Competent Communication

Communication comes so easy to some.  Many of us must learn how to be effective communicators in social situations that do not involve family members or friends.  My father is an effective communicator and many of the things I have learned to be an effective communicator, especially in my job I learned from him.  From my father I learned that an important part of being an effective communicator is listening.  I think it is important to remember that communication really is a two way street (O’Hair and Wiemann, 2012).  He also taught me how to read the body language of others and respond accordingly.  Though body language is not true language, I do feel it is an opportunity to gauge certain emotion and levels of comfort with those you are trying to communicate with (O’Hair and Wiemann, 2012).  Knowing this puts how you communicate into perspective, like when to be aggressive with your message and when to be passive or clues you into the comfort level of those you are talking to.  My father was confident, positive, and adaptive to the communication styles of those he talked to.  I model many of my communication behaviors after my father and I feel I am an effective communicator.  I do because I have always believed my father could talk to anyone with great effectiveness.  I am confident that I am able to as well, despite the many challenges of variety and diversity surrounding communication. 

References

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real Communication: An Introduction (2nd ed.). Boston,

NY: Bedford/St. Martin's.