Communication: What to know
To communicate is to express ones thoughts and feelings so that the other party can understand. Applying the KISS rule can help achieve this feat. Keeping sentences as simple as possible can help in letting the other party understand the point being made. Keeping your conversation simple helps build a healthy conversation.
Lets highlight and discuss the major forms of communication.
1. Verbal communication:- This form of communication involves passing out information orally. It’s all about talking. This is the first and major way people communicate today. Verbal communication can help the one listening discern the feeling of the person talking. Discerning this is easy. One can interpret what a person is saying based on the pitch, voice quality, stress, rhythm, volume. This form of communicating is the one people talk about the most. ‘He doesn’t talk anymore’ or ‘She prefers to talk to her other friends’. When many people talk about not being in a ‘toxic relationship’, they fail to understand that there’s antidote to the most common poisons. Hampered communications are like animals struck by a venomous snake. It waits patiently till the animal die; likewise communication. When there is waning communication, it’s like a snake waiting for the death of your relationship with someone. Why is mastery of verbal communication important? As said earlier, verbal form of communicating is the most widely used form among humans today. This form is one many people view as the right way to communicate. This form of communication helps the listener to understand the feeling behind the thought, and the talker to express words in the he wants.
2. Written communication:- The method of passing information on a piece of paper, as a sms, mail etc. this method involve writing your message for the intended audience to go through. It stimulates the thinking ability of the proposed audience. Whilst most people participate in verbal communication, not everyone is adept at using this form of communication; written communication. It is easier to give thought to something and discuss verbally to friends, as a focus group or in a seminar. Written communication is different. First, as said earlier it stimulates the thinking ability of the proposed audience. One cannot easily discern the mind of the writer. In fact, as our brains function and makes us think in different ways, people would understand something different from written information. This goes down to how you try to convey your messages so the basics would be understood by the reader. It boils down to the Gordon Wells ‘KISS rule’. Why should we have our messages short and simple? Since its going to be in written form, can’t the listener try to understand at their own pace? Since it stimulates their thinking, can’t the listener think about what I’m trying to tell them? Let’s remember the aim of communicating. It’s to create an understanding of a thought. Whilst one can use big words lovely in written communication, we should remember that the aim of communicating can be defeated. An example of that is using the word ‘Balderdash’. This word can be used in written communication, but does it actually achieve the aim of communicating? Comparing it to using ‘foolish ideas’ or ‘foolish words’. It’s easier to understand the latter if used in a sentence. While using the word ‘Balderdash’ makes your sentence shorter, it doesn’t convey the complete information that can help your listener understand. To communicate should therefore be on the mind of those writing. Let your readers understand your thoughts in the message.
3. Nonverbal communication (NVC):- This is sending information without talking. Picture a man who goes out to buy sausage. The seller asks how many, and he raises his hand with two fingers pointed erect while the others stay down, signaling that he wants to buy two pieces. What the buyer has done here is implement the nonverbal way of communicating. The seller immediately understands and prepares two sausages. This form of communication is seen daily. We all engage in one form of nonverbal communication daily, either with our gestures or body signals. Nonverbal communication is a way of expressing oneself without talking. Your facial expression to certain discusses shows how much you view such message being passed. When someone says something you like, you smile. This shows the speaker that you are enjoying the discussion. A speaker would also you when you don’t agree with what was said. A shake of the head or frown would give the speaker such insight. NVC are used to communicate well. You don’t smile and shake your head together. That way you confuse the speaker or audience. Keeping it simple will help. Why not smile when there’s need to, frown or shake the head to show you don’t agree with what was said. Ensuring our nonverbal communication is well understood would do both the speaker and us some good.
So what’s the summary of today’s discuss?
The KISS rule:- Always keep your discussions, verbal or written short and simple. Use words that can easily be understood by the audience. A well spoken word can inspire people to act on the information given to them.
Remember that your nonverbal communication sends messages. Keeping it simple lets your listeners key into your thought.
To achieve communication, you must make sure your listeners understand the message you’re conveying.
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