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Some people assume that when they speak, they are clearly understood by others. But we all know that's not always the case. For some people we don't really understand what they're talking (or writing) about and we are left hanging as to what in the world are they trying to say!
Let's talk about effective communication.
An idea, a message or a thought starts out in your mind. This idea or thought is supposed to be 100% clear in your mind and you would like to convey this message or idea to the person you want to talk to (the receptor). If it's not clear in your mind in the first place, what a mess in effective communication that would be! Some people assume we are mind-readers -- that we can understand them right away.
But we must not assume that your 100% clear idea in your mind is always received in the receptor's mind 100% crystal clear also. That may not happen that way all the time. It may be garbled along the way due to various factors and the message received may only be 80% or 50% clear and understood -- or misunderstood, "clear as mud" as the saying goes.
Here are some barriers to effective communication that we need to consider when we are communicating with others:
Your Communication Skills
Your ability to communicate well. How good are you (the communicator) in conveying your message? We normally use words and phrases (with accompanying body language/gestures if face-to-face) to do that. But how good are you at articulating your idea through words? This is a big factor to consider. Are you using the right words and phrases? Is your choice of words and phrases appropriate for your idea or message to be understood fully well?
How good are you at organizing your thoughts so that others may understand it? A poor command of the English language can be a great hindrance in being fully understood when you communicate.
It is good advice to learn new words regularly and use them and make them part of your own daily vocabulary. The better you become in using precise words to express your thoughts, the better you become in communicating. Personally, I need to improve myself as well in this area.
This is specially true for us Filipinos because we may be "familiar" with the English language but the fact is, it's not really our native language. My guess is that maybe some of us think in our own native tongue (Pilipino, Cebuano, Ilonggo, etc.) and then we translate it into English. And that is quite a feat -- a challenge which native English speakers are not confronted with. There are some people who are actually more difficult to understand when they write in English! This is not to put them down but it is a reminder for us to keep on improving our ability to convey our thoughts and ideas using precise words and to be more articulate so that we will be better understood. That is, if they want to speak or write in English. I am writing this to those who want to use the English language in their communication with others.
According to some studies, we can actually comprehend and understand more English words but we only use a lesser number of these words in our daily conversation. So, let's begin using these words then in our daily conversation. It will surely help us become better communicators.
The Receptor's Communication Skills
The second barrier to effective communication could be the receptor's ability to understand the words and phrases used by the communicator. The receptor's command of the English language is also a big factor. This can be a great hindrance to the whole communication process. If the receptor do not understand the words and phrases used by the communicator, then we have a problem on effective communication.
Good Listening Skills
Another barrier to understanding is that we all naturally have biases and prejudices. When we listen to another person, some of us already have a pre-conceived idea of what the other person is talking about even though we haven't heard the other person explain his point yet. These are "filters" that block our understanding of the other person's thoughts.
Therefore, it is also good to have good listening skills. Even though the communicator may be poor in his communication skills, we may still be able to understand him if we have good listening skills. And one good listening skill is to remove "filters" that block the idea being presented even before we have fully understood the matter. All of us are biased. No one is exempted. But we can learn to remove these "filters" if we are to understand the other person better.
Some people are good at making things complicated and hard to be understood. There's always a need for us to keep on improving our communication skills. Just my thoughts.
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