Communication Skills – Articles Revisited
Communication skills is our topic for this Friday’s peek into the archives. At first, it might not seem all that clear what our ability to communicate has to do with being self-reliant, so let me suggest that good and clear communications can influence our ability to get a job and hold onto it. That’s important.
Good communications is effective in persuading others and gaining acceptance from others. It also helps us be more clear and that alone goes a long ways towards managing expectations, limiting misunderstandings and minimizing disappointments. That sounds good to me.
And, if we polish up our skills in this area, we’ll be better able to grasp ideas and understand complex concepts, and that will be conducive to lateral and upward mobility in social, technical, political and business circles. Enough said, let’s get on with our review of what our team has to say about improving and making good use of our communication skills.
First off is Mark who encourages us to write a letter. He’s onto something here that relates to the social and acceptance factors touched on above. Recently, I attended a wedding where several of the activities involved guests writing notes and messages to the bride and groom. They were meant to be keepsakes, and it was likely a good experience for both the writers and the recipients.
Next is Caitlin who explores the origins of the speech inflection called uptalking. It’s a curious way of expressing things in oral communications, and as Caitlin suggests, it could be more of an affliction than an inflection if you’re trying to persuade individuals.
Next is Clair who suggests that quite often words have two meanings, their denotation and connotation. Is this some sort of double talk? In a way, it is. Understanding both aspects of a word can be key to understanding what the writer or speaker is trying to say. As Clair is fond of saying, there are very few true synonyms in English, and each word is spelled differently because it’s a different word – with a different meaning, even if it’s only a very slight difference in meaning.
And, if you thought English in America was a challenge, try going elsewhere on the planet where communication skills are exercised in a foreign language. Caitlin rounds out our visit to the archive today with advice about what to do when traveling to a country where you don’t know the language. It’s not impossible to get along overseas, even if you don’t know the language, but as Caitlin points out, knowing some of the basics of verbal and non-verbal communications is important.
All of this discussion about communications reminds me of the importance of language that one of my English teachers in high school emphasized with an example. He noted that knowledge of a phrase or two would be helpful if you landed on another planet and needed to communicate with the alien race gathered around you. As he raised his hands and smiled meekly, he suggested that “I surrender” might be a limited, but essential part of your communication skills necessary for survival.
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Next week let’s look at personal finance articles. Doing better with our money is always a good thing, and there are few among us, even those who can make a penny squeak when we pinch it, who can’t learn a trick or two from others who have been successful in earning, saving, investing and spending. Enjoy your weekend!
