Blog Post #5

 Effective Communication

    The article titled, "Effective Communication", on the, Help Guides' website discusses four specific skills to establish how to communicate better, avoid misunderstandings and overall help you grasp the real meaning of what is being communicated to you, in turn improving your work life and sharpening your personal skills. 

    The first effective communication skill is to become an engaged listener. It sounds ironic at first but does make sense, and by listening it means to understand the emotions the speaker is trying to convey, not just to understand the information they are communicating. When being an engaged listener you have a stronger understanding of the other person, possibly giving the other person a sense of empathy, which could help start a more powerful connection between you. Also, by being an engaged listener you will lower stress between the person you're speaking to and yourself which supports emotional and physical well-being. You can become an engaged listener through fully focusing on the speaker, avoiding interruptions or redirecting conversation towards your concerns, showing interest to what is being said and so on.

    The second skill is to pay attention to nonverbal signals. You can do this by using nonverbal signals that match up with your words because if you speak about something but your body language says otherwise it could confuse the listener and give the feeling that you're being dishonest. Next you could adjust your nonverbal signals according to the context at hand, for example the tone of your voice is different when you're speaking to a child rather than an elderly. It is also important to avoid negative body language, you do not want to give the listener a sense of danger or threats toward them, rather use body language when you're positive and want to perceive confidence.

    The third skill is to keep stress in check. You find yourself stressed out when put in a difficult situation such as a disagreement with a boss, friends or any coworkers. Then you could find yourself doing something you regret later down the line which may have resulted in damaging any relationships between you and a specific someone. To keep yourself cool you could use tips such as pausing to collect your thoughts, using stalling tactics to give yourself time to think such as asking a question to be repeated or maybe even just doing something simple liking popping your favorite candy in your mouth to relieve stress serving as a coping mechanism. 

    The final skill is to assert yourself, direct communication can boost your decision making skills and self-esteem. It also helps express your emotions in a more honest way, this does not mean being hostile or aggressive, effective communication is about understanding not winning. To improve assertiveness you could do things such as, express negative thoughts in a positive way, learn to say "no", receive feedback positively and finally value yourself and your options.

    The article heavily applies to workplaces that require day-to-day interaction and can be served as useful skills to apply to workers of the community. Personally I feel the skills listed here are all very important and are often seen when discussed upon the topic of effective communication, the one I found most notable was keeping stress in check. I found myself not being able to fully deliver my information during presentations at school and a mechanism I found myself doing is watching my breathing and slowing myself down both through breathing and the speed of my voice.

Robinson, L., Segal, J., Smith, M. (2023, February 27). Effective Communication. HelpGuide.org. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships-communication/effective-communication.htm