Communication Skills Importance

Many people are not aware of the communication skills that they lack, most will argue that they have perfect communication skills. Taking interpersonal communication has taught me that my skills are very poor. I walked in thinking there was nothing I can learn about communication and realized that I know little to nothing about communication. Since starting this class I’ve narrowed the skills I need to work on to the following four which includes listening, being more supportive and active, understanding, and improving my self concept. Although all four of these skills are something I can improve I think listening is my main problem.

Listening is a very complicated skill that many people do not posses. It requires individuals to reflect and to admit to their flaws. In order to communicate effectively it is important to know when to talk and listen. Peterson’s book is an excellent tool to enhance all types of relationships.

I know how to speak, and I can hear when people talk to me, but why is it that we still consume ineffective listening skills between one another? When we think of effective listening at work or on the job, most of us think of what we actually say or what is said to us. What I am going to cover is the factors and barriers of effective communication, strategies for active, critical and empathic listening and understanding the impact of gender and culture on interpersonal communication.

Active listening is also an integral part in the receipt of a message. Part of a listener’s responsibility is to provide feedback, making communication a two-person affair, and as important, senders must seek out and attend to the feedback that is offered by their receivers (Cheesebro, O’Connor, Rios, 2010). By actively listening to the sender, we can translate and respond to the message appropriately. Through active listening, we can develop respect and trust with the sender, increase productivity, maintain a “cooler head”, increased confidence and remembering the important information that the sender is trying to convey to us (Cheesebro, O’Connor, Rios, 2010). It is believed that we only take in 50% of what we are listening to at any given time so it is crucial that in communication, we extend to each other the same courtesy as the sender as we do as the receiver. Active listening is more than just hearing what the sender is

To achieve the pinnacle in any endeavor or undertaking one must start with a solid foundation. My foundation for effective communication began when I took UNV-104 21st Century Skills: Communication and Information Literacy at GCU. One of the first concepts discussed was listening. Many times, we are in a conversation and we hear what the other person is saying, but we are not comprehending. Generally speaking, listening can be described as hearing and

Part One: Options in Communicating, ultimately introduced other readers as well as myself the key components of understanding how scientific theory of listening can play a vital role in listening and comprehension. This section was broken down into six subtopics. The intro, 1. Communicating became important to me, in which Mr. Peterson explains how his personal experiences as well as witnessing others, made it easier for him understand the concept of balancing with communication. Mr. Peterson also talks about the theory of behavior that can also significantly have a great deal of impact with communicating (Peterson, 2007, p15).

Why Don't We Listen Better?" By James Petersen starts out by introducing the reader to him, his life, family, and how/why communication became important to him. The author’s intention for this book is to convey to us what communication is and how we should communicate with the people we come in contact with better as people. Communication is about using proper body and verbal language to talk to people. This book offers to the reader techniques on how to become a better listener. Techniques such as acknowledging, helping people accept themselves and feel real support from the listener (which is described as a good listening) (Petersen, 10). Petersen takes the time to describe communication, a word deriving from the root word meaning "to commune"

James Peterson’s book entitled “Why don't we listen better”; goal is to present ways to enhance our listening skills. Peterson believes good listening and talking skills are vital in order to communicate efficiently. Peterson describes two types of communications. Level 1 communication which involves facts and discusses each other’s point of view and Level 2 in which trust and sharing develops.

We communicate both nonverbally and verbally with people even if we do not realize it at the time. The way that we communicate with others is important because communication is both irreversible and unrepeatable (Adler et al., 2015). Once a communicative exchange occurs between people it can never be taken back nor replicated. Every exchange that people have is unique based on the environment it occurs in, the noise that is happening both within the sender and the receiver, and even what is going on around the encounter. Competent communication is communication that is both effective and appropriate. Effective communication is when a sender receives the results that he or she was hoping to get after the encounter; whereas, appropriate communication is when a relationship grows because of the exchange that occurred (Adler et al., 2015). There are several different characteristics of communication competence that produce effective communication overall, which include: a large repertoire of skills, adaptability, the ability to perform skills, involvement empathy, cognitive complexity, and

“Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.” This quote from Winston Churchill sums up how words are powerful and can have different meanings in the ways they are used. Communication is much more than words or a conversation between two individuals, it has the potential to be a powerful tool of connection, but at the same time it can do a great deal of damage. Determining what areas of communication are beneficial will require a self-evaluation on what is needed to improve oneself. When discussing and reflecting on communication and its various areas, the most important ideas are to surround one’s self with positive people

Your Listening, questioning and diagnosing : This ensures you have understood the client’s symptoms, problems and health concerns.(N/A, 2015c)

Communication skills are essential to developing relationships. Human nature makes us yearn to have positive relationships, but building a relationship requires the skills and ability to communicate effectively in all circumstances. Although we know how to speak in a calm setting, our defense mechanism can lead us to destructive behaviors during crucial moments. Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler collaborate to provide tools that facilitate high-stakes crucial conversation.

James C. Petersen, author of “Why Don’t We Listen Better: Communicating & Connecting in Relationships”, does a wonderful job of sharing very practical & personal advice, experiences, and information needed for better communication in relationships. Most people think they listen well, but they don’t! Peterson (2015) shows his readers that through active listening, communication works on all levels and ultimately can help people feel heard, understood and connected. Peterson’s text is not subject to one group of people, but to anyone who desires to maximize and improve their communication with others. The text explores several processes that, if followed, will assist the reader with listening more effectively.

Communication is not a one-way process. It requires, at least, someone to give the message and someone to receive it. Demonstrating active listening shows the speaker that their message is being both received and understood. This article explains the five components of active listening and offers suggestions for demonstrating these in conversation.

Communication is a key ingredient of development and social life. Satell (2015) posits that communication is the modern-day’s most important skill. Like other aspects of personal development such as self-awareness, acquisition of effective communication skills is a long-term process. Also, communication refers to the art of conveying our thoughts, feelings and ideas to others through a medium. Flashing back to my younger years informs me that I have continuously acquired excellent communication skills with time and practice. This is evidenced by my improved interpersonal relationships with my friends, classmates and family members as well as strangers.