There had been situations where I faced problems in communication. For example, when I chat with my friends on the Internet, we had misunderstandings because of misinterpretations of the words used. Also, there were times when I was unable to convey my message to people verbally. Hence, I feel that effective communication skills are required to prevent miscommunication.
Some of the communication skills include oral communication and active listening. These are the few skills I particularly need to improve on.
Oral communication is a mode of communication frequently used in our daily lives. However, there are certain barriers that could be present when conversing with someone. An example is cultural differences. People from different countries and cultures could face difficulties understanding and communicating with each other, because of different slangs and accents, even when we are speaking the same language. Effective oral communication is also important in securing a job in the future. During job interviews, we may have to make presentations and try to convince our interviewers that we are capable and suitable for the job. Thus, I feel that developing effective oral communication skills and overcoming communication barriers are essential.
Developing active listening is important as communication is a two way process. Occasionally, I get distracted when my friends are talking because I do a few things simultaneously. These distractions cause me to miss out on some important details of the conversation, and can sometimes lead to miscommunication. Miscommunication between friends could be resolved quickly. However, I feel that if active listening is not exercised in some situations like meetings in workplace or school and receiving instructions from your superior, the consequences can be disastrous. Hence, developing active listening skills is just as important as having good oral communication skills.
Certainly, apart from oral communication and active listening, developing other forms of communication skills will also be useful.
About Me
- huizhen
- I am a Year 2 Applied Mathematics major. I love to spend my time going out with friends and listening to music!
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2 comments:
I do face problems such as yours on msn. Often, I have to use several "?" to clarify the issue at hand. Perhaps that's why I prefer face-to-face interaction - in this way, I'll be able to obtain more information. However, as you have mentioned, we tend to miss out vital bits of information during a chat due to distractions. I can't say much about visual ones, but you may find this way of handling thoughts invasion useful? Try to push disturbing thoughts to the back of your mind while remembering only the issue so that you can come back to it after a conversation. It works for me, I hope this helps you as well. =)
Hi Hui Zhen, good effort! I liked the parts of your blog which were more personal such as your inability at times to verbally convey your message across to others. Why is that so? I feel you could have explained your reasons rather than provide a general discussion on the importance of oral communication in daily life and at the workplace. You gave cultural barriers as one of the reasons but in your case, what do you think are the reasons for ineffective communication?
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