What does it mean to be an effective communicator? When we talk about communication, we look beyond just speaking and listening. Communication is a broad spectrum and in order to be successful in life, you must be effective at communicating with many different types of people and through different methods. While at school, we practice many of these skills throughout the year.
In fact, this is the Graduate Profile competency that comes the most naturally to all of us. Every one of us communicates with others each and every day whether it is verbal or written, in person or through digital means. Each and every interaction we have with someone else is communication. How can we be sure it was effective?
Being an effective communicator involves:
- being able to explain your thoughts
- actively listening to someone
- clearly writing about your ideas and thoughts
- having appropriate social interactions
- knowing how to adjust your communication based on your audience
- body language, eye contact, and tone of voice
- the ability to give feedback to others (and to accept feedback)
- being able to maintain friendships/relationships
- asking questions to clarify your thinking
- the ability to give and follow directions
- being able to compromise
- using different platforms to communicate (email, Google, online platforms, etc)
- sharing your opinion and listening to the opinions of others
Learning to be an effective communicator is not done overnight. It takes practice. We must be placed in situations where we practice these skills in order to determine what is appropriate and what is not. It's a little bit like being a mind reader. You must know your audience and how to approach them, being aware of your verbal and nonverbal communication, while ensuring you acknowledge the social cues. As we become more masterful at communicating with other, some of these things come naturally. That means that communication is both a voluntary task as well as one that becomes second nature over time.
How can you help your child to become an effective communicator? Talk to them! Like anything else, practice is key, so the more opportunities your child has to talk to and hold conversations with you and others, the better they will become. Some of the characteristics of effective communication will take more practice than others - specifically the non-verbals like body language, eye contact, and tone of voice. These require us to be placed in situations that are different from our day-to-day interactions in order to think about how we adjust our communication in those situations.
