Are you a good communicator?

HCA/230
October 28, 2012
Karen Flaherty

Are you a good communicator?
Communication is the sending and receiving of messages from one person to another professionally or personally, whether it is verbal or non-verbal communication. Communication is used to tell one person what the other person has to share with him or her, and sometimes it is through email, phone, verbally, or non-verbally through body gestures and body language. What is effective communication? Why is quality interpersonal communication important, particularly in the health care industry?
Effective communication extends the concept to require that transmitted content is received and understood by someone in the way it was intended. The goals of effective communication include creating a common perception, changing behaviors and acquiring information (Brown, 2011). In the information age, we have to send, receive, and process huge numbers of messages every day and with effective communication it is more than just exchanging information. Effective communication requires you to also understand the emotion behind the information. Why is the person sending the message? What is the reason behind the message? It can improve relationships at home, work, and in social situations by deepening your connections to others and improving teamwork, decision-making, caring, and problem solving. It enables you to communicate even negative or difficult messages without creating conflict or destroying trust. Trust is one thing that should not be broken due to the lack of communication skills, but it happens more often than normal. Effective communication combines a set of skills including nonverbal communication, attentive listening, the ability to manage stress in the moment, and the capacity to recognize and understand your own emotions and those of the person you’re