The Role of Teachers

Teachers play a key role in shaping up the character and career of students. They should make students understand the importance of communication skills right from the lower classes. To improve students’ communication skills, teachers should encourage them to deliver presentations and motivate them to participate in group discussions and debates.

The Indian educational system focuses on rote learning. It mainly focuses on examination, not imparting education. It emphasizes on academic scores, not knowledge. It does not teach students how to apply the academic knowledge in real life. Nowadays, education has become a business in which students are used as tools. These are the various things which affect the personal growth of students. Indian education systems divert the students towards safe career options, not career choices that they would be passionate about. Thus, students do not understand the importance of communication in their primary age. Hence, there is a need for a change in the educational system in India. Parents have a crucial role to play in enhancing communication skills among students.

It is said that great speakers are not born, but made. Therefore, mere acquisition of communication skills is not enough. People must practice regularly to acquire mastery over communication skills. We all express our feelings, thoughts and expressions to others and to express the same there is the need for acquiring and mastering communication skills. Successful communicators blend both verbal communication and non-verbal communication judiciously to impact others. Jim Rohn said, ‘If you just communicate you can get by. But if you skillfully communicate, you can work miracles’. To sum up, it is necessary to communicate effectively to lead your life successfully.