Page 17 - PR Communication Age - JUNE 2016

interpersonal communication, a person learns how to phrase fered by good listeners reduces the effort of speakers to

his/her ideas clearly and also listen to others carefully. elaborate on points to be communicated.

Group discussion exercises play an important role in devel- Making an eye contact while speaking and listening is a way
oping the communication skills. People get to know each to assure the speaker that you are following the communi-
others' views and thoughts through such exercises. More cation process interestedly. Looking away from the speaker
importantly, discussing on a particular topic compels the or not just concentrating properly would exhibit your poor
participants to listen to each other carefully. Group discus- communication skills.
sion exercises can be used both at school/college level and
professional level. Body language should be given as much importance as ver-
bal communication. It is one of the important elements in
Speaking in front of a large audience for many of us, is quite the list of interpersonal skills. An open stance indicates that
difficult. It is okay to feel nervous in front of a large audi- a person is interested in communicating. If the arms are kept
ence. However, you can overcome the fear of public speak- crossed and shoulders placed in a hunched position, it sug-
ing completely by making presentations on a regular basis. gests that the person is not interested in communicating.
This form of oral communication is very different from in-
terpersonal communication. Here, you must speak precisely Attitude of the speaker also holds great importance in the
and present the topic in a concise manner. Holding the communication process. Listening to the speaker patiently
attention of listeners is the key to become a proficient pub- and then keeping forth your views should be the right
lic speaker. thing to do. The attempt should not be that of winning
over an argument however, understanding the subject
It is necessary to develop oral communication skills in or- being discussed.
der to survive in today's information-oriented world. Dis-
semination of information can be conducted in a proper One should not use harsh language even if he/she find the
manner only if you possess good communication skills. Indi- speaker's views conflicting with that of yours. Disagreeing
vidual and business relations can be developed and main- or displaying your disapproval about a certain conflict in a
tained with the use of these skills. The list of communica- polite manner is always possible. Once again, patience is
tion skills presented in the article is useful from the point the key to handle such type of situations.
of improving techniques of interacting with each other. Tips
presented in the article should also prove to be helpful. Keeping an open mind helps in understanding the thoughts
of others without getting into conflict-mode. Objective
Staying focused while communicating is very important. Con- analysis of a particular statement helps in preventing argu-
centrating hard should help in catching the speaker's views
and responding to them with ease. It can be irritating for a
speaker to repeat his words again and again; careful listen-
ing is therefore, as important as proper speaking. Proceed-
ing further without listening correctly is even more danger-
ous. It is therefore, necessary to maintain high concentra-
tion levels in order to communicate in a proper manner.

Developing effective listening skills is as important as speak-
ing in the communication process. Good listeners don't have
to spend much time in understanding what the other per-
son has to say. They are capable of responding precisely
since the whole thing is understood quickly. Feedback of-

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."

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