Communication is an art!
For some time now, I have been looking for the best communication process. It’s been interesting to research because so many people have totally different ideas.
Through all this reading, there are only a few things that STAND out and I would like to share these with you.
- The importance of body language. Mehrabian conducted several experiments on non-verbal communications. His results: Only 7% of communication is Verbal. 38% is paraverbal (Meaning tone and intonation) and 55% body language. If you ask me… this is debatable, but he has made his point. Words alone are not enough to fully understand the message.
- The 7 C’s of effective communication: Clear, Concise, Concrete, Correct, Coherent, Complete, Courteous. In other words, to be understood, every time you communicate make sure the above is in your message.
- Just by looking at the communication process picture illustration below, you can understand why communication is an art.
- The encoding is determined by your beliefs, your values, the rules you have created, and the result you want.
- The decoding is determined by the same elements as the encoding but by the receiver and not the sender, who has totally different beliefs, values, and rules; and who wants something different.
- The main purpose of communication IS what the receiver has understood. This was a little surprising because I am normally the sender. So is what I am saying not important? ….. No! It’s not important, if the receiver has not understood it. There is no point to the message. Interesting right?
- The best skill or tool to use for effective communication is- TO LISTEN! Effective listening is:
- to pay attention
- to not interrupt
- to be able to repeat the conversation in the sender’s words.
- to be able to understand the sender’s feeling
The above should happen even if you disagree. But to truly listen is to understand exactly what the other person is saying and feeling; and what they expect from you.
WOW! Complicated! Join me for a session on effective communication.