Importance of Communication

Importance of Communication From the time we begin the journey of our life, till it ends, we communicate with people around us. Human beings, as we say, are a social animal.  The importance of communication cannot be emphasized enough because this is a life-skill that can help you achieve your goals both professionally and personally.

With effective communication, many individuals breakdown the roadblocks that stand in the way of their goals. We live in a society surrounded by people everywhere, in our house, in school, college, in the workplace, on the road, in the market. We are communicating with people everywhere.

Communicating and conveying our feelings to others is extremely important for us to survive in a society. The importance of communication needs to be understood by every individual.

Use communication to maximize your positive personality traits and interact effectively. Awareness of your interactions with other people is the first step to improve your communication skills.

Great listening skills is one of the most important tool you can use to improve your communication skills.  In order to improve you communication skills you must become a great listener. A patient and controlled response to others can help you understand what they are trying to convey.

What is Communication?

Communication helps convey messages for better understanding between individuals. Communication can be verbal or non verbal. In the verbal mode of communication, we convey our message or feelings through words or language, when we speak or write.

The essential requirement of verbal communication is the understanding of common language between the sender and the receiver of the message. The non-verbal mode of communication is conveying our message or feelings without words through facial expressions, gestures, body language, tone and pitch of the voice.

In this techno-savvy age, apart from our verbal and non verbal modes we have another means of communication: electronic.

Nowadays we communicate or convey our message through electronic devices like telephone, mobile, television, computer, internet and so on. This mode of communication is gaining popularity with every passing day.

Barrier to Effective Communication

Communication as a process is not easy and not many people understand the importance of communication. It takes commitment to break down the barriers that exist in the communication process.

When it comes to effective communication, we face lots of difficulty or barriers which make correctly conveying our message a difficult process.

Some of these are mentioned below:

Physical barriers Occur when the sender and the receiver of the message are not physically present in front of each other. In such situations verbal communication does not get the support of non verbal cues and at times, the message is conveyed improperly.

Physiological Barriers When the sender or receiver of the message has some physiological discomfort like ill health, poor eyesight, poor hearing abilities, all can become barriers to effective communication.

Environmental Barriers Extreme hot or cold weather, background noise, pollution, and poor lighting are some environmental barriers.

Psychological Barriers When we are upset, sad, or too excited, even, and we may not be able to understand the message correctly.

Complexity or Ambiguity of Words and Phrases Words which sound the same but have different meanings also cause lots of confusion. Such words should be avoided during conversation.

Linguistic Ability Both the sender and the receiver should have knowledge of the language in which the message is being conveyed. If an individual is overloaded with messages or receives too many messages at one time, then it becomes difficult to decode and understand the message correctly.

Case Study

Once, a man was travelling to a distant part of his country for work. He was going there for the first time and was completely unaware of the language, the culture, or food of that region.

He did not even think to inquire about all this. When he reached there, he asked someone for the address he was supposed to go to. On asking a couple of people, he realized the language spoken here is completely different and these people do not understand his language.He got so nervous that he was not able to make use of signs or body language to communicate.

After struggling for some time, he found a man who knew his language and that helped him reach his destination. On getting there and talking to his hosts, the man realized what a huge mistake he had made.

He did not think about the problem of how will he communicate and complete his work if things are like this. He promised himself that from now on before going to a new place, he will always do his homework on the culture, people and language to save this kind of unnecessary trouble.

Conclusion – Importance of Communication

Some things are so easily available to us that we take them for granted. Such is the case with communication, it is such a basic and essential part of our day-to-day life that we tend to forget how important it is to communicate effectively.

We only value the verbal aspect of communication and forget that non verbal communication is equally important. Our eyes, face, expressions, hands, tone, and even the pitch of our voice say a lot more than our words.

Non verbal cues are a powerful way of communication. We should try to use them effectively. If our body language does not support our words, the whole conversation or message is taken otherwise.

We should combine both the verbal and non verbal mode of communication wisely and make the most of this precious skill. Knowing the importance of communication is paramount. It increases your ability to achieve success.

Read more on the importance of communication and rules – Effective Communication Skills – 7 Rules

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About the Author

Varsha Tyagi is a Master's in Psychology with 5 years of Experience as a Life Skills Coach and a Counseling Psychologist. She has worked with many schools, colleges and corporates as a Counselor and a Life Skills Trainer and dealt with both children and adults. She is currently working as a Life Skills Facilitator with an organization.

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