Improvement of communication Essay

Communication is an important ingredient in everyday relationships. As interactions are inevitable, much of what is going on with our relationships – in terms of work, home life, community dealings, friendships, and even ordinary and regular contact with strangers – all these depend on how effective we are in conveying thoughts, feelings, and intentions. And by the way, because communication includes at least two parties, its effectivity depends on how well or uninterrupted the exchange of ideas will flow. Everyone involved is important to the success of communication – the receiving end (the one party) and the one conveying ideas (the other party). Since not a single party should become dominant in any interactions, what particular characteristic ought to distinguish every an effective communicator? As always pointed out by experts in communication skills, the most critical part of an interaction is active listening. It comprises more than giving the other party your affirmative nod. It is even more than being physically present. Active listening includes the engagement of the whole cognitive faculty of the person. This means that if one is to possess this very important skill, he/she must exert effort to attend to the person who transmits his/her thoughts and engage all attention to process the ideas being passed on by paraphrasing, â€Å"reflecting feeling and reflecting meaning† (Citation Becoming a Better Senior Corps Supervisor: A Resource Guide for Senior Corps Project Directors, 1996). â€Å"Active listening includes listening with the body, eyes, ears and instincts, and temporarily suspending judgment. † This is essentially what active listening does. When speaking about improving one’s skills in communication, one characteristic must come right away to one’s mind: active listening. I have employed someone to help me in ordinary house work inside our home. I really do not need someone to attend to these things in my house since I myself can do the work myself. My intention is to be of some help to this person financially. He is so poor in communication skills. He even has difficulty expressing in words what he has in mind at the moment. He could not describe properly daily occurrences, and deficient in active listening. As a result of this lack on his part, all of us in the house oftentimes get drained emotionally for constantly exerting effort just to make sure he understands how to do ordinary work properly – from frying eggs for breakfast to taking initiative on those things which we assume he already know. I realized that lacking the fundamental skill necessary in communication can even get a person in danger of being fired from work. Communication is an art because like the work of art, it requires necessary skills to accomplish a work in which one has invested all his attention to secure a work well done. Reference 1. Becoming a Better Senior Corps Supervisor: A Resource Guide for Senior Corps Project Directors, by the National Crime Prevention Council and published by the Corporation for National and Community Service (1996), was developed by the National Crime Prevention Council’s National Service Training and Technical Assistance Project and is based upon work funded by the Corporation for National Service under Cooperative Agreement No. CA95-30. Accessed July 17, 2007< file:///D:/Documents%20and%20Settings/alan/My%20Documents/communication%20skils. htm>.