I think communicating effectively to another person is to get your message across to him COMPLETELY. That means that the listener understands one hundred percent of what you are talking about. I personally think that is impossible, but we can get close to it.
Usually, when you listen to a person talk for more than a few minutes, you tend to lose focus, and start to think about other things. For example, sometimes during lectures, I will start to think about what to do after lecture unintentionally, and as a result, missed part of what the lecturer is saying. I am assuming this is true for most, if not all my readers.
Thus, I want to know how to keep people’s attention to me as long as possible when I speak and at the same time understand most of what I am trying to say. I believe this is the end result of effective communication, and why I want to learn how to communicate effectively.
Following this rationale, whenever I go for a job interview, the interviewer will understand what I want from the company and what I can do for the company EXACTLY. Another example is that when I present my final year project, the examiner will understand completely what my project is about.
Basically, no matter the environment and the audience, I want people to be interested in and understand what I am saying. And hopefully, in the process, they will like me at the same time.
I have to admit this is a little ambitious though.
Fang Yong, thanks for sharing this clear, concise post. I like how you begin the post by grabbing your readers' attention, getting your readers to think about what you'd put forward - the impossibility of getting a complete message across from the sender to the receiver. You then shared (very clearly) with us why effective communication is important to you, providing interesting and apt examples including those for this course and others that will be relevant to your work life. Good job!
ReplyDeleteHello Fang Yong! I agree that effective communication helps us to get our message across completely. I would like to add on a little to that point. I feel effective communication helps us to get across our ideas completely and correctly. I think adding in the term "correct" adds more character to "effective communication" and describes its usage better.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with you on that bit about wanting people to be interested in and understand what I am saying. I think this is something most, if not all, people would definitely want!
Hi Fang Yong,
ReplyDeleteI like your post! It's very readable as the sentences are short and well-structured. It isn't easy maintaining the audience's attention. We learnt about this attention curve during one of my FYP lectures.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.catalysis.nl/links/presentations/attent2.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.catalysis.nl/links/presentations/presentation.php&h=480&w=640&sz=32&tbnid=l0rxh4MExcshAM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dattention%2Bcurve&zoom=1&usg=__crCHnzu4G7fygZIfRZd3sLzdU3U=&sa=X&ei=mhRyTJPtKYKiuQPco5RC&ved=0CBgQ9QEwAQ
While it is inevitable that the audience will wander off (as we do in lectures), it is also difficult to alter the content of what we want to present. The FYP lecture suggests that we reorganise our content such that the audience can pick up from where they left easily, thus sustaining a certain level of interest in the presentation. What do you think?
Hey, I agree completely with you!
ReplyDeleteIt happens to me all the time, at least when I'm listening to others. How do you tell when your listener is not listening? I tend to be quite bad at looking out for body language cues :P
1 thing I realised that helps to engage the reader is to vary the tone. I have a bad habit of speaking monotonously, so now I consciously try to vary the pitch, volume and speed according to my words and message. Eg, when I want to emphasise something, I will raise my volume. Or when I want to draw people's attention to I will lower my volume until I'm almost whispering as though I am telling a secret.
As for your article, your writing style is very comfortable to read. Keep it up!
Cheers,
Yihan
Hi Rina,
ReplyDeleteThe attention curve is quite interesting. Apparently you can get maintain people's attention by introducing mini conclusions. Seems logical, though I never tried it before. Can try it for the peer teaching assignment later on.
What is your FYP about? Is it about presenting effectively? Or another topic?
Hi Fang Yong
ReplyDeleteIt is true that the way from "I have an idea" to "my audience understands that idea" often seems like a long treacherous path. And definitely effective communication is the bridge that helps cross this distance.
The important everyday applications of that strategy are well summarized in your post and I am sure we will all be better at explaining ourselves or "impressing our teachers bosses" (lol) at the end of this course.
Hi Fang Yong,
ReplyDeleteWhen you say people tend to lose focus and wander off to la-la land after a person speak more than a few minutes, I thought I was somewhat freaky because I can concentrate for quite loooong time >.<
In my opinion, when we practice active listening and fire off our brain nerves to process the information given, we will be less likely to lose concentration easily.
I agree with you that we should make our listeners interested and understand what we have to say. A good idea is only better when shared. It is as though a positive feedback. When we see our listeners brighten their eyes and nodding accordingly to our presentation, we just get more confident to go on and complete a good show.
I hope you have the confidence to present well in the first place, on top of other determining factors =)
Hi Fang Yong,
ReplyDeleteConfession: I am one of the readers that you refer to - I tend to drift off during lectures too. I do try to focus for as long as I can, but it happens.
I agree that it is impossible to COMPLETELY get a message across, and to have people understand EXACTLY what you mean. After all - since communication is 2-way process heavily influenced by our individual perceptions and experiences, and no 2 individuals are exactly the same in these aspects - how can anyone be be able to get the message across totally? Not to mention the short attention spans that people (like me) have..
Your post really sets me thinking: What do I ultimately want to achieve at the end of it all, and how I would qualify as an "effective communicator"?
Thank you for sharing - and I look forward to peer teaching with you and Yi Han! =)