Friday 20 January 2012

Post #1


Why Effective Communication is Important for me.


To me, effective communication is vital in establishing a good relationship with people. People relationships are the most valuable asset to lead a satisfying life. Be it, work or family related, communication is the key to success in these areas. For instance, in a relationship between a parent and child, words of concern are often regarded as a nuisance to the child. The consequence is that it might lead to fewer interactions. The child is no longer comfortable sharing information with his or her parents as they may appear to be discouraging or strict. Gradually no communication would be present between the two; they would rather go to their peers for opinions. Thus, with a more effective way of communicating, it would be able to eliminate this problem.       

Effective communication is important because it helps to avoid misunderstanding. Without it, messages might not be conveyed accurately and it might be misinterpreted, causing unnecessary mistakes and distress. As everyone may have a different perspective due to our difference in socialization, experiences, beliefs and cultural differences, it is important not to be ethnocentric. We should not judge others by our own yardstick. To prevent misunderstanding, it is important that we have to consider the specific audiences while preparing our message to them. For example, my new domestic worker is a foreigner, she is not aware of the culture practices that most Chinese families do not sweep their floors on Chinese New Year as it might sweep away all the ‘fortune and luck’. I had personally explained and instructed her on this issue to prevent any unnecessary misunderstanding in my family.  

To lead a fruitful and harmonious life, effective communication is very important to me.  

14 comments:

  1. Hi Yi Qun,

    It is heart-warming to know that you put much priority into building and maintaining relationships, instead of the more practical aspects that occur to most people when they talk about communication. However, I felt that the use of passive voice in the majority of your post did not help in making that connection. It gives me a "distant" feel, as if you were writing a formal proposal or report to be submitted to the lecturer! The last part on the incident with your domestic helper was quite interesting. I feel that your post should contain more of these anecdotes that we can relate to.

    Bokai

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    1. Thanks for your feedback, Bokai. I do agree that the excessive use of passive voice would give this "distant" feeling. However, as what I had commented on your post, I think there is a problem with excessive writing in your own perspective. I think the key to this would to be moderate in our writing. Excessive use of any style would not be good. This is the same as our daily diet. Too much of anything is never good. The key to a healthy diet is to eat in moderate. Food for thought :p

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  2. Hi Yi Qun,

    After reading quite a number of our classmate's posts, while reading yours I realised that your post was cohesive as it focused only on relationships. Perhaps this is one of the most important reasons for effective communication as humans are very relational, and we form relations with people everywhere we go and from all walks of life. Be it closer relationships with family and friends, or more professional relationships at work or with strangers. We need to communicate effectively with people and build relationships in order to succeed and live peacefully.

    I also enjoyed how you gave the example at the end to further illustrate your point. It makes the post more personal and easier to relate to.

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    1. Thanks for your comment, Priya. I am glad that we have the same motivation in achieving our goals to be able to communicate effectively. To me, people relationships are very important. Like the saying goes, "the people makes the places". This is something I always believed in :)

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    2. Ok I am just seeing this! You shouldn't have pointed it out to me today! Anyway don't worry, I'm nice and forgive your blurness, plus I didn't leave my proper name anyway!

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    3. I am being honest and I don't want to feel bad for not telling you. haha! I trust that you are 'nice' :p

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  3. Hi there Yi Qun,

    I enjoyed reading your blog post because it was to the point and focussed on a particular aspect of Effective Communication which was important to you. It carried the point across very well, especially when you re-emphasized it with your own experience of having to explain certain customs to your "new domestic worker."

    I agree that learning to communicate effectively will allow us to avoid any potential misunderstandings and I'm glad to know why Effective Communication is so important to you.

    Thanks for sharing

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    1. Thanks for your kind words, Jie Ying. After reading your post, I think you are a much better writer than I do. I like your style of writing and your choice of words. It is very effective in capturing the reader's attention. Hopefully I can work on my writing style :) Cheers!

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  4. Thank you, Yi Qun, for this concise, focused and clear response to the topic. As mentioned by other readers, your ideas are cohesive and centered on the value of effective communication in interpersonal relationships. I especially like the way you move from the general to the specific in your discussion in both of the paragraphs. My only only suggestion would have been that in paragraph#1 you give a specific example just as you have shared a personal anecdote in paragraph #2. That would have made your response fit even better with the assigned topic.

    In any case, this is a good effort. I look forward to reading more of your posts!

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    1. Thanks for your kind words, Brad. My reasons to move from the general to the specfic in my discussion were to facilitate the understanding of the content to my readers. This is similar to how I usually converse with others, I like to use an analogy, a personal anecdote or a 'layman term' to explain my point of view.

      Hopefully, I would be able to keep up the standard or to be even better with my subsequent posts as the workload will get heavier as the weeks goes by. Thank you once again. Cheers!!

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  5. Hey Yiqun,

    I like the last part where you related telling your domestic worker about Chinese cultural customs to preparing the message for different audiences. I think personal events and stories work best when passing a message or idea to others as they are usually the easiest the understand while being the most convincing and honest. I look forward to reading more stories from your own experiences.

    Zhi Qin

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    1. Thanks for your comment, Zhi Qing. I think you did a great job with your post. Very interesting and well written. Looking forward for your next post too!!! Cheers!!!

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  6. Ah yes Yi Qun, a very insightful post. You not only showed the importance of communication in building relationships with others but also how communication skills can help overcome cultural differences and promote tolerance and understanding. I also hope to be able to build better relationships with the people around me and gain a better understanding of them.

    Abdullah

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    1. Thanks for your feedback, Abdullah. I believe you can surely build a better relationship with people around you as long as you have the will to try. As long as you make a concious effort to be more aware of the people and their feelings around you, it would not be so difficult to build a good rapport with them :) You can do it! Cheers!

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