Communication skills hold paramount importance in the lives of youngsters, particularly for fresh graduates seeking employment opportunities. The career development process in corporate and other business and social organisations is very much dependent on the quality of communication skills of these graduates.
Communication is a skill that can either make or break one’s personality in every possible segment of their social and professional life. The flair in communication enhances the status of personality and the manner in which a person communicates is often taken as the face value of the personality itself. In short, it can be emphatically stated that communication can be a vital element that determines the success of a person.
It is common to see the youth fall between the continuum of being excellent communicators, average or moderate communicators, and poor communicators. This, in itself, creates a varied level of confidence among the youth, especially in a placement scenario. The best way to be an excellent communicator is to work on your communication skills with great understanding and sensitisation about the impact it would create on your entire life.
An understanding of the basic types of communication is essential for youngsters. They must be able to work on their strengths and identify their barriers so that they can work on them to gain confidence in being conversant and comfortable with its requirements.
Verbal communication: This is a simple, and yet, the most commonly used type which is often ‘person-to-person’ or ‘person to a group’. The flow of information is directly done through words that are spoken, either through a speech or through a dialogue.
The key to effective verbal communication lies in the manner in which a person speaks – the tone and tenor. The clarity and the flow of words based on the content have to be remarkably good so that it brings positive results. The sequence of words and an organised expression are valuable components that determine the efficacy of this type of communication.
Non-verbal communication: Communication without words but by gestures is what non-verbal communication is all about. This type of communication is sometimes done consciously with an intent of conveying a message only through bodily movements or actions in the form of gestures. This type of communication is dependent on the facial expression and the body language that comes naturally to a person, based on an emotion or a situation.
The process of effective communication to express the leadership quality of an individual must include both verbal and non-verbal communication in a balanced manner. When the words are accompanied by appropriate body language, expressed in an understandable manner, it results in great success. Badly spoken words with an unclear mind are often not received well by society, more importantly by the corporate world.
Communication also involves various categories like conversing, addressing an audience, making a presentation, and speaking at special events on a public platform. Youngsters must be geared up for all kinds of settings and must emerge successfully so that their leadership qualities will blossom, bringing them success.
Next week’s article will deal with the barriers of communication and steps to overcome it.
(Nicholas Francis is an HR mentor based in Madurai. He serves as a member of board of studies of Social Work in colleges and contributes to the professional training and development of institutes)
