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Global Question - Pope Effective Communication: Spring 2008 Global COMP Question Megan Pope Texas State University – San Marcos 1 Global Question - Pope 2 Global Question - Pope 3 Communication is a process which all humans partake in. However, not everyone does it well. In order to discuss what constitutes effective or good communication, it is appropriate to determine what effective means. In order for communication to be effective or good, all parties involved must have finished the exchange and walk away from the experience of communicating feeling like they were heard, understood, and their goals for communicating were met. Another highly important attribute of effective and good communication is that it must not have been malicious. When communication is cruel or selfish, it does not make up effective communication. There are four characteristics which a person who is a good communicator possesses. A good communicator must be clear, sensitive, dedicated, and responsive. In order to be an effective communicator, a person must practice using clarity. Clarity is concerned with being precise, organized, and is concerned with receiver understanding. Achieving clarity requires communicators to ponder about their message before they communicate, whether that be through verbal, nonverbal, face-to-face, or computer mediated communication, in any context or environment. In the organizational context, Schneider (2002) discusses how technical communicators must endeavor to be clear and avoid misunderstanding. Especially in regards to hard skills, effective communicators must be clear in order to send information correctly. Clarity is also discussed in the instructional context. According to Simonds (1997), clarity is difficult to visualize and that, in reference to teacher clarity, a teacher can be an expert, but if knowledge is not communicated clearly, then learning does not occur. Chesebro & McCroskey (2001) also discuss clarity in relation to teaching. Another aspect of communicator clarity is not only making sure the information is easy to understand, but is also correct. Aristotle would call this virtue ethos, and ethos goes beyond credibility, since credibility is a product of ethos (Patrick, 2006). Individual communication behaviors are a direct reflection of one’s ethos, (Patrick, 2006). Therefore, a good communicator must always be ethical. Clarity is an important communication concept which applies to all studies of communication. Even the master communicator, C. S. Lewis (1966) mentioned clarity saying, “Take great pains to be clear.” Good and effective communicators are sensitive communicators. Being a sensitive communicator requires being cognizant of factors which are external to oneself, and making sure to practice communication which is sensitive to the needs of the receiver. Effective communicators are sensitive to nonverbal communication. Schachner, Shaver, & Mikulincer (2005) discuss how nonverbal communication and sensitivity have an effect on the quality of interpersonal relationships. Worley, Titsworth, Worley, Cornett-DeVito (2007) discuss their findings of the importance of verbal and nonverbal communication in the classroom. Communication competence is also central to being a sensitive communicator. Goss (1991) suggests that in order to be a competent communicator, one must be sensitive to all variables which might affect the situation. Communication competence revolves around “concepts such as role-taking, flexibility, empathy, behavioral repertoires, and style-flexing are assumed to aid in this process” (Duran & Spitzberg, 1995). Empathy and sensitivity also go hand and hand. “Empathy is the ability of an individual to project himself into the role of another” (Rogers & Bhowmik, 1970). Sensitive communicators use empathy. Finally, in order to be a sensitive communicator, one must be careful of gender and culture differences. According to Hsu (2007), gender differences in communication may differ, depending on a person’s culture. Good communication should be sensitive to intercultural differences. Burroughs (2008) discusses how culture influences communication apprehension, self-perceived communication competence, and Global Question - Pope 4 willingness to communicate. Effective communicators use empathy, are sensitive to sex, culture, verbal and nonverbal communication, and receiver needs in order to be a sensitive communicator. Being a good and effective communicator requires the sender to be dedicated. In order to be a dedicated communicator, a person must be patient and not give up. The dedicated communicator is committed to making sure understanding of all parties is achieved. One way in which to do this is to be other oriented. DeVito (2006) discusses being other oriented as being attentiveness and focusing your message toward the other person. These characteristics showcase dedication towards achieving understanding. Goss (1991) says a skilled communicator needs quality speaking and listening skills. Listening is a requirement of a dedicated communicator because listening is being committed to achieving understanding and not giving up on this goal. According to Brunner (2008), listening is a part of the communication process, and students and people working in businesses could benefit from using listening skills well. Also, this researcher suggests that listening and communicating are impossible without trust, with trust being defined as “…a willingness for both parties to communicate and listen with an open mind” (Brunner, 2008). Barbara (1959) suggests that good listening is a process which requires being alert, is not done through shortcuts, requires discipline, and patience. Finally, dedicated communicators realize miscommunications happen, and work to overcome them. According to Jaworski & Galasinski (2002), nonverbal communication can often be taken more literally with verbal communication, or be more believable. Believing nonverbal communication over verbal communication can lead to miscommunication, so dedication is required to avoid these miscommunications and meet the goal of achieving understanding. The last characteristic which a good and effective communicator has is being responsive. Responsiveness refers to the aspect of the communication model which completes the communication loop. Communication is not communication until the sender responds’ back to the receiver’s response. Being responsive involves feedback. DeVito (2006) discusses feedback in terms of adjusting. A good communicator must adjust what they communicate depending on the context. Also, feedback which is effective depends on the situation (Lizzio, Wilson, Gilchrist, & Gallois, 2003). Cline (2005) studied being responsive in the organizational setting, with superior feedback, and discussed the impact of positive and negative feedback on subordinate performance. Being responsive is also about being flexible and being to roll with the punches. Being responsive is also important in the instructional context. Worley, Titsworth, Worley, Cornett-DeVito (2007) discuss their findings which state how adaptability and flexibility are important in the classroom. An effective communicator realizes that the nature of communication is one such that in order to keep up, a person must go with the flow, and respond to the situation. Having these qualities of being flexible, using feedback and responding to the situation create a responsive communicator. This essay has discussed four characteristics of good and effective communication. Communication which is effective takes into consideration the needs of every individual involved, fulfills those needs in order to create understanding, and does so without malice. By being clear, sensitive, dedicated, and responsive, any person can be an effective communicator. These four characteristics take into account nearly every aspect of the communication model, and can be applied into every communication context. Global Question - Pope 5 Works Cited Barbara, D. A. (1959). The art of listening. Today’s Speech, 7, 5-7. Brunner, B. R. (2008). Listening, communication & trust: Practioners’ perspectives of business/organizational relationships. The International Journal of Listening, 22, 73-82. Burroughs, N. F., (2008). Raising the question #10 non-native speakers of English: What more can we do? Communication Education, 57, 289-295. Chesebro, J. L., & McCroskey, J. C. (2001). The relationship of teacher clarity and immediacy with student state receiver apprehension, affect, and cognitive learning. Communication Education, 50, 59-68. Cline, T. (2005).Taking it personally: When performance feedback is unwelcome. Paper presented to the International Communication Association Conference, New York, NY. DeVito, J. A. (2006). Human communication: The basic course (10th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Duran, R. L., & Spitzberg, B. H. (1995). Toward the development and validation of a measure of cognitive communication competence. Communication Quarterly, 43, 259-275. Goss, B. (1991). A test of conversational listening. Communication Research Reports, 8, 19-22. Hsu, C. (2007). A cross-cultural comparison of communication orientations between Americans and Taiwanese. Communication Quarterly, 55, 359-374. Jaworski, A., & Galasinski, D. (2002). The verbal construction of non-verbal behavior: British press reports of President Clinton’s grand jury testimony video. Discourse Society, 13, 629-649. Lewis, C. S. (1966). Letters of C.S. Lewis. Dorsett, L. W. (Ed.). In The essential C.S. Lewis (pp. 522-523). Nashville: Broadman & Holman. Lizzio, A., Wilson, K. L., Gilchrist, J., & Gallois, C. (2003). The role of gender in the construction and evaluation of feedback effectiveness. Management Communication Quarterly, 16, 341-379. Patrick, B. A. (2006). Group ethos and the communication of social action. Small Group Research, 37, 425-458. Rogers, E. M., & Bhowmik, D. K. (1970). Homophily-heterophily: Reltational concepts for communication research. Public Opinion Quarterly, 34, 523-538. Schachner, D. A., Shaver, P. R., Mikulincer, M. (2005). Patterns of nonverbal behavior and sensitivity in the context of attachment relationships. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 29, 141-169. Schneider, B. (2002). Clarity in context: Rethinking misunderstanding. Technical Communication, 49, 210-218. Simonds, C. J. (1997). Classroom understanding: An expanded notion of teacher clarity. Communication Research Reports, 14, 279-290. Worley, D., Titsoworth, S., Worley, D. W., Cornett-DeVito, M. (2007). Instructional communication competence: Lessons learned from award-winning teachers. Communication Studies, 58, 207-222.