What is communication? In simple words,
communication is about connecting me to the society and the world. All of us
exchange ideas, information, feelings and emotions with others through
communication every day. Many people tend to see communication as a rocket
science, but I think of communication as a part of my daily life.
Effective communication skills are really important in my social life. I love to make friends, especially overseas friends. Even though most of them can speak English, communication can be tricky. As we all know, the way we communicate is determined strongly by the culture we grow up in and there are many aspects of communication which differ from culture to culture, including how loud we talk, the directness with which we speak or how much emotion we express in various situations etc. For example, most Singaporean complain about tourist speaking loudly on trains but fail to realize that this is the natural loudness the tourists speak in their home country. At the same time, I also hear foreign exchange students who complain that some lecturers use too many local slangs or ‘Singlish’ (Singapore English) in classes which are totally incomprehensible to them. The lack of understanding and sensitivity towards the differences in cultures are to be blamed and I feel that it is a huge barrier for many people communicating with foreigners.
Of course, in Singapore’s competitive society, many people also see effective communication skills as a tool to get a good job and to succeed in the workplace. It is common for working adults to spend thousands of dollars to attend seminars and workshops to further their communication skills. While I do not oppose the idea, I feel that we should not overlook the essence of communication. There was this time when my project team was doing a rehearsal for our final presentation. My team leader was unhappy with our performance. He claimed that our style of presentation did not fit in and align to what he has learnt in his communication workshops and courses. He went on to give us a lecture on 7Cs and the 5Ws and wanted us to change our presentation style to fit into his ideal ‘template’. While he was just trying to help the team, my teammates were not comfortable with his way of doing things.
When it comes to effective communication, many people aspire to be Steve Jobs or Barack Obama. They attempt to copy their language, tone and gestures. But they can’t copy the charm and charisma of the speakers. Their individuality and charm is what makes them great speakers. To me, communication should be fun simple and natural. Everyone has their own style of communication and we should learn to appreciate that. Of course, we can pick up skills and techniques to become an more effective communicator, but this should not be done at the expense of erasing our individuality and attempting to fit into some sort of fixed communication template.
With this, I hope that I have provided some of my insights on effective communication. I am really looking forward to have fun with everyone in ES2007S class. See you all next week!
Effective communication skills are really important in my social life. I love to make friends, especially overseas friends. Even though most of them can speak English, communication can be tricky. As we all know, the way we communicate is determined strongly by the culture we grow up in and there are many aspects of communication which differ from culture to culture, including how loud we talk, the directness with which we speak or how much emotion we express in various situations etc. For example, most Singaporean complain about tourist speaking loudly on trains but fail to realize that this is the natural loudness the tourists speak in their home country. At the same time, I also hear foreign exchange students who complain that some lecturers use too many local slangs or ‘Singlish’ (Singapore English) in classes which are totally incomprehensible to them. The lack of understanding and sensitivity towards the differences in cultures are to be blamed and I feel that it is a huge barrier for many people communicating with foreigners.
Of course, in Singapore’s competitive society, many people also see effective communication skills as a tool to get a good job and to succeed in the workplace. It is common for working adults to spend thousands of dollars to attend seminars and workshops to further their communication skills. While I do not oppose the idea, I feel that we should not overlook the essence of communication. There was this time when my project team was doing a rehearsal for our final presentation. My team leader was unhappy with our performance. He claimed that our style of presentation did not fit in and align to what he has learnt in his communication workshops and courses. He went on to give us a lecture on 7Cs and the 5Ws and wanted us to change our presentation style to fit into his ideal ‘template’. While he was just trying to help the team, my teammates were not comfortable with his way of doing things.
When it comes to effective communication, many people aspire to be Steve Jobs or Barack Obama. They attempt to copy their language, tone and gestures. But they can’t copy the charm and charisma of the speakers. Their individuality and charm is what makes them great speakers. To me, communication should be fun simple and natural. Everyone has their own style of communication and we should learn to appreciate that. Of course, we can pick up skills and techniques to become an more effective communicator, but this should not be done at the expense of erasing our individuality and attempting to fit into some sort of fixed communication template.
With this, I hope that I have provided some of my insights on effective communication. I am really looking forward to have fun with everyone in ES2007S class. See you all next week!
After reading your post, I realize that you must be a good communicator with lots of valuable experience. It is important to realize that respecting the unique background of listener and being the speaker himself are the basis of a comfortable and pleasant communication.
ReplyDeleteOn one hand, respecting the listener's background prevent the possibility of offending the listener to a large extent. For example, it is best to avoid using the number '13' in front of most Westerners or using '4' in front of most Chinese. This is especially important in the context of Singapore -- a multi-racial, multi-linguisitic, and multi-national country. In order to become a 'pleasant' speaker, on must do a lot of homework, such as different understandings in different languages, different cultures and different national histories. Siu Chung, you must be very good at respecting others, I notice you can speak Cantonese, Korean, Japanese and Mandarin, wah!
On the other hand, being oneself brings pleasure to speaker. Communication is made of two parties, we therefore cannot only be considerate of the listener. Moreover, communication is mutual. Listener at this moment becomes speaker the next moment. Therefore it is important for both parties to maintain a good mood. Being oneself also shows the sincerity to the listener, which can generate an honest communication environment.
It is a pleasure reading your post. See you next week!