COMMUNICATION. THE TOPIC

COMMUNICATION is simply the act of transferring information from one place, person or group to another.

Every communication involves (at least) one sender, a message and a recipient. This may sound simple, but communication is actually a very complex subject.

The transmission of the message from sender to recipient can be affected by a huge range of things. These include our emotions, the cultural situation, the medium used to communicate, and even our location. The complexity is why good communication skills are considered so desirable by employers around the world: accurate, effective and unambiguous communication is actually extremely hard.

   There is no doubt that communication plays a vital role in human life. It does not only help to facilitate the process of sharing information and knowledge, but also helps people to develop relationships with others. Therefore, the importance of communication cannot be underestimated.

But even as important /vital communication is in the world, we still lack a high percentage knowledge about communication because it is not taught and practiced in the institution we pass through growing up in the society. We learn about things like this late in our lives.  

Any ability to communicate is learned. The problem is that most of us learned our communication style from people who were not especially skilled communicators: school teachers, our parents. Yes, of course, some of us have marvelous, communicative parents, but the rest of us make do with what nature provided (I didn't have a communicative parent).
Real communication skills are something else altogether. They are not the casual responses we normally give to verbal signals, but the mindful use of speech and hearing (or ASL) to build a relationship with another person. Most people can benefit from some training, especially in the area of Active Listening. While most of us focus on what we say and how we say it, great communicators focus on what they hear and what the speaker meant by it. They check for understanding, and respond not to simply agree or disagree, but to examine the beliefs that underlie what was said.

Great communicators have conversations where they solve problems as a team, or reveal their authentic selves, without necessarily focusing on agreement or disagreement. Communication, when done well, forges connection. Not everyone does this equally well, but there are clearly techniques that can be learned, and can help. What are the possible problems or barriers that can keep two parties from effectively communicating: 

Lack of Sensitivity 

Every receiver is unique and receives messages in a different way. The sender of the message needs to show sensitivity toward the receiver by adapting the method of sending the message. If the receiver is angry, the sender should wait until the receiver has calmed down before saying what needs to be said. If the receiver is young and lacks knowledge, the sender should explain things carefully.

Lack of Skill

There is a certain level of skill needed to communicate a message. The sender must be able to form grammatically correct sentences, as well as be familiar with the terms they are saying. The receiver needs to be familiar with the sender's language, as well as the terms being used. If a receiver and/or sender don't have the basic skills needed, the communication is ineffective.

Lack of Knowledge 

Not only does the receiver need a certain level of knowledge to understand a message, but the sender must have knowledge of the subject under discussion. If the sender gives false information on a particular subject, it leads to a confused receiver. Any type of confusion means the communication efforts were unsuccessful.

Overload

A message cannot be received if it contains too much information. If a message is too long and contains too much information, the receiver will become overloaded. Overload of information causes the message's receiver to shut down and stop receiving altogether. This can sometimes be what happens inside a classroom. If a teacher leads an hour-long lecture, some students will zone out because they are overloaded by the information they are receiving.

Emotional Interference

Anger, joy, resentment and sadness are a few examples of emotions that can interfere with the a person receiving a message. After a funeral, a person may be too sad to grasp the message that life goes on or things will get better. Anger is a particularly interfering emotion. Couples who are angry with one another should wait for another time to discuss their issues. It is hard to successfully receive another person's message when mad.

Noise

Outside interference in communication is also known as noise. A bad phone connection can interfere with communicating effectively over the phone. If the Internet is down, it can keep an email from reaching another person. Another type of noise involves the communication channel you use. Talking on the phone can cause communication error because the sender and receiver aren't able to see the expressions on the other person's face.

         SLOW LEARNER STUDY GROUP

                             Est.1995