1ST Quarter_Week 4_Discussion Q1-Q2

 Q1. How can communication breakdowns be avoided?

There are many ways to avoid communication breakdown.

As a speaker, you need to have a clear thought process when you want to speak. You don’t just have to know what you want to say, you also need to know how to say it so that the receiver will understand it better. Following the 7Cs for effective communication can help you better so that you’ll have a much better way of expressing your thoughts. Of course, you also have to take care of your body language and tone when you speak because often, you may come off either too strong or too weak. Not only that, it can cause misunderstandings on your message because they will think about its undertones and subtexts depending on your body cues and tone. Also, having the resolve and strength to listen to criticism and feedback is needed so that you can improve your communication style better and so that you can avoid conflicts and misunderstandings.

As a receiver, having an open mind and focus to listen to the speaker is a must. If you don’t understand what the speaker is trying to say, do not be afraid to ask questions, make them repeat their message, or ask them for further explanations. Understanding the speaker clearly and not just jumping to conclusions is a prerequisite for good communication. Once you receive the message, feedbacks are also necessary so that the speaker will know whether you understand them or not.

Of course, the best way to avoid communication breakdown is to have a face-to-face conversation with the person, especially for serious matters and topics. It will give the receiver and speaker a clearer means of communicating since the barriers will be minimized because they’ll be able to fully utilize body languages, tones, expressions, and others.

The bottom line is that you can’t actually fully avoid communication breakdown. There are a lot of barriers and noises that can’t actually be resolved with just having the characteristic of a good speaker/receiver. Although you can minimize it using the strategies mentioned above.

Q2. Do you agree that becoming a strong and effective communicator takes time and practice? Why or why not?

      I agree that to become a strong and effective communicator takes time and practice. Every person becomes a communicator at any point in their life but being an efficient one does not happen overnight. To become a good communicator, a person has to develop them through their experiences from past conversations. From then on, he/she will have a better understanding of how to approach someone without rubbing them the wrong way. Not only that, it will give a person a good oversight on the things that they should and shouldn't do when it comes to speaking/listening to someone.