Effective Communication, what's lacking?

Psychology states that non-verbal cues such as facial expressions, and body language are often more trusted and informative than spoken words, particularly when they contradict what is being said.

what really is communication?, well, an English dictionary defined communication as the concept of exchanging information between entities.

That means, there has to be some kind of exchange, there are various ways of communicating in the world today, some of which I believe haven't been discovered, though communication has evolved soo much that humans are now able to transfer ideas to animals, quite amazing though!!

The feedback aspect of communication is another intriguing part, whether it’s a snub from your friend, someone executing an order immediately, a thumbs up from a colleague, reply from a chat, nonchalant echo of yes from students to teacher, an annoying okay from a partner, you name it.

Feedback is a key aspect of communication.

Not gonna bore you out with communication lecture, I'm sure if you needed one, you would have downloaded a thesis or join a tutorial for one.

Just highlighting what it entails, what’s missing and how we can fix it.

There’s a lot when it comes to channel of communication, these days, even companies would rather place their Ads on social media because that's where the majority are. So it adds up that the channel really matters.

From all the channels of communication, I don’t think there's any that beats physical/face-to-face communication, this has been the boss, I’m sure you can concur that nothing beats being present with that person or group, not virtually, not mentally, but live, where you’d be able to see all the actions, body language, facial expression, reactions, comments. Nothing beats that.

So while, there are social media platforms, broadcast, print, Google meet calls, face time or video calls from WhatsApp, for me, nothing beats face-to-face interaction.

Psychology also states that emotions significantly shape interaction, while positive emotions foster openness, negative one causes withdrawal.

There is serious need to be emotionally stable for communication to happen effectively between communicators, though there are times when one can be weighed down by stress from work, from school, the loss of a dear one, many other factors, and in these cases, they loose stability, some even shut others out, just to be alone, here, what they need is someone to encourage them, someone to bear with their instability, to be with them.

As said earlier, nothing beats physical presence.

Why do you think, that people appreciate when others visit them, people put efforts, take excuse from work just to attend a reunion or get-together, presence matters. Therefore even being around them in those periods speak volumes.

You don’t always have to say something. That’s another problem, most times people say,” I don’t know what to say or what to do’, in most cases, what they need is just presence and quiet, just be there and that’s enough for them.

Personality differences can lead to communication gaps, we all came from different backgrounds and hold our various beliefs, some people don’t mind being spoken to with vulgar words, they don’t even read meaning to it, infact, that may be the mode of communication at home, but that’s part of my biggest pet- peeve, personality differences!

There are a lot of things that are distasteful to others, but reads no meaning to other people.

In summary, what we know or have neglected is that;

1. Channel of communication matters, you have to know which is preferable to the people you communicate with.
2. Emotional stability is key to an effective communication from both party.
3. Personality differences can hinder communication progress, you have to be mindful of the words, signs or actions you take around people in order not to disturb them in the process of your communication.
4. Feedback is very important, it helps the other party to process things and be able to read the room, helps also to know what next to do or say, therefore, when giving feedback, ensure that there’s clarity in your tone and words, state your facts clearly.

So next time, you don’t want to wonder why someone end up angry with you after a conversation. or wonder what to do when someone is emotionally downcast.

Communication involves a lot and is broad, it may look easy but majority of the problems we have today sprang up as a result of the lack of effective communication, in order to maintain a stable relationship daily with people around you, these are the basic important facts to note about communication.

Let me know what channel of communication you think is the best for you in the comment section!!