Communication is a complex process that has a tremendous effect on people’s life. Those who have difficulties with communicating are not fully integrated into the society as the ties in the society are based mainly on communication. Therefore, it is necessary to have communication skills to be a member of the community.
It is also important to understand what communication is and how people communicate. There are two major types of communication, verbal and nonverbal. Verbal communication is based on words. It is crucial to pay attention to the meaning as there can be explicit and implicit meanings. People should be able to decode the meanings to adequately react. For instance, when Ann says that she is going to watch a ‘dull’ movie, her friend, Lisa, can offer to go to the cinema or have a party as Lisa may know that Ann hates watching ‘dull’ movies and simply has nothing else to do. If Lisa did not understand the hidden meaning but simply accepted it as a fact, Lisa would have to stay home and their friendship would not be that strong.
As for nonverbal communication, it involves such signals as facial expressions, tone of the voice, body language and even distance between interlocutors. Nonverbal communication enriches people’s interactions and adds meaning. Thus, although a person can use decent words, it can be clear that he/she is angry if he/she is frowning. It is also important to remember about cultural nonverbal signal. In other words, these are signals used by people of similar cultural background. Thus, hugs reveal affection and Americans can give hugs to people they just met. In China, this is inappropriate as hugs are only for close people.
Admittedly, it is crucial to know all (or at least the majority of) signals especially when people of different backgrounds communicate. It is necessary to understand all the meanings and signals as this will enable a person to respond adequately and communicate effectively.
Admittedly, to communicate effectively, a person should be a good listener. I am an adequate listener. I am always focusing on the speaker’s message and I keep an eye contact and pay attention to nonverbal signals to elicit additional meanings. I always try not to judge the speaker. I believe these are good traits.
At the same time, I feel I restrain from giving enough nonverbal signals when listening. I think such kind of feedback is important for the speakers as he/she is able to see my reaction. To train my skills in nonverbal communication I can read some sources on the matter to learn more about signals and try to be more relaxed during communication. I believe this will help me be more responsive. I also feel I lack for skills in decoding different meanings (especially when it comes to nonverbal communication) when communicating with someone from another culture. Again, research will help me learn more about verbal and nonverbal signals in different cultures. Another weakness of my communication is that I sometimes focus on the major idea and ignore details. It turns out details are often what is the most important in a conversation. To overcome this issue, I simply need to be more attentive.
When I have worked on my weaknesses, I believe I will become a more effective listener. I will be able to elicit all meanings. People will also feel more comfortable when communicating with me as they will see my feedback and they will understand that I am interested in listening to them.