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Write an essay reflecting upon your own communication skills and experiences using examples

from your personal and/ or work life.

The exchange of thoughts and beliefs with the objective of explaining things is referred to as
communication. It is a dynamic process that involves vocalization as well as gesticulation. The
definition for communication as per Cambridge dictionary is, ‘the exchange of information and
the expression of feeling that can result in understanding’. One can say that the objective of
communication would be to fully articulate one's interests, concepts, experiences, or concerns
such that a solution or mutually appropriate solution can be reached. The value of
communication abilities cannot be oversimplified. In every aspect of life, upright communication
skills are needed. A person's personal and professional lives are negatively impacted by a lack of
communication skills.

As a person who grew up facing issues with communicating what I had in mind, the notion of
communication holds utmost significance. In my personal, academic and professional life
communication has helped me immensely. It not only helps express what one has in their mind
but it also shows stability, and the capability to be able to express while projecting ones
confidence. Communication as many theorists and thinkers suggest is a significant part of an
individual’s development and reflection of one’s daily life. When ot comes to understanding
theories that support communication one can looks at Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, a
theory that focuses on how interaction plays a key role in increasing one’s intellectual abilities
and improving social learning. Engaging in different conversations and working towards positive
feedback can foster cognitive development as well as collaboration for others (Staddon, 1984).

The idea of social learning reminds me of how while I was growing up I was unable to
communicate what I had in mind. I remember being frustrated with myself for not saying the
right things or for simply not being able to speak up, I would stutter and end up believing that
staying quiet would be the better option. It was after a while when I was able to understand how
communication plays a vital role, my very basic yet exhilarating move in order to mend my
communication was when I first decided to consciously make an effort to speak up in class and
answer my professors questions. The very next day I repeated the process till I got the hang of it,
in addition to speaking in class, one of the techniques that really helped me was speaking in front
of the mirror. I would practice for hours at once and feel the excitement, gradually I learnt and
understood how being able to express myself was a liberating act. It was through this act I learnt
that the power of communications makes one feel as though they’re confident and powerful.

Moving forward in life and improving my communication helped me with my constant self-
doubt and personality concerns. Through my initial years of struggling with communicating I
realized how it leads towards increasing engagement and productivity by providing clarity in
conversations. One can say that opening lines of communication tends to incorporate comforting
and sensitive messages that tend to strategically improvise discussions (Burleson, 1982). Another
experience in life that reiterated the idea of how communication is imperative has been through
these recent years, growing up I realized how interacting with different people, having
conversations and discussions really assist one to pick up on certain ideas and opinions that they
may relate to or use as part of their personality development. In my daily life, now being able to
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communicate and speak for myself has made it easier for me to voice my ideas while I’m at
work. Furthermore improving communication does not just improve straight talking but it also
involves improving ones listening skills, to be able to retain information and knowledge. An
effective communication requires both listening and speaking skills in order to manage and
prevent situation crisis.

One of the many things I have learnt from my work life is to be able to have a balanced work
and personal life, employees that are able to do so tend to stand out amongst the other
employees, though this may looks as a stressful activity however it could be dealt with through
effective communication. Being able to even communicate ones problem tends to show a
confident version of an individual. Communicating different situation of life such as a stressful
time or a time that may be wiring out well tends to bond people, increases chances of networking
and leads towards better opportunities, as a student trying to balance work and my academic
responsibilities I realized how networking really tends to help in gaining opportunities such as
internship or finding a chance to explore practical/ field work before you graduate and
understand what may be in store for you.

Working in a free enterprise market with private people and organizations requires effective
communicative skills in order to put forward and prove a point, this results in a certain level of
rivalry that persuades the quest for development and salary. (Cai & Murtazashvili, 2019). As the
world tends to emerge into global capitalism and how being different and unique helps one stand
out which tends to better chances of reaching their potential (Awan, 2016). Living in a fast
emerging and connecting world one can feel overwhelmed with the constant pressures of
meeting eye to eye with others or just trying to stay in competition. Such feelings or sentiments
tend to restricts one ability to work or to be able to create an impact on the employers in a
professional setting or professors when in an academic setting, and may act as barriers to
nurturing and communicating effectively. Such challenges when it comes to communicating act
as a hindrance to evolving and advancing, such an act may at times miscommunicate low morale
or lack of energy otherwise known as the grapevine effect (Mishra, 1990).

One needs to recognize how effective communication may not always be easy, as someone
who has struggled with it I could agree to this statement, there exist different barriers to
communication which may result in ups and downs. One of the common barriers of
communication is the lack of listening, most of the times we feel like communicating is meant
for speaking only however what we forget is that it is a two way process that requires one to be
able to recollect and recall information when needed. Another barrier that one may face is
conflict of interests, being a part of competitive markets may result fight for power which may
cause communication to suffer and result in unhealthy work environment (Lunenburg, 2010).
Cultural differences that exist in workplace and academic institutions also cause barriers to
communication, someone who studies and works in a foreign place I can relate to this issue,
often trying to have a mutual sense of understanding and a mutual agreement when it comes to
opinions and ideas.

As an individual who is growing with each passing day, trying to break through and get over
challenges communication acts a tool to assist me to prepare myself to do better. Communication
acts a skill that not only reflects your confidence but gives you an opportunity to grow and
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acquire leadership qualities. Understanding different theories of communication or understanding

theories such as the socio cultural one makes it possible to analyze and draw upon the
importance of being able to fit my own experiences with such ideas (Maguire & Pitceathly,
2002). Going through different stages of life makes it possible to develop and progress and with
it the ways to communicate expand. Communication makes it easier to analyze different
behaviors that lead towards understanding other individuals and also come up with techniques to
become a people’s person. Struggling with interacting with people feels like an issue that one can
get over as I did at one period of my life and once I was able to work towards it, it became a lot
more engaging. Building up on skills such as communication help personally and professionally
in the long run while prompting personality improvement.

References:
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Maguire, P., & Pitceathly, C. (2002). Key communication skills and how to acquire them.

Bmj, 325(7366), 697-700.

Communication. (2021), from

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/communication

Staddon, J. E. (1984). Social learning theory and the dynamics of interaction.

Burleson, B. R. (1982). The development of comforting communication skills in

childhood and adolescence. Child Development, 1578-1588.

Cai, M., Murtazashvili, I., & Murtazashvili, J. B. (2019). The politics of land property

rights. Forthcoming, Journal of Institutional Economics (2019).

Awan, A. G. (2016). Wave of Anti-Globalization and Capitalism and its impact on World

Economy. Global Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 2(4), 1-21.

Mishra, J. (1990). Managing the grapevine. Public Personnel Management, 19(2), 213-

228.

Lunenburg, F. C. (2010). Communication: The process, barriers, and improving

effectiveness. Schooling, 1(1), 1-10.