Communication Skills

Define word ‘communication’ and explain the elements of communication process with the help of its model.

 

The word communication comes from the Latin word ‘communicare’, which means ‘to share or to participate’.

Communication can be defined as the exchange of information, ideas, and knowledge between sender and receiver through an accepted code of symbols.

Human communication is a dynamic and active process comprising several important elements. These elements are as follows: The person with ideas to share is called Sender who encodes the message and sends it through a channel.

Channel is a vehicle through which a message is carried from the sender to the receiver. The channels of communication are many viz. television, post office, internet, radio, mobile phone network, books, newspaper, etc.

Medium is nothing but the language used which can be oral, written or non-verbal, for example a message may be communicated in the form of a letter, an email, face to face talk, etc.

The Receiver receives the encoded message, decodes it, and acts or response on it. The transmission of the receiver’s Response to the sender is called Feedback. It is the indicator of effective communication.

Communication always takes place in a well-defined set-up is called the Communication Environment e.g. a classroom.

If the message received is the same as the message sent, there will be a response; if not, there has been a breakdown of communication. This may happen because of Noise. Noise is any unplanned interference in the communication environment. It can be classified as;

Channel Noise is any interference in the mechanics of the medium used to send a message, for example illegible writing, less coverage in telephone lines, poor quality of a reading paper, etc.

Semantic Noise is generated internally, resulting from errors in the message itself, for example એક માજી બાળપણ માં ગુજરી ગયા. મારા થી ભૂલ થી Mistake થઈ ગય.

Conclusion:

Thus, communication plays a key role in human relations. Language acts as an effective tool to communicate. In competitive world, an effective communication skill is considered as one of the most significant employability and life skills. Effective communication in business is as important as the blood circulating in the human body and hence managers do their best to overcome all barriers to communication. 

Discuss the main elements of non-verbal communication. Discuss the importance of effective non-verbal communication.

“You cannot not communicate…You communicate just by being.” Explain the statement in light of Kinesics.

‘Communication is the backbone of any organization’ – Justify the statement. Elaborate the terms ‘Kinesics’ and ‘Proxemics’. Give examples.

Non-verbal communication is a communication without words. Indeed, Actions and other Non-verbal signs often speak much louder than words.  

“The way people take information during communication is 55% Body Language compared to 38% Voice and Tone and only 7% through Words.”

– ‘Albert Mehrabian – Psychologist

Body language is very important in oral communication. Kinesics is the study of the body’s physical movements. Kinesics includes;

Personal appearance plays an important role; people see you before they hear you. Appearance includes clothes, hair, jewellery, cosmetics, and so on.

Posture generally refers to the way we hold ourselves when we stand, sit or walk. The way you sit, stand, or walk reveals a lot about you.

Gesture is the movement made by hands, arms, shoulders, head and torso. Gestures clarify ideas or support them and should be well suited to the audience and occasion. Speakers’ gestures should be quite natural and spontaneous.

Facial expressions also play an important role in presentation. The face is the most expressive part of our body. A smile stands for friendliness, a frown for discontent, raised eyebrows for disbelief, tightened jaw muscles for antagonism, etc.

The Eyes are considered to be the windows of the soul. You look to the eyes of a speaker to find out the truthfulness of his speech, his intelligence, attitudes, and feelings. Eye Contact is a direct and powerful form of non-verbal communication.

Proxemics is the study of physical space in interpersonal relations. In a professional setting space is used to signal power and status. Your gestures should be in accordance with the space available. 

Intimate: This zone starts with personal touch and extends just to 18 inches. Members of the family, relatives etc fall under this zone. The best relationship that describes it is the mother-child relationship.

Personal: This zone stretches from 18 inches to 4 feet. Your close friends, colleagues, peers etc fall in this group. It permits spontaneous and unprogrammed communications.

Social: Social events take place in this radius of 4 feet to 12 feet. In this layer, relationships are more official. People are more cautious in their movements. You should be smart enough to conduct it with less emotion and more planning.

Public: This zone starts from 12 feet and may extend to 30 feet or to the range of eyesight and hearing. Events that take place in this zone are formal. The audience is free to do whatever it feels like.

Paralinguistic features are non-verbal clues that help to give importance to voice. Voice is a trademark. ‘90 % problems are due to tone of voice “it’s not what you say it is how you say that creates problem.’

Quality: Each one of us has a unique voice and its quality depends upon its vibrating mechanism. One can make conscious efforts to improve one’s quality of voice.

Volume is the loudness or the softness of the voice. Voice should always project but need not always be loud. One should vary volume so as to make voice audible and clear.

Rate is the number of words which speaker speaks per minute. It varies from person to person and from 80 to 250 words per minute. The normal rate is from 120 to 150 words.

Pitch refers to the number of vibrations per second of voice. The rise and fall of the voice conveys various emotions. A well balanced pitch results in a clear and effective tone.

Articulation (સંધાન, ઉચ્ચાર કરવો) is the movement of the tongue, lips, jaw and other speech organs in order to make speech sounds. Speakers should be careful not to slop, slur, chop, truncate, or omit sounds between words or sentences.

Pronunciation: If articulation means speaking out all the sounds distinctly, then pronunciation requires speaking out sounds in way that is generally accepted. The best way is to follow British Received Pronunciation (RP).

A pause is a short silence flanked by words. A pause is speaking lets the listener reflect on the message and digest it accordingly.

Word Stress: English is a stress-timed language. Stress is an extra effort given on a syllable or a word e.g. /'iŋli∫/, /'æktǝ/, /ri'vendʒ/, /λndǝ'stænd/, /intǝ'mi∫n/, /disǝ'pɔint/.

Chronemics is the study of how human beings communicate through their use of time. We attempt to control time, trying to use it more effectively. Good timing is very crucial, and presenter should rehearse a formal presentation within time limits, because staying within time limits is a mark of courtesy and professionalism. During the speech or communication, one who speaks to the point, takes just necessary time. A bad speaker with unplanned, irrelevant speech will spoil the time of all. An incompetent speaker is not well prepared, will not be able to speak for the specified time. So, time management reflects the character of the person. Just like what to speak, when to speak is equally important 

Why does communication fail? Discuss major barriers to effective communication with illustrations and examples.

The communication is perfectly successful when the message in the mind of the sender is transferred as it is, unchanged, in the mind of the receiver. It must be completely understood by the receiver; otherwise communication is not complete or perfect. There are several factors which prevent the message from being properly conveyed. Even in the best communication system there are some defects which become barriers to the effective communication.

1. The word Noise is used to refer all kind of Physical Interference or Disturbance which occurs in the transmission process like illegible hand-writing, smudged copies, duplicated typed script, bad quality of paper, poor telephone connections, etc. In face-to-face communication which is carried by air vibration, the air may be disturbed by noise such as traffic, factory work, or people talking.

2. Semantics and Language Barriers: Language is our most important and powerful tool of communication; and yet it is a tricky tool that needs skill in handling. Many commonly words have multiple meanings like charge, spring, check, suit, ring. The meaning that comes to mind first, depends on person’s occupation. The word charge may mean electrical charge to an engineering student, but fee or rent to a commerce student. Similar sounding words like access and excess, flour and flower, cite, site and sight can cause misunderstanding in speech. Many people confuse week and weak, steal and steel in writing.

Technical terms can be a barrier to communication, such terms are limited to the group of persons who work together, or work in the same kind of occupation. The common people understand the meaning of a word mouse is only animal but for the computer occupational group, it is an electronic device.

New words are being coined almost every day, everyone does not understand them and many of them are not in the dictionaries yet. More importantly, semantic barriers arise because words mean different things to different persons. It is said, ‘Meaning is in people, not in words.’ Age, education, cultural background and many other factors influence the meaning we give to words.

3. Problem of understanding, interaction and response to communication arise partly from the socially-learnt attributes and partly from our personal attributes. These are called Socio-Psychological Barriers that consist of the following; Attitude and Opinion, Emotions, Status and Fear, Close-minded, Inattention, Distrust, Poor Retention, Perceptual Distortion and Resistance to Changes.

4. Organizational Barriers: Communication barriers are not only limited to an individual or two people but exist in entire organizations. Every organization has its own communication techniques and nurtures its own communication climate. In organizations with many levels of communication, messages have a greater chance of being distorted or destroyed. This occurs due to poor listening, lack of concentration or a person’s tendency to leave out part of the message, too many transfer stations, fear of superiors, negative tendencies, use of inappropriate media and information overload. Thus in organization, written communication is reliable for an effective communication,

5. Cross-Cultural Barriers: A common cross cultural barrier in communication is language. The language of any group directly reflects their culture. You only have to think of some of the saying or proverbs or idiomatic expressions in an Indian language and in English to see that translation from one to the other is nearly impossible. Many words cannot be translated exactly for example, ચૂંદડી, ગુંલાલ, ફેરા, જ્ય માતાજી, etc. Cultural differences often come up as communication barriers. The same category of words, phrases, symbols, actions and colors mean different things to people of different countries or different cultural background.

When the Japanese says Yes they mean ‘Yes, I’m Listening.’ The American may take it to mean ‘Yes, I Agree’. Negotiations are made difficult because of this.