International Journal of Applied Research & Studies ISSN 2278 – 9480

Research Article

Global Importance of Communication Skills

Author:
Dr. Kanna Muthiah

Address for Correspondence:

Asst. Professor, Department of English, Sadakathullah Appa College, Tirunelveli, India

Abstract:
Communication skills are some of the most important skills that you need to
succeed in the workplace. We talk to people face to face, and we listen when people talk to
us. We write emails and reports, and we read the documents that are sent to us.
Communication, therefore, is a process that involves at least two people – a sender and a
receiver. For it to be successful, the receiver must understand the message in the way that the
sender intended.
English is always considered as the world language. It serves as a link language
between India and other countries. The fact remains that many of the youngsters in India are
not able to get placements abroad, in spite of their expertise in many pertinent areas in
Science, Technology and Humanities mainly because of sheer want of fluency in English. To
meet the challenges of the globalization world, communication in English has become a pre –
requisite for the youth today.
Every communication that we make or bring across to the other parties is an
ACTION, so communication is POWER. With this empowering tool of power, you can use it
to influence people thought, feeling and action and win them over. Your level of
communication mastery is inter-connected with the level of success with others, in the
aspects of emotionally, personally and financially. The higher your level, the more successful
you will associate with the others. I would like to share some empowering tips and techniques
to ascend to the next level. The purpose of communication is to get your message across to
others clearly and unambiguously.

1. Learn to remember names

In order to achieve a good impression in either a social or business event, you MUST first
learn how to remember names. It will be great if you still can use it at the end of the
conversation as it show a high level of commitment from you. Don’t blame on your poor
memory, start practice remembering NOW and stop procrastinate, everyone can do it.

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Simple steps to remember names

a. Driving in the commitment into your sub-conscious – Telling yourself constantly that
“I MUST remember, I MUST remember”
b. Be Focused – When exchanging names, concentrate on getting the name right,
if not, ask again.
c. Repetition – Once you get the name, repeat the name to yourself silently and
use it during and after the conversation so that it will be locked into your mind.

2. Think before speak - Saying what you mean and meaning what you say is the golden rule
to effective communication. Remember to listen attentively, analyse and process what you
want to say, think through whether it bring across the correct interpretation you want to
convey. There is no “Undo” or “Backspace” button after you have said.

3. Effective Eye contact emphasizes sincerity and without it, your message will not be able
to deliver to the other party.

4. Balanced conversation – it means not to over-talk and allow the other party to share
his/her opinion. Remember this, this is not your own seminar, this is a 2 way interactive
communication.

5. Show interest in the other person – Do not fidget around or glazing away while the other
party is talking, because it shown a level of disrespect and no interest.

6. know your objective and speak to the point, do not beat about the bush.

7. Keep an open mind – wait until the speaker has finished his conversation and make a
decision whether you agreed or not. Do not abruptly break the conversation to show your
disagreement.

8. Do not lie - show honesty in order to build trust and rapport.

If you want to be an expert communicator, you need to be effective at all points in the
communication process – and you must be comfortable with the different channels of
communication. When you communicate well, you can be very successful. On the other
hand, poor communicators struggle to develop their careers beyond a certain point.

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Here’s some more information about each stage of the communication process:
Source...
As the source of the message, you need to be clear about why you're communicating, and
what you want to communicate. You also need to be confident that the information you're
communicating is useful and accurate.

Message...
The message is the information that you want to communicate.
Encoding...
This is the process of transferring the information you want to communicate into a form
that can be sent and correctly decoded at the other end. Your success in encoding
depends partly on your ability to convey information clearly and simply, but also on your
ability to anticipate and eliminate sources of confusion (for example, cultural issues, mistaken
assumptions, and missing information.)

A key part of this is to understand your audience: Failure to understand who you are
communicating with will result in delivering messages that are misunderstood.
Channel...
Messages are conveyed through channels, with verbal including face-to-face meetings,
telephone and videoconferencing; and written including letters, emails, memos and
reports.
Different channels have different strengths and weaknesses. For example, it's not particularly
effective to give a long list of directions verbally, while you'll quickly cause problems if you
criticize someone strongly by email.
Decoding...
Just as successful encoding is a skill, so is successful decoding (involving, for example,
taking the time to read a message carefully, or listen actively to it.) Just as confusion can arise
from errors in encoding, it can also arise from decoding errors. This is particularly the case if
the decoder doesn't have enough knowledge to understand the message.
Receiver...
Your message is delivered to individual members of your audience. No doubt, you have
in mind the actions or reactions you hope your message will get from this audience. Keep in
mind, though, that each of these individuals enters into the communication process with
ideas and feelings that will undoubtedly influence their understanding of your message,
and their response. To be a successful communicator, you should consider these before
delivering your message, and act appropriately.

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Feedback...
Your audience will provide you with feedback, verbal and nonverbal reactions to your
communicated message. Pay close attention to this feedback. It is, the only thing that allows
you to be confident that your audience has understood your message. If you find that there
has been a misunderstanding, at least you have the opportunity to send the message a second
time.
Context...
The situation in which your message is delivered is the context. This may include the
surrounding environment or broader culture (i.e. corporate culture, international cultures,
etc.).
To deliver your messages effectively, you must commit to breaking down the barriers that
exist in each of these stages of the communication process.
Seven C’s of Effective Communication

There are 7 C’s of effective communication which are applicable to both written as well as
oral communication. These are as follows:

1. Completeness - The communication must be complete. It should convey all facts

required by the audience. The sender of the message must take into consideration the
receiver’s mind set and convey the message accordingly. A complete communication has
following features:
 Complete communication develops and enhances reputation of an organization.

 Moreover, they are cost saving as no crucial information is missing and no additional cost
is incurred in conveying extra message if the communication is complete.
 A complete communication always gives additional information wherever required. It
leaves no questions in the mind of receiver.
 Complete communication helps in better decision-making by the audience/ readers/
receivers of message as they get all desired and crucial information.
 It persuades the audience.

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2. Conciseness - Conciseness means wordiness, i.e., communicating what you want to

convey in least possible words without forgoing the other C’s of communication.
Conciseness is a necessity for effective communication. Concise communication has
following features:
 It is both time-saving as well as cost-saving.

 It underlines and highlights the main message as it avoids using excessive and
needless words.
 Concise communication provides short and essential message in limited words
to the audience.
 Concise message is more appealing and comprehensible to the audience.
 Concise message is non-repetitive in nature.

3. Consideration - Consideration implies “stepping into the shoes of others”. Effective

communication must take the audience into consideration, i.e., the audience’s view points,
background, mind-set, education level, etc. Make an attempt to envisage your audience,
their requirements, emotions as well as problems. Ensure that the self-respect of the
audience is maintained and their emotions are not at harm. Modify your words in message
to suit the audience’s needs while making your message complete. Features of considerate
communication are as follows:
 Emphasize on “you” approach.
 Empathize with the audience and exhibit interest in the audience. This will
stimulate a positive reaction from the audience.
 Show optimism towards your audience. Emphasize on “what is possible”
rather than “what is impossible”. Lay stress on positive words such as jovial,
committed, thanks, warm, healthy, help, etc.

4. Clarity - Clarity implies emphasizing on a specific message or goal at a time, rather than
trying to achieve too much at once. Clarity in communication has following features:
 It makes understanding easier.

 Complete clarity of thoughts and ideas enhances the meaning of message.

 Clear message makes use of exact, appropriate and concrete words

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5. Concreteness - Concrete communication implies being particular and clear rather than
fuzzy and general. Concreteness strengthens the confidence. Concrete message has
following features:
 It is supported with specific facts and figures.

 It makes use of words that are clear and that build the reputation.
 Concrete messages are not misinterpreted.


6. Courtesy - Courtesy in message implies the message should show the sender’s expression
as well as should respect the receiver. The sender of the message should be sincerely
polite, judicious, reflective and enthusiastic. Courteous message has following features:
 Courtesy implies taking into consideration both viewpoints as well as feelings

of the receiver of the message.

 Courteous message is positive and focused at the audience.
 It makes use of terms showing respect for the receiver of message.
 It is not at all biased.
7. Correctness - Correctness in communication implies that there are no grammatical errors
in communication. Correct communication has following features:
 The message is exact, correct and well-timed.

 If the communication is correct, it boosts up the confidence level.

 Correct message has greater impact on the audience/ readers.
 It checks for the precision and accurateness of facts and figures used in the
message.
 It makes use of appropriate and correct language in the message.
Conclusion:
Awareness of these 7 C’s of communication makes an individual effective communicator.

References:
1. Lindsay,Cora.“Learning and Teaching English”.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
2. Soundararaj,Francis. “Speaking and Writing for Effective Business Communication”.
Chennai:Emerald Printers,2006.
3. Nihamathullah.A. “A Course in Spoken English”.
Tirunelveli: Hameed Press, 2006.

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