Effective Communication Skills (Post #1)

Effective communication comprises of the ability of a speaker to convey his messages in a clear, easy- to-be- understood manner and the equally important participation of the listener through active listening. As the saying goes ‘no man is an island’, everyone needs daily communication and interaction with one another at any level of an organization. Hence, developing effective communication skills are an essential aspect of everyone’s life as these soft skills hold one of the golden keys to success, be it in terms of personal relationship or career establishment.

In my opinion, effective communication is able to enhance and strengthen existing interpersonal relationship. With the appropriate skills acquired, it will definitely aid me in forming positive interactions and bonds with the people around me. Thus, ideas, thoughts, feelings and information can be conveyed and delivered effectively and at the same time, minimizing the chances of error, misinterpretation, misconception and misunderstanding. Effective communication is crucially needed when I am working on a group project or during practical sessions in the laboratory. In some instances, differences in terms of working habit or opinions and occasional misunderstandings are inevitable among group members as each one of us has different backgrounds, personalities, opinions, attitudes and values. As such, effective communication skills such as using the correct voice tone, right selection of words, appropriate facial expression and active listening are able to help me understand them better as well as reducing the occurrence of unwanted conflicts. For example, the usage of different voice tones for a particular sentence will bring different meaning to the listener and thus different messages will be delivered. A simple conversation can be complicated at times if communication is poor. Apart from that, it also helps me to understand other people’s messages not only through spoken words but also through nonverbal communication cues.

Another wonder of effective communication skills is that these skills can be used in every field in the working environment. Through this module, I hope to become a more effective and articulate communicator, enhancing my ability to market myself. These skills are important for me to convey my values or ideas regarding some research topics to my lecturers, employers, colleagues, or maybe clients. The difference between a good and a poor communicator is that the good one can stand out from the crowd, possessing a better chance of advancing in his career as compared to the latter due to his marketability. After all, this is what most employers are looking for in their potential employees apart from the other requirements. In addition, I believe that my self-esteem and confidence can be maximized when I know what to say, how to say it and when to say it and all these skills are apllicable when I am doing presentations or participating in meetings or discussions.

For those reasons above, I see developing effective communication skills as an essential investment that everyone should not miss as it is an investment that will grant us success.