Task one According to (vtaide 2011) effective communication means that we are able to express ourselves, both verbally and non-verbally, in ways that are appropriate to our cultures and situations. This means not being able to express our opinions and desires, but also our needs and fears and to ask for help and advice. There are a number of different interpersonal communication strategies that enable communication to become effective.
Focused listening is a communication strategy that not only enables more of a chance to be able to hear what the speaker is saying but it also sends signals to the speaker to let them know that you are actually listening and engaged and also that you are actually listening in what they have to say. In some of my modules I am required to do some group work. As individuals we all have our different ways of working and I have realised how focused listening has helped me to work and get along better with my teammates.
When I focus on listening to what someone is saying I am able to understand them better and I can also see that the speaker appreciates that they are being listened to. I can see how this strategy improves group work because of the improved communication. Another strategy that helps me communicate with other students at university is empathising. Again when doing group work there has been times when I had a total differences in opinion about what topic to research on with other members of the team .
I realise that putting yourself in other people’s place helps to see their point view and it makes it much easier to come to a mutual understanding. I have also found that taking notes helps when communicating. When receiving feedback it is good to take notes because this means you can get the key information. This will also encourage the speaker to give you very useful constructive criticism as it gives the speaker positive impression that you are paying attention to them. It is especially useful to take notes when a speaker is speaking for a long period of time.
It is very easy to miss out or forget important information when you have been listening for a long while. During my lectures I have found that it is really useful to take notes when the lecturer is lecturing. I am able to note down important information and take away really important information from the lecture. When revising I find it hard at times to remember what I had learnt a couple weeks back and going back to this notes helps me to remember what the lecture had been talking about.
Thus taking notes is a useful interpersonal communication strategy to use in order to be able to remember key information. Furthermore I am also able to implement my learning from different strategies outside of university. At the moment I am currently doing my driving lessons. I am able to use focused hearing in order to improve my ability to learn faster. According to (livestrong 2011) listening and hearing are really two separate skills. A person can listen to someone talking but not actually hear what they are saying. livestrong 2011) continues on to say that focused hearing means turning off your silent mental comments and reactions while the speaker is speaking, a person needs to be in the hearing mode because you cannot hear and talk to yourself at the same time. My driving instructor always gives me feedback at the end of each listen. In the beginning I always found myself switching of and thinking of the different things that happened during the lesson. When I had the following lesson I usually found myself not remembering what it is he had told me.
Focused hearing allows me to switch off mental thoughts and only focus on what my driving instructor is saying. This in turn has improved my ability to learn to learn faster. Collins (2009) states that, we need to be able to communicate to be able to share information, ideas and feelings. Interpersonal communication strategies such as focused listening, focused hearing and empathising enable the communication to become effective. These strategies are strategies that I am able to use in my everyday life and I have found that they make a difference in the way I learn as they enable me to remember information better.
