R's take on Effective Communication

Why is communication so important in life?

Human beings are by nature social animals. I read somewhere of a tenet in contemperory psychology that holds that having a good social network can boost an individual's mental health. What this means is that our actions and words will always affect the people around us. Therefore, for an entire community to thrive, developing healthy relationships is of vital importance. Effective communication is necessary in making new friends and building strong bonds between people. For example, I signed up as a councelor for my hall's Freshmen Orientation Camp last year. It is so important that we really inculcate a sense of belonging into the freshmen, and expose them to the kind of culture that was unique to our hall. For that to happen, we need to interact with them to build bonds that lead to lasting friendships. Effective communication is needed between seniors and freshmen to maintain healthy relationships to make sure there are no "generation gaps". This, in effect really does keep the social fabric of our hall community together.


The importance of effective communication is not only seen in forging friendships, but also in havnig a successful career. It starts from your very first resume. I'm looking forward to learning how to write effective resumes & application letters in this module because it may be the most important piece of document I'll ever have to write. Job interviews will also call for effective communication skills on your part - to be able to convey crystally clear the message that YOUR talent is just what their company is looking for. I joined the Eusoff Hall Flag Committee last summer, and we had to talk to managers of companies for sponsorship, and meet face-to-face to discuss more on the mutual benefits to be gained by procuring sponsorships from these companies. We had to convince shrewd marketing managers that we could provide them excellent publicity. The best part is you learn to become a little thick-headed, and you have the courage to ask for more sponsorship without sounding impertinent! Perhaps in the future I won't still be asking for sponsorships, but these communication skills will be important if I ever have to face my future boss and ask for a raise. Or to atleast politely explain why I feel deserving of a promotion!


Another important skill is oral communication. I'm not the best orator in the world, and I carefully avoided modules where I had to make presentations. Recent introspection though made me realize how woefully inexperienced I would be at public speaking if I kept up this attitude. It would make me prepared for the work world as much as a man without his mountaineering gear was at scaling Mount Kilimanjaro. I knew I needed to stop letting my insecurities keep me from being the best I could be. I want to be able to walk into a room full of strangers and deliver a powerful presentation/speech, articulately, and confidently, without having a panic attack.


And so for all these reasons effective communication is so important to me - for my career, for better relationships with my family and friends - I took a baby step. I joined ES2007S, hoping to hone out the finest communicator buried within all of us.

I'd like to sign off by leaving you with a poem included in the book "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe. I believe it captures the very essence of a communcation breakdown, of the very real danger of chaos if there was no effective communication between people -

Turning and turning in the widening gyre,
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.