Effective Communication

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Running Head: Effective Communication

The Impact of Effective Communication

Verbal and Nonverbal Communication

Charmaine Guy

Megan Marshall

MGM105-0802A-26

Professional Communication

Colorado Tech. University Online

April 11, 2008

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“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.”

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Better known as Mark Twain) in a Letter to George Bainton, 10/15/1888

Should that be the motto for effective communication? Could it be put in any other way? Twain is right, the words we use to express how we feel, what information we are trying to relay to others, the body language that others read from you could have a major impact (lightning)on your business or it could just be a small blimp on a radar (lighning bug). In the professional world, effective communication must be used in order for your organization, employees, customers, etc. to understand the company you work for, the product you are trying to sell, or the rules and regulations of any company whether done by phone, e-mail, messages, fax, memos, or through sign language. In order for a person to successfully bring forth a clear understanding of what is being said or read they must understand the aspects of verbal and nonverbal communication.

There are a number of things that get in the way of effective communication. Communication is essential to any business, with that said one must take in consideration of what an unknown author defines as noise or interference. This noise can interupt any enviroment, which can cause people to send out the wrong message, and have others misread what that person is trying to convey. The noise is

Language,Defensiveness, Misreading of body language, tone and other non-verbal forms of communication, Receiver distortion: selective hearing, ignoring non-verbal cues, Power struggles. Self-fulfilling assumptions. Language-different levels of meaning.

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Managers hesitation to be candid. Assumptions-eg: assuming others see situation same as you, has same feelings as you. Distrusted source: shortcuts that we use to organize data. Erroneous translation. Value judgment: state of mind of two people. Perceptual Biases: stereotyping, projection, and self-fulfilling prophecies. Past experience with the individual. Perception is also affected by the organizational relationship two people have.

Noise, as he puts it, can disrupt the flow of any business relationship. To overcome this noise you must learn to pay close attention. On too many occasions the look on a face, the tone of a

voice, a touch, or the time used to have a person understand what is being said can be misinterpreted. Especially when communicating with people from other cultures you must understand a simple friendly gesture to one person can mean an offensive comment to another. An example would be as such: Americans, at times, give a pat on the back to express a good job has been done, but in other countries it is offense to touch another or to be within what is considered someones personal space. Research is always essential.