Effective Communication: Developing Competent Characteristics - Essay Sample

Introduction

Communication is the act of sharing information, including ideas, opinions, and views with one another through verbal or non-verbal means. Communication is very important to humans for interacting, socializing, getting information, and forming relationships with each other. However, individuals should develop competent characteristics for effective communication such as empathy, self-monitoring, ethics, adaptability, cognitive complexity, and commitment (Adler & Proctor 21-25). All these attributes facilitate effective learning and communication among individuals. While going through this communication course, there are some interpersonal communication goals I wish to fulfill at the end of the syllabus.

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Goal-Setting Section

Goal 1: To develop good verbal and writing skills. I want to work on this goal so that I can know how to choose words carefully for effective communication. Good verbal and writing skills will help me in my personal life to know how to address different people in different environments and contexts. It involves choosing the right words to suit the occasion and the audience. Good writing skills will help me to communicate professionally through emails, letters, memos, notes, or reports. Possible barriers to good verbal and writing skills may include burnout. I may lack proper points to write or speak about. In addition to that, a lack of motivation may also serve as a significant barrier. The most relevant characteristic of competent communicators in this situation may be adaptability. Adaptability is the ability to communicate based on one's social environment (Adler & Proctor 22). Adaptability is core to competent verbal and written communication.

Goal 2: To develop good reading skills. I want to work on this goal to enable me to become competent in reading, interpreting, and understanding written messages. Good reading skills will help me in studying academic concepts and tackling tests properly. It will also help me interpret and understand professional contracts, obligations, and responsibilities. Barriers to developing an effective reading skill include inadequate linguistic and grammatical competence and lack of motivation. The most suitable characteristic of good communication that is relevant to this situation is good cognitive complexity (Adler & Proctor 24). Cognitive complexity refers to one's communication implications. It is significant for effective reading skills. Proper understanding of the implication of words in a message enhances effective reading and passing meaningful information.

Goal 3: To develop good listening skills. I want to work on this goal to boost my understanding and accuracy while interacting and communicating with other people. Good listening skills can help me to understand clearly the instructions and messages addressed to me. It can also boost my communication relationship with others. Moreover, good listening skills can improve the accurate understanding and interpretation of professional assignments given to me at the workplace. Furthermore, it enables an accurate understanding of the expectations of the management. Barriers to effective listening include communication in a very noisy environment, having distracted or preoccupied mind, abnormal mindset, and constant interruptions during the communication process. The most relevant characteristic of good communication in this situation is ethics (Adler & Proctor 23). Ethics in communication refers to communicating in a way that is morally acceptable. Ethics in communication is significant because it helps in enhancing effective communication by upholding respect for the communicating parties. Ethics will help boost my listening skills by helping me know when and how to interrupt politely while another party is speaking. It will also enable me to give respect to ideas, opinions, and views of another person with whom I communicate.

Research Proposal Section

My proposed research topic is "Factors motivating people to share their painful experiences through writing rather than verbally." The research will unveil reasons why many people are willing and most often share painful experiences in their life through writings rather than verbally. It will look at various aspects of communication skills existing among the people. Having established various communication skills portrayed by people, the research will analyze and assess the possible effects of such behaviors on the consequent information sharing between people.

I want to study this topic because it is very viable to help me fulfill the communication goals I have set for this term. The research into this topic will help shed light on advancing my goals of developing good verbal and writing skills, reading skills, and listening skills. This is because the research will involve interacting with different people through such activities as interviewing them, listening to them, and reading secondary sources of information such as books, journal articles, or any other relevant published sources of information. My attraction to this topic can be attributed to the self-driven desire to determine why people prefer to share their painful experiences in life through writing rather than verbally. By conducting this research, I hope to learn various characteristics of effective communication in a real-life situation, their effects on interpersonal relationships, as well as ways of improving interpersonal communication. The following research questions will serve as a guide to this research:

• What are some of the interpersonal communication attributes that encourage people to share their life experiences with one another?
• Why do some people prefer communicating their life experiences through writings?
• Could they communicate such painful life experiences through verbal communication instead of writing? Why?

Conclusion

The interpersonal communication goals I wish to achieve at the end of the quarter include good verbal and writing skills, good reading skills, and good listening skills. All these skills will allow me to interact, communicate, and form healthy relationships with other people at school, home, and later at the workplace. Communication holds a significant role in my life, including the formation of strong bonds with people around me for healthy relationships, getting information, and appreciating others, too, by listening to them.

Work Cited

Adler, Ronald B, and Russell F. Proctor. Looking Out/looking in. Australia: Cengage Learning, 2017. Print.