Feature

Developing communication skills

Amitava Basu

Have you heard the popular song of the movie, Sound of Music, which begins with “Nothing comes from nothing; nothing ever could ………” The message is that without effort and labour, you cannot achieve what you want to attain.

What have you done over the last two weeks? Merely reading the guidelines for improving communication is not good enough. You need to practice the guidelines. This is the third instalment of the Guidance Note Series on “Developing Communication Skills”.

Introduction

An astute footballer is he who keeps himself physically fit, mentally alert and rigorously practises the nuances of the game. Similarly, to improve your communication skills, you need to have regular practice of the lessons discussed in the last two weeks.

You might be wondering that is it if you change your behavioural traits (Guidance Note 1) and be a good listener and a convincing speaker (Guidance Note 2), you could become an effective communicator. No; there are some other lessons that you need to master for better communication skills. But, trying to improve or change too many things at a time is counter-productive. So, wait a little before proceeding to other lessons. This week, we would have a framework that you can use for preparing a suitable practice schedule for what have been discussed in the previous two weeks.

Practice Schedule

There is no fixed time and venue to practise development of communication skills. Any time and place where you are in conversation with someone, you could try out the exercises for improving your communication. No classroom drill, no laboratory tests, and, to top it all, flexible timing.

Start your practice in a familiar environment. A known environment would provide congenial atmosphere and neither embarrass nor discourage if you are taking longer time to meet the desired goal. However, you ought to be cautious that practising in a comfortable zone does not put you into a relaxing mood. That would be fatal as working ineffectively is not worth the time and effort. Be conscious to never allow this situation to happen.

Should you fall into the temptation of relaxing your efforts in a homely and familiar environment, then move out to an alien circle. Meet people whom you had less known or seldom conversed with. Or, even, go beyond to speak to those such as your elders, teachers and batch mates with whom you may not feel the same level of comfort as with your dear ones and close friends. In this situation the basic instinct of survival plays and turns the alien environment into a familiar company. You attain what you wanted.

Prescription for selection of appropriate environment for practice depends on the will power and psyche of one who wants to improve communication. In this regard, you are the best judge to decide which a suitable environment for your practice is.

Time Limit

The practice session should not be open-ended. Give yourself a time limit within which you would be achieving the target set by you. If you plug in a system that works and you are sincere, the desired results could be attained in lesser time than you planned.

The key factor is how devoted you are in developing your communication skills. So think over and make the right move to avoid being checkmated.

Tease your brain

( if you have any !?!)


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