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Falling back to cavemen drawings to communicate effectively?
Picture Taken from BBC NEWS
Don’t you ever wonder how cave men manage to express and convey their message across when they had no linguistic knowledge and yet schooled people can still fail to communicate effectively.So what really define an effective communication? Why is it so important?
I remember a sentence from the introduction of a book by Judi James – “As a communication skill your body language accounts for over 50 percent of the perceived impact of all your face-to-face messages” This show that non-verbal cues are actually just as important but the emphasis has always lean toward the verbal part. I could never forget how primary school teachers always solve conflicts between students by telling us to “talk nicely” to each other. Sad to say, they never did mention anything about “coherent body language”. In the end, we would just mumble an apology to each other while swaying about, eyes on the floor etc. Do you think that apology is sincere? Truth be told, its just a pacifying act for the teachers.
But I do realize when such behavior continues on to adulthood, things can really mess up badly (on a larger scale) when communication breaks down. I’ve definitely had my fair share of such unnecessary mishaps as a result of ineffective communication and it puzzles me when the other party would rather take the route of avoidance thinking that everything will be resolved. It makes me wonder who’s really at “fault” when communication fails to work out. Is it the difference in upbringing? Perhaps the speaker is at fault for not expressing well? Or rather the receiver is not an active listener?
All in all, without effective communication skills, things just don’t go smoothly, feelings get stomped on and uncalled tension arises. I personally feel one should always strive to improve on their communication skills and not to feel defensive if another person corrects you. I believe, you’ll emerge as a more confident person.
It is a lively way to use caveman's paintings to illustrate how the communication has been ineffectively varied from the past till now. I do agree that nowadays people communicate ineffectively with others. When people couldn't send the message across, the listener might misinterpret the message delivered and ended up with disagreements, quarrels, to the extend that fighting and uproars occur, which happened in some countries nowadays. Without effective communication, people will not improve to become a better person. I strongly agree that effective communication is essential to us today.
ReplyDelete@Jun Lin
ReplyDeleteThanks! I've always wondered how people deciphered the real cave drawings..how did they know they had the correct meaning :)
I agree that violence is sadly the aftermath of many communication break-downs..perhaps the government should make their citizens take up professional communication lessons...:)
Hi Zhing,
ReplyDeleteI really find your post very thought provoking. The first part about how cavemen could communicate effectively even without linguistic knowledge makes me think that it is definitely not a highly intellectual content that makes communication effective, but more the preciseness with which the message is conveyed. I am convinced that the cavemen really could communicate effectively even though I wonder, just as you do, how they deciphered the cave drawings. I think words makes effective communication a lot easier to us; I don’t think we would be able to communicate without them, at least not effectively. Still, I agree that non-verbal cues are as important as the verbal part of communication.
Best regards,
Annika
Hi Zhing,
ReplyDeleteI must say that you have a flair for writing really attractive blogs with eye catching pictures and insightful questions.
I agree with you on the fact that miscommunication can lead to various mishaps in life. Sometimes, inadequate use of words or wrong gestures by speaker; or misinterpretation of the message by the listener might just lead to unnecessary tension between them. This might break their bonds of friendship or bring an end to a sweet relationship. All of this can occur due to lack of communication skills in the speaker, listener or both of them. Therefore, it is very essential to hone our communication skills from time to time so that they remain untarnished.
Regards,
Kripa
Hi Zhing,
ReplyDeleteI like the creative usage of the caveman drawing accompanied with intriguing question at the beginning. Those two elements are really encouraging the reader on continue reading your post.
Also, I am fond of the usage of the supporting evidences of your point which come from both academic (printed book) and practical (your own experience) side. These supporting evidences allow the message to be effectively conveyed and in the same time entertaining.
So, even with only 50 percent of the impact that a message can deliver (without the body language, as this is a blog post), you can still keep me get the ideas and entertained at the same time. Great job! :)
-Adi
Hi!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI must say this , you have got amazing writing skills and you seem to be very innovative.
I am all impressed by your very thought of putting up a 'caveman drawing ' picture in your blog post and starting off with an awesome thought provoking introduction.
I really like the example of how people apologize(in an ineffective manner).It is true,I have come across such a situation very often.
I strongly agree with you,effective communication does make one feel very confident.
To let u know something, this is the fourth time I am reading your blog post!!!! :D
@Annika
ReplyDeleteI agree that words really make it simpler to communicate...but given human's nature to keep finding short-cut especially with the computer lingos (eg. LOL) coming up.. can't imagine how communication will be like in the future :)
@Kripa
Thanks! I've actually been blogging for 6 years now..anyway I'm trying to find a balance in formal and yet writing it in a light note.
Its really sad if a friendship or a relationship just end because of a miscommunication so hope that don't occur to you :)
@Adi
Thanks for the feedback! Can you imagine if all of us have no linguistic knowledge...how we were going to convey our message across without the non-verbal cues.
I'm real grateful for the people who "invented" english! otherwise we'll be drawing wherever we go :)
@Nivetha
I really think you're a better writer..once again I simply love the quotes!! I'm sure I can still improve on my writing skills. So please feel free to correct on any language. structure or grammatical errors.
Did those ineffective apologies affected you in any way?
I hope reading 4 times doesn't mean you have to read 4 times to understand my message XD
Thanks for the feedback!
Zhing, this is one entertaining, informative, concise and clear post. I like how you grabbed your readers by the throat and kept them hooked!
ReplyDeleteThis is also a fairly concise piece of writing, and because it is coherent and so easy to read, your readers breeze through.
An excellent piece of writing, Zhing, and if you could bring the discussion down to a more personal level, and share with your readers why effective communication skills are important for you - you would have responded appropriately to the blog assignment, and fulfilled all the necessary conditions required of a very good blog post.