ROMA | ASSISTANT PROFESSOR | PATNA WOMEN’S COLLEGE
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
CC 101 Unit III
WHAT IS EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Effective communication is about more than just exchanging information. It’s
about understanding the emotion and intentions behind the information. As
well as being able to clearly convey a message, you need to also listen in a way
that gains the full meaning of what’s being said and makes the other person feel
heard and understood.
Effective communication sounds like it should be instinctive. But all too often,
when we try to communicate with others something goes astray. We say one
thing, the other person hears something else, and misunderstandings,
frustration, and conflicts ensue. This can cause problems in your home, school,
and work relationships.
For many of us, communicating more clearly and effectively requires learning
some important skills. Whether you’re trying to improve communication with
your spouse, kids, boss, or coworkers, learning these skills can deepen your
connections to others, build greater trust and respect, and improve teamwork,
problem solving, and your overall social and emotional health.
COMMON BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION INCLUDE:
Stress and out-of-control emotion. When you’re stressed or emotionally overwhelmed,
you’re more likely to misread other people, send confusing or off-putting nonverbal
signals, and lapse into unhealthy knee-jerk patterns of behavior. To avoid conflict and
misunderstandings, you can learn how to quickly calm down before continuing a
conversation.
Lack of focus. You can’t communicate effectively when you’re multitasking. If you’re
checking your phone, planning what you’re going to say next, or daydreaming, you’re
almost certain to miss nonverbal cues in the conversation. To communicate effectively, you
need to avoid distractions and stay focused.
Inconsistent body language. Nonverbal communication should reinforce what is being
said, not contradict it. If you say one thing, but your body language says something else,
your listener will likely feel that you’re being dishonest. For example, you can’t say “yes”
while shaking your head no.
Negative body language. If you disagree with or dislike what’s being said, you might use
negative body language to rebuff the other person’s message, such as crossing your arms,
avoiding eye contact, or tapping your feet. You don’t have to agree with, or even like
what’s being said, but to communicate effectively and not put the other person on the
defensive, it’s important to avoid sending negative signals.
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION TIPS
TIPS
Clarity and Brevity: The message must be drafted in simple words, and it should be clear and precise to
create the desired impact over the receiver.
Listening and Understanding: The most crucial skill in a person is he must be a good, alert and patient
listener. He must be able to understand and interpret the message well.
Emotional Intelligence: A person must be emotionally aware and the ability to influence others from within.
Self-Efficacy: Also, he/she must have faith in himself and his capabilities to achieve the objectives of
communication.
Self-Confidence: Being one of the essential communication skills, confidence enhances the worthiness of
the message being delivered.
Respectfulness: Delivering a message with courtesy and respecting the values, believes, opinions and ideas
of the receiver is the essence of effective communication.
Non-Verbal Communication: To connect with the receiver in a better way, the sender must involve the non-
verbal means communication too. These include gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, postures, etc.
Selection of the Right Medium: Choice of the correct medium for communication is also a skill. It is
necessary to select an appropriate medium according to the situation, priority of the message, the receiver’s
point of view, etc.
Providing Feedback: Effective communication is always a two-way process. A person must take as well as
give feedback to bring forward the other person’s perspective too.
Observance: A person must possess sharp observing skills to gain more and more knowledge and
information.
1. An intention for connection: Aim for a respectful and compassionate quality of connection, so that
everyone can express themselves, be heard and understood. Trust that the connection is more important
and more nourishing than being right, or even just having your say. Connection means to try to be open
and stay in touch with what matters to the other person – and to yourself – in each present moment.
2. Listen more than you speak.: We have two ears and one mouth – a reminder of what is important!
Listening is key to a healthy relationship. Often we are only half listening, waiting for our chance to
speak, wanting to make our point. When our attention is with our own thoughts, we are not listening.
Listening means to enter into the world of the other person, to intend to understand them, even if we
disagree with what they are saying.
3. Understand the other person first.: When another person feels you understand them, they are far
more likely to be open to understanding you. Willingness to understand involves generosity, respect,
self-control, compassion and patience. Be ‘curious instead of furious’ about how others are different
from you.
4. Be willing to hear “No”: Even with these guidelines, our carefully expressed requests might still
elicit a “No” from the other person. Why would this upset us? Is it that our request was actually a
demand that we expect the other person to fulfil? We have a choice in how we hear that “No”. It could
be that something else is important to the other person; that they had a different need or value alive in
that moment. Maybe the “No” is their request for something else to happen. And then we are into the
dance of giving and bending! “No” is not as threatening as we might imagine.
7 C’S OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION