Categories of Communication Skills

Communication skills play a significant role in the life of every individual. Communication is an art and a science ( Hutchings, Comins & Offiler, 2017). The communication skills have a broader concept, which not only covers the acts of writing , reading, listening and speaking but also involve the transmission of nonverbal languages, and messages communicate through music,  sign languages, or any other means (Skills You Need, 2016). Communication skill is the device or act of conveying messages to another person in an effective manner. It is the lifeblood of every organization and individuals (Barker, 2016). The ability of an individual to communicate clearly and accurately is a part of good communication (Ganguly, 2017). In the whole context, there will be a detailed discussion on the topic of communication skills which covers, the importance of communication skills which create a great impact on the life of individuals and the feedbacks of other individuals which help in identifying the strength and weakness that would help to enhance the communication skills.  

Communication skill is the act of transmission of information from one place to another by mean of different tools or devices (Matteson, Anderson & Boyden, 2016). The communication is divided into different categories which are needed to acquire in every individual life (Boyle, Mahoney, Carpenter & Grambo, 2014). The categories are explained further.

Listening – For a good communicator, the person should have the quality of listening. Listening involves the concentration of individual in the discussion with another individual; paying close attention and rephrasing the person speak in the discussion to ensure proper understanding. Through listening actively, the individual understands better, what other wants to say and respond appropriately.

Nonverbal communication –  It is the communication which includes body language, a gesture of hands, the way and tone of voice, eye contact use to convey the message while doing discussion (Burgoon, Guerrero & Floyd, 2016).

Clarity and Conclusion – Communication skills not only involve the transfer of information but the information should be clear that can be understood properly and accurately. Therefore, the message which conveys to another individual should be clear and conclude.

Active Speaker – It includes the way of conveying a message to another individual. When an individual share the information or message should be clear, concise and complete, that would be understood by other individuals accurately and appropriately.

Confidence – It is an important part of communication skills. While interacting with other individuals, it is important to have a confidence. It presents that, the individual believes in whatever he showcases to other individuals (Goetsch & Davis, 2014). Therefore, it is the important tool of communication skills.

The communication skills that are explained above play a very important role in every individual life such as (Jackson, 2014):

Effective communication skills help in proper decision making which creates growth and development in the life of the individual. It also helps in to enhance and improve the professional image of an individual in front of another individual.It helps in improving the sound relationship with other individual. The communication skill helps in, to progress in the field of career. Remove the hesitation and speak concisely in front of other individuals.  It helps to communicate effectively in a wide range of situations. Communication skills also help in enhancing the existing knowledge, skills and influence the way of learning. Effective communication skills help in solving problems efficiently and effectively. It helps in an upturn in the productivity efficiently. The workflow of the individual would be clearer and more streamlined with the help of communication skills.

Listening

Therefore, all points that are explained above represent that the communication skills play a very important role in individual and professional life. The communication skills such as active listening, confidence, nonverbal communication, clarity, active speaker are important in the area of study of every individual (Cenere, Gill, Lawson & Lewis, 2015).

One day I had a discussion with one of my friend with whom I have interacted on regular basis. We had a debate on the topic of job and the business. We were required to put points in front of each other regarding the choice in the field of job or business. At that time, I have realized that my friend has a great influencing power and better communication skills even though I have also realized my skills and strength that I was not aware of before and the area of development that I need to concentrate on my communication skills. The things that I have noticed in my friend while he was interacting are explained in below points:

He was very confident and full of energy while he was discussing his points. The confidence level was very high which made him put more points without any hesitation. His tactic for explaining points was very effective that made another person to listen more attentively. The influencing power of my friend was very good. He was also adjusting the nonverbal signs according to the context he was explaining. In the whole discussion, the points that my friend was explaining was very clear and prominent.

In the whole discussion, I have realized the things that I was applying to make the conversation healthier. There is some strength of my communication skills which were received as a feedback from my friend that is explained in below points:

Active listening – In the whole discussion, I was a good listener which made the conversation more effective in the debate, that we were having because through proper listening I would able to counterpoint on some points that were required for the good listening.

Asking questions – I had lots of queries that I have asked in the whole conversation which shows my involvement and attentiveness that made the topic more interesting in the whole discussion.

Friendliness – In the whole conversation, I was having a friendly tone which encourages my partner to engage in open and honest communication.

Empathy – At some of the point, I was not agreed with my co-partner still I respect and understand his point of view which shows the empathy in my communication skills.

Picking the Right medium – An important communication skill is to simply know what of communication to use. In the whole conversation, I have picked the right medium to showcase my point of view.

At the end of the conversation, my partner gave me the feedback regarding the conversation that we were having. Some of the areas of development are required to concentrate which are explained in below points:

Confidence – In the whole conversation, I was not able to present my point of view properly in front of my friend because of the issue of hesitation I was facing, which shows the lack of confidence in my communication skill that I have to overcome from this issue.

Nonverbal Communication

Clarity and Conclusions – Some of my points were not clear while explaining, and not easily to understood which created communication barriers in between our conversation.

Negative Body Language – At some of the point, my body language was not in favor to the things I wanted to speak or react such as my posture, gestures, an expression which were presented as a negative body language in the discussion.

Lack of focus – In the middle of the discussion, I was thinking about something else which created a lack of focus and disturbance in the whole conversation.

Lack of Influencing power – In the whole conversation, I was not able to showcase my point of view properly which shows lack of influencing power on the topic which we were discussing.

These are the issues that I have received as a feedback from my friend. I wanted to enhance my communication skill to provide training to those people who cannot afford to work on their communication skills that would help them to achieve more success in their life because with the help of communication skills the individual can get a job which would help in reducing unemployment in the society and also help in the improvement of standard of living. Therefore, to enhance my communication skills following things has to be considered which are explained in below points:

Boost confidence – I will try to speak in front of an audience to boost my confidence level and observe others, the way they speak. This would help me to learn and enhance my communication skills.

Be brief and specific – I will try to explain my points in brief and specific to understand by others properly and that would help me to cure the issue of clarity while speaking.

Body language matters – I will try to improve and focus on my body language such as will keep eye contact while discussion and will not cross my arms while having a discussion.

Improve focus – The main issue I am facing is the issue of not being focused in between the meeting. Therefore, I will attend more seminar and conferences to improve my issue of distraction and will start some meditation.

Maintain a positive attitude and smile – When we smile and exude a positive attitude, people will respond positively. Therefore, I will try to keep a smile on my face while discussing that will show a positive attitude.

From the above discussion, it is concluded that the communication skills have a significant role in individual life. The person will become isolated without having communication skills. It is required when dealing with friends, teachers, family, team members, and clients. It involves writing, speaking, listening and reading; it also covers the pitch of voice, body language and delivery of words. Communication skills play important role in decision making, in the path of career, for a sound relationship, to improve productivity and for motivation.

Therefore, I have realized how communication skills are important in my life also. During the whole discussion, I have realized the issues of communication skills that I have faced and which is my strong part which defended my weak part in the whole discussion. I wanted to cure my weak part to help others also. I wanted to share my skills with whom, who actually needed. This is the way I would share my part for the welfare of society. I will take certain measures to enhance my communication skills.

References:

Barker, A. (2016). Improve Your Communication Skills. London: Kogan Page.

Boyle, D. M., Mahoney, D. P., Carpenter, B. W., & Grambo, R. J. (2014). The importance of communication skills at different career levels. The CPA Journal, 84(8), 40.

Burgoon, J. K., Guerrero, L. K., & Floyd, K. (2016). Nonverbal communication.London: Routledge.

Cenere, P., Gill, R., Lawson, C., & Lewis, M. (2015). Communication Skills for Business Professionals 7.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ganguly, S. (2017). Action Research to Improve the Communication Skills of Undergraduate Students. IUP Journal of Soft Skills, 11(3), 62-71.

Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. New Jersey: Pearson.

Hutchings, S., Comins, J., & Offiler, J. (2017). The social skills handbook: practical activities for social communication. London: Routledge.

Jackson, D. (2014). Business graduate performance in oral communication skills and strategies for improvement. The International Journal of Management Education, 12(1), 22-34.

Matteson, M. L., Anderson, L., & Boyden, C. (2016). ” Soft Skills”: A Phrase in Search of Meaning. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 16(1), 71-88.

Skills You Need. (2016). AN INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION SKILLS. Retrieved from: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/docs/communication-skills-preview.pdf