Communication Skills

Communication and its Importance

The ability to communicate is the primary factor that distinguishes human beings from
animals, and it is the ability to communicate well that distinguishes one individual from
another.

Communication is important for three reasons:

1. It helps us share our thoughts. We think thousands of thoughts every day.

Sometimes, we want to share these thoughts with the people around us. In an office,
this could be discussing ideas for a new project. At home, it could be as simple as
what to prepare for dinner, or how much money to save. In each of these situations,
we need to communicate.

2. It helps us describe our feelings. Sometimes, we want to share our feelings with our
friends and family. We may share our happiness, anger and worry - sharing emotions
will always make us feel better! Sharing our feelings is an important part of
communication.

3. It helps us learn new things. Communication also helps us learn better. When we
ask questions or doubts, we are also communicating. This is particularly important in
a workplace. Asking doubts helps us understand our work and be better at our job.
Strong communication skills is an important professional skill.

Characteristics of effective communication

1. Clarity

One of the most important parts of communicating effectively is being clear. We need to have
a clear idea of what we want to communicate. Use simple words when communicating to the
other person.
 2. Completeness

We communicate because we want to share some information. So an important part of

communicating well is sharing the information fully! Make sure that message has all the
details that we want to communicate. If our message is complete, it helps the listener
understand us completely and correctly.

3. Listening
An important part of communicating well is listening! It is not enough if we share our
thoughts. We also need to listen when other people speak. Listening well shows the speaker
that we are paying attention in order to understand them.

What is communication?

• Communication is a process of transferring information from one entity to another. The

information can be words, gestures, drawings, paintings, songs, music or even sounds.

• Communication is the sharing of ideas and information. These ideas or information could be
passed by even a gentle touch or a look. Even such non-verbal gestures would communicate a
message loud and clear.

Types of Communication

The main categories of communication are

1. Verbal Communication
2. Nonverbal Communication

1.Verbal Communication

It is a method that uses speech in the form of speaking to convey a message or

information. It supports both nonverbal and written communication. Verbal
communication needs commonly accepted meanings for sounds to be understood by
others. In order to communicate it needs a person who not only knows the language but
also the cultural context, underlying relationships between the people involved in
communication and other relevant details.
 1. Oral - communication is the transfer of information from sender to receiver using
words and at times visual aids. Examples of oral communication include discussions,
speeches, presentations and face to face interaction. For effective oral communication,
we need to have clarity, brevity (using few words) and precision in our
communication.

Benefits of oral communication:

• It is quick and direct method

• Feedback is immediate, be it praise or criticism

Demerit

• it cannot be used for documentary evidence.

2. Written – It is all about typing, printing symbols, numbers, letters, and writing to
send a piece of information. It should have clarity, correctness and logical continuity.

Merits

• Written communication has the advantage of providing records, references and legal
evidences.

Demerits

• In this communication, we will not get immediate feedback.

• It has its own limitations as it does not have additional help from body language and
tone of voice.

3. Visual – It uses art, photographs, sketches, graphs, charts, and drawings, to pass on
the information. It is used especially during presentations to present to give a visual
effect and support written or verbal communication.
2. Non-verbal communication

Non-verbal communication involves exchanging information or transmitting data without the

use of words. There are many examples of non-verbal communication everywhere in the
world. For example, a traffic light showing signals. Body language, gestures and facial
expression are also types of non-verbal communication.

Means of Communication

A few centuries ago, people knew only a few kinds of communication. They could speak to
each other; they could send their message from one place to another by drum sounds or
smoke signals. Later they started to use mail, which was sent through messengers and later in
vehicles. After a few years, people invented newspapers. Then the first expansion of media
started with the invention of radio and television. The second biggest boom started in 1960s
when the first communication satellite was launched into orbit. Today we have telephones,
internet, social networking sites and many more technological advances for communication.

• Radio
• Television
• Letter
• SMS
• E-mail
• Posters
• Notice
• Brochure
• Memo
• Newspaper
• Mobile phones
• Computer
• Fax
• Magazine
• Journal
• Cheque
• Bill
• Video conference