I am a gung-ho proponent of the supremacy of effective communication in all walks of life. I would even go out on a limb by stating that communication trumps all other skills in today’s world. You can still get by if your work skills fail you but if you are unable to communicate in a basic manner, that’s worse in terms of survival!
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that an effective communicator has to be fluent in English with an advanced vocabulary. That would be an elitist statement and history is replete with examples of several unpretentious and even gauche individuals who were master communicators. I, for one, was privileged to listen to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s marathon, extempore speech in chaste Urdu on TV just days before he was deposed as Pakistan’s Prime Minister. It was oratory at its best and, bear in mind, this was in an age when the now ubiquitous teleprompter hadn’t been invented.
The effective communicator
An effective communicator transfers his message to his audience sans clutter and fog, irrespective of language and vocabulary. Sure, it always helps to improve one’s vocabulary but that should not be to bombard the audience with tongue twisting multi-syllable words. Instead, one’s vocabulary should be improved to succinctly deliver the message. There are several self-help books that make vocabulary enhancement great fun, such as Norman Lewis’ Word Power Made Easy.
So, why is the focus of this write up on high school students? Surely, the importance of communication should hold true across the board! Well, the short answer is that the high school stage is when the training wheels are about to be removed as far as vocabulary is concerned. All through school, most students float around in a rarefied field of friends since the atmosphere is so controlled. In this restricted comfort zone, it is mainly peer influence which moulds the communication style. Invariably the interactions are in hip hop style with monosyllables and even grunts being acceptable conversation tools! Further, with schools focused on teaching the three Rs, honing communication skills would most likely fall off the radar.
As school leaving children get pitch forked into the relatively less controlled society, their comfort zones are challenged. The only way for them to regain equilibrium is to draw more people into their comfort zone or to expand their comfort zone. Either way, it calls for effective communication.
Why bother sharpening communication skills?
In today’s hyper-competitive environment, all things being equal on the knowledge front, a recruiter will choose the one who communicates better. I know of at least one student who really wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer but his communication skills camouflaged a lot of his shortcomings.
I have often come across people who identify effective communication with salesmanship and aver that they are just not cut out for sales. This is pure tripe! Make no mistake – all of us have been selling one thing or the other all our life. That’s how we get along in life, the only difference being that it isn’t formally slotted as a career. It isn’t only career salespersons who need to be effective communicators.
Improving on your communication skills has the positive spinoff of increasing one’s self confidence. President Obama’s sang-froid, which is wearing thin of late for altogether different reasons, stems from the fact that he is a brilliant communicator.
So, is there a one-size-fits-all model on how to be an effective communicator?
Obviously not, but there is a common-sense framework that can shape the overall delivery structure for most messages. A German friend once lightheartedly remarked that hearing Indians talk resembles the staccato gunfire from an AK47. A deliberate attempt to slow the pace of your delivery will not make you look dimwitted. Instead it will brighten your chances of being more legible.
Students will do well to consciously delete slang and distortions like ‘yeah’, ‘wanna’, and ‘gonna’, from their communication repertoire since such words are frowned upon by a mature audience. Frivolity is a strict ‘no’ but suave levity is permissible while addressing the audience.
It is most important that, on a mental plane, you bring parity with the audience. If you consider your audience to be your master, you run the risk of being overawed and if you consider it to be your slave, you will come through as condescending at best or arrogant at worst. Either way, it undermines your attempt to communicate effectively.
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—About our writer:
Sashidhar Unni is an entrepreneur based in Chennai.He launched his brand of outdoor tiles a decade ago .He is passionate about English and writes in an elegant, old fashioned (though not archaic) way.He also tweaks and edits articles.
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