Learning effective communication is paramount in today's fast moving life styles. Effective communication affects everyone in every walk of life. Communication that is not effective is useless because the information or message lost. An effective communicator must learn to be proficient in all forms of communication. This includes not only transmitting communication but also receiving information communicated by others. The communicator must utilize listening, verbal, nonverbal, and interpersonal conflict communication on a daily basis. The communicator needs to understand the concepts of communication to assure the effectiveness of the communication.
Communication is a cycle of sending and receiving messages. A message is sent by the speaker to the receiver. The receiver listens to the sender. The receiver sends feedback to the sender. The sender is confident that the message was understood. Only after each and every one of these steps can effective communication will incur. With any one missing, ineffective or miscommunication takes place. This is true with any method of communication, verbal, nonverbal, or a combination of both.
Verbal Communication
According to the experts in communication the actual words that a sent to the receiver is only 7% effective. The tone of the voice is 38%effective. The last 55% is non-verbal communication. According to the book "Professional Development" written by Mary Wilkes and C. Bruce Crosswait, there are five "Cs" of communication. The five "Cs' are complete, clear, concise, courteous, and cohesive.
Complete
The message that is sent must have all the pertainate information that the receiver needs to understand what is being communicated. The message must be complete. Omitting necessary information may actually be received as either confusing or have a totally different meaning by the receiver. Incomplete information may compel the receiver to fill in the missing information, right or wrong.
Clear
The message being sent must be clear. The message must be understood by the receiver. The spoken words must be within the receiver's vocabulary. The message must be spoken in a loud and clear voice with a tone of confidence. This may be particular difficult in an environment that is noisy or cluttered with activity of many. Language barriers present a particular problem in today's society as well.
Concise
The message must be concise. The sender must omit any and all unnecessary information. When unnecessary information is included in the message, the sender must decide what information should be removed. Often it is the necessary information removed creating a miscommunication. Communicate only one topic at a time. When there is multiple topics wait for the communication cycle to be completed before communicating the next topic.
Courteous
For communication to be effective, the message must be courteous. When the message and communication is not considerate the message may be unclear. The message may not be received at all due to the defensive atmosphere. Messages that are not courteous will affect the emotions of the receiver. Emotional communication, either sending or receiving is usually not effective.
Cohesive
The message must be cohesive. It must be sent in a logical order. This usually involves a series of messages being sent. Keep the communication on the same subject. Don't jump from one subject to another. Complete one task before moving on to another. Feedback and completion of the communication cycle is most important here to avoid any miscommunication.
Nonverbal Communications
Nonverbal communication is using body language when sending or receiving a message. Body language accounts for about 55% of the effectiveness of the message. The spoken word is not required. Body language is usually the unconscious use of postures, gestures, and expressions. Body language is the first language we learned as an infant. It is most effective for communicating emotions and feelings. This communication may be intentional or unintentional.
There are two key points to acquiring good nonverbal communication skills. Nonverbal communication must be consistent with verbal communication. Both must be sending the same message. When the two are in conflict the receiver will most always believe the nonverbal message. An example would be shaking the head yes and saying no. Next the nonverbal communication will be effective if it is kept in mind that nonverbal messages appear in groups. Such as disapproval message of the head down, frown, and arms crossed.
Facial expressions and touch play a vital role in nonverbal communication. Facial expressions include the eyes, cheeks and mouth. Some have considered the eyes as the superior communicator. Learn to send and receive eye contact and movement messages. The most sensitive method of nonverbal communication is the touch. Sometimes touch can send a message that no other method can. Touch is received by different people in different ways. Some may find touch very calming and sincere while others may find it intrusive and uncomfortable. It is important the sender carefully read the feedback.
Written Communication
In today's electronic world the skill of effective written communication is becoming more important than ever before. It is important to learn how to effectively send a written communication; however it is just as important to learn how to effectively receive written communication. The communication cycle is of up most importance in written communication and feed back is a must.
When communicating by written word the 55% of the message from nonverbal communication is missing. There is no body language or facial expressions received; only words. When words are used to express emotions they are often misinterpreted by the receiver.
To assure the written communication is effective use the five "Cs" of verbal communication. Keep the messages complete, clear, concise, courteous and cohesive. Always request a response to complete the communication cycle. The receiver should respond in a way that communicates to the sender that the correct message was received.
Effective Listening
Considered the passive part of communication, listening is a very important part of effective communication. Effective communication requires active listening. Active listeners maintain eye contact, remain attentive and read all nonverbal messages. An active listener will stay cognitive of the message being sent. They don't allow the brain to wonder. Effective listening requires that the brain is only thinking of the message being sent. Communication becomes ineffective when the receiver is thinking of other subjects other that the one being communicated.
As an effective listener always keep in mind the communication cycle. The listener should be constantly sending feedback to the sender. This is usually in the form of non verbal communication. Doing this in a effective manner will communicate to the sender that their message is being received correctly.
In order to learn to become an effective communicator it is important to be able to utilize all methods of communication effectively. One method is not more important than another in certain situations. An effective communicator can utilize every method in order to assure the communication is effective. Communication that is not effective is just random words or actions with no meaning.