Posts Tagged: "Communication Concepts"

The importance of listening skill in business is enormous. The ability to speak well is a necessary component to successful communication. The ability to listen is equally as important. Good listening is an art.

• A good listener is generally interested in what the speaker has to convey.
• A good listener knows the art of getting much more than what the speaker is trying to convey.
• A good listener knows how to prompt, prod, persuade.
• A good listener puts a speaker at ease helps articulate and facilitates the speaker to get across the message in full and with clarity.
• A good listener should also not have any biases and should cultivate the right temperament. A positive attitude helps in making listening effective.

Listening skills are very essential for business success

Development of listening skills at various levels is very essential for business success. Every business has its stakeholders and there is communication taking place all the time between the organization and the stakeholders.…

What is listening?

Listening is a process of receiving, interpreting and reacting to the messages received from the communication sender. Effective listening is an art of communication, which is often taken for granted and ignored. Like any other art, listening require to be cultivated consciously and carefully. Unfortunately, our education systems beginning from kindergarten up to college level do not pay attention to the teaching of effective listening. Poor listening can be considered, as a mighty barrier to communication as listening is fundamental to all communication. It often results in losing messages due to improper functioning of communication. Listening require conscious efforts of interpreting the sounds, grasping the meanings of the words and reacting to the message. Interpreting the sound signals is a cognitive act, which depends on the listener’s knowledge of the code signals and on its attitude towards the communication sender.

Active listening process begins when the listener pays attention to some audible sound signals and permits himself to interpret those sounds cognitively.…

Group communication is an extension of interpersonal communication where more than two individuals are involved in exchange of ideas, skills and interests. A group is a number of people with a common goal who interact with one another to accomplish their goals, recognize one another’s existence and see themselves as part of the group. Groups provide an opportunity for people to come together to discuss and exchange views of common interest. There could be many different groups for as many different reasons. For instance, casually formed groups with friends over a drink, coffee break, games, dances or religious gatherings have a different purpose than that of groups attending a meeting or seminar to help fight AIDS or interacting with committee members to draft a proposal.

Communication in a group, small or big, serves many goals including collective decision-making, self-expression, increasing one’s effect, elevating one’s status and relaxation. Group communication is considered effective as it provides an opportunity for direct interaction among the members of the group; it helps in bringing about changes in attitudes and beliefs.…

Interpersonal communication is the universal form of communication that takes place between two individuals. Since it is person-to-person contact, it includes everyday exchange that may be formal or informal and can take place anywhere by means of words, sounds, facial expression, gestures and postures.

In interpersonal communication there is face-to-face interaction between two persons, that is, both are sending and receiving messages. This is an ideal and effective communication situation because you can get immediate feedback. You can clarify and emphasize many points through your expressions, gestures and voices. In interpersonal communication, therefore, it is possible to influence the other person and persuade him or her to accept your point of view. Since there is proximity between sender and receiver, interpersonal communication has emotional appeal too. It can motivate, encourage, and coordinate work more effectively then any other form of communication. Also, in a crisis, through interpersonal channel, flow of information is tremendous e.g. news of violence, famine or disaster.

Interpersonal messages consist of meanings derived from personal observations and experiences.…

Intrapersonal communication starts with a stimulus. Our intrapersonal communication is the reaction to certain actions or stimuli. These stimuli could be internal, originating from within us, or external, coming from an outside source. These stimuli are picked up by the sensory organs (PNS) and then sent to the brain. This process is called reception.

The sense organs pick-up a stimulus and send it to the central nervous system through the peripheral nervous system. While we receive all stimuli directed to us, we pay attention to only a few. This is because we practice selective perception. Only high ‘intensity’ stimuli like loud sounds, bright colors, sharp smells, etc. are perceived and the low intensity stimuli are over looked.

The next step is processing of the stimuli. It occurs at three levels. These levels are cognitive, emotional and physiological. Cognitive processing (thinking) is associated with the intellectual self and includes the storage, retrieval, sorting and assimilation of information.

Emotional processing (feeling) is associated with the emotional self.…

Intrapersonal Communication is the most basic of the communication contexts or levels. It occurs when an individual sends and receives messages internally. We spend most of our time thinking. And our thought process is nothing but intrapersonal communication where one person is sending messages and the same person receives them. Here we use the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS) for generation, transmission and receiving of messages. We react to both external and internal stimuli this way. In addition to our thought process, many times we also talk aloud with ourselves.

Intrapersonal communication involves our intellect as well as our physical and emotional sensations. The way we communicate with ourselves reflects the various aspects the self-physical, emotional, intellectual and social. It also reflects our habits, roles, attitudes, beliefs and values. Intrapersonal communication is not just a level of communication; it is in fact the very basis of all communication. While participating in the higher levels of communication like interpersonal communication, group communication, and mass communication, we also indulge intrapersonal communication.…