Effective communication skills are important for me in everything I do, regardless of the situation I am in. This is especially true in the field of scientific research, which I hope to do in the future. For example, discovering a revolutionary cure for cancer would be useless if people are not able to grasp the idea. In other words, something which could have saved millions of lives worldwide would be lost if communication fails. Effective communication skills are necessary for ensuring that the other party has received and understood the information to the extent that its reproducibility is not compromised.
Even during everyday life, where I interact with people almost all the time, it is imperative that the interaction goes both ways and ensures the maintenance of the hearers' attention. There was one incident where I was having a conversation with two friends. I was not aware that one of them had switched off from the conversation, probably due to a lack of interest in the topic involved. I learnt about this only when my other friend informed me while we were queuing up to buy lunch later on. He told me to be more observant to detect any signs of boredom which may manifest during a conversation.
In conclusion, I look forward to learning the skills necessary for a fruitful semester of interactive and effective communication amongst my peers with the help of this module.
Hi Kenneth!
ReplyDeleteIndeed, you have clearly explained how effective communication serves as the cornerstone of information exchange in the scientific realm. Therefore you've crafted your idea around the need for the ease of understanding and reproducibility of scientific results.
Moreover, you have elaborated on how effective communication - or the lack thereof - would lead to a disaster when we fail to understand the various non-verbal cues sent by our audiences.
Indeed, a very compelling argument with strong supporting premises on the need for effective communication in both fields of profession communication as well as the arena of interpersonal relationships.
Oooh,
ReplyDeleteI think this post is a good post to remind me of the importance of active listening! Sometimes in my life, I find it hard to slow down and listen to the words of others. Even harder, to accurately look out for 'signs of boredom' as you have said. How do you think the signs of boredom manifest themselves?
Mmm yeah paying attention to the person’s non verbal communication and actions are important too! So yes I totally agree with you Ken! Somehow I wonder if communication is more than a learned art; in the sense that some people are inborn with abilities to ‘help’ them communicate better. For example, a friend of mine tends to have a VERY short attention span so I have to get everything across to him as quickly as possible so I always summarize what I actually wanted to say to him. While another friend of mine was born with a slight speaking disability which makes the sentences he speak slurred. This causes communication to be rather difficult for him. Some people might also have a certain character that makes it harder for people to start a conversation with them. So don’t these problems make a person less able to communicate in the first place? In this case, I think some people actually do possess innate abilities that can make them a better listener or communicator. So, I think it’s important for everyone to first understand what qualities they have that can help them become the communicator they want to be! Knowing this fact will make the rest of the learning a lot easier to pick up!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the blog and I’m looking forward to learning more from you ken! =)
This is a very clear and concise response to the assignment, Ken. I appreciate your concrete, close-to-home examples. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete