subject: Speak Up And Communicate! [print this page] Everyone communicates with other people every day. It is a natural process that doesn't take much thought or planning to do. However, there are those who do not know how to communicate with others or know how to get their point across in a clam, understandable way. Learning good communication skills is crucial in society because everyone, every day is communicating with someone who may have different values, opinions and beliefs than them. You have to be able to see things from someone else's point of view. You may not always agree, but to sit back, listen and truly understand a different outlook than your own is the epitome of a great communicator. Here are some helpful tips on how to properly communicate with others.
Interpersonal communication skills involve three different components verbal, nonverbal and paraverbal. The verbal component refers to the content of our messages and how we choose to put our words together. The nonverbal part is our body language and how we incorporate that into what we are saying. Lastly, the paraverbal is the tone of what we are saying. Volume, tone and the pacing of your words plays a large part in how people will interpret the message you are trying to get across. In order to communicate successfully with others, we must integrate all three of these components to get our message across in a clear way, as well as understand the messages that other people are sending us.
When trying to get your message across to someone, it is important to keep it short and to the point. No one wants to listen to someone who rambles on and has no direction with what they are saying. This almost always confuses the listener and doesn't give your message the value or relevance it should. Also, avoid jargon, as it can be aggravating for the listener to try and interpret what it is that you are really trying to say.
A large part of our communication as people believe it or not is our nonverbal communication. The messages we send through our posture, gestures and facial expressions account for more than 55% of what is being observed by others. Whether we want to or not, or whether we notice it or not we are constantly communicating. Think about it- if someone is sitting with their arms crossed and has an irritated look on their face, they are most likely angry or upset about something. Some people are difficult to read, however, most of the time, you can clearly tell how someone is feeling just by looking at their face and body movements.
Paraverbal messages can be a tricky thing to grasp because it is not what we say, but how we say it. Paraverbal messages account for nearly 38% of what is communicated to someone else. The same sentence can contain several different meanings depending on where you put the emphasis at and your tone of voice when you say it. Also, it is imperative to remember that when we are angry or excited about something, our speech tends to get faster and higher in pitch. When we are bored or sad, our speech tends to slow down, and when we are feeling aggressive and cautious our speech is normally very abrupt.
Communication is a normal process that we could not get away from if we tried. Knowing and understanding these skills will help you in your communication endeavors and allow you to be more outgoing with people who you may have never communicated with before. Don't be afraid to speak up you can learn a lot as well as teach a lot.
