11 May 2013
Improving Communication Skills A Greek philosopher named Epictetus said, “We have two ears and one mouth, so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” The words he said strike the heart of improving communication skills. The biggest problems in communication arise when people hear what one person says, but doesn’t listen. There are various ways that one can communicate; the most common way is speech in which one person speaks and the other listens, there is also writing where one person writes and the other reads, and lastly nonverbal communication which includes body language. Communication is a two-way street and all participants need to be active when listening or speaking so that the message gets across. When running a business it is essential to constantly be improving communication skills. In order for a company to be successful it must have effective communication both from the sender of the message and the receiver of the message, if not then disaster may strike. There are always at least two people in the process of communication. The sender of the message has a daunting task of making sure that the receiver is able to comprehend his message. In order to do this the sender must make sure to communicate with common knowledge, meaning that it is best to break down his message to where someone who had no clue what was going on can understand the message. The message must be direct and to the point do not try to give hints, be straight up about it so as not to confuse people. Many companies provide training in interpersonal communication in order to encourage and support employee engagement and two-way communication. The fact that companies are training employees on communication skills shows how important the companies view communication. A study done by a few Japanese students of Kansai University states, “the main purpose of communication is for building trust.” This is why companies value and
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