Communication Skills

Communication is simply the act of transferring information from one place to another.

Although this is a simple definition, when we think about how we may communicate the subject becomes a lot more complex. There are various categories of communication and more than one may occur at any time.

The different categories of communication include:

• Spoken or Verbal Communication: face-to-face, telephone, radio or television and other media.
• Non-Verbal Communication: body language, gestures, how we dress or act - even our scent.
• Written Communication: letters, e-mails, books, magazines, the Internet or via other media.
• Visualizations: graphs and charts, maps, logos and other visualizations can communicate messages.

The process of interpersonal communication cannot be regarded as a phenomena which simply 'happens', but should be seen as a process which involves participants negotiating their role in this process, whether consciously or unconsciously. 

Senders and receivers are of course vital in communication. In face-to-face communication the roles of the sender and receiver are not distinct as both parties communicate with each other, even if in very subtle ways such as through eye-contact (or lack of) and general body language.

There are many other subtle ways that we communicate (perhaps even unintentionally) with others, for example the tone of our voice can give clues to our mood or emotional state, whilst hand signals or gestures can add to a spoken message.

In written communication the sender and receiver are more distinct. Until recent times, relatively few writers and publishers were very powerful when it came to communicating the written word. Today we can all write and publish our ideas online, which has led to an explosion of information and communication possibility

Common Barriers to Effective Communication:

• The use of jargon. Over-complicated, unfamiliar and/or technical terms.
• Emotional barriers and taboos. Some people may find it difficult to express their emotions and some topics may be completely 'off-limits' or taboo. Taboo or difficult topics may include, but are not limited to, politics, religion, disabilities (mental and physical), sexuality and sex, racism and any opinion that may be seen as unpopular.
• Lack of attention, interest, distractions, or irrelevance to the receiver. (See our page Barriers to Effective Listening for more information).
• Differences in perception and viewpoint.
• Physical disabilities such as hearing problems or speech difficulties.
• Physical barriers to non-verbal communication. Not being able to see the non-verbal cues, gestures, posture and general body language can make communication less effective. Phone calls, text messages and other communication methods that rely on technology are often less effective than face-to-face communication.
• Language differences and the difficulty in understanding unfamiliar accents.
• Expectations and prejudices which may lead to false assumptions or stereotyping.  People often hear what they expect to hear rather than what is actually said and jump to incorrect conclusions. Our page The Ladder of Inference explains this in more detail.
• Cultural differences.  The norms of social interaction vary greatly in different cultures, as do the way in which emotions are expressed. For example, the concept of personal space varies between cultures and between different social settings. See our page on Intercultural Awareness for more information.

A skilled communicator must be aware of these barriers and try to reduce their impact by continually checking understanding and by offering appropriate feed