When we think of straight talk, we think of speaking candidly and openly. We imagine saying what we mean so that other people understand us perfectly. We imagine a world of insightful exchanges, where people from all backgrounds talk to each other in constructive ways. We imagine a world where everyone takes responsibility for clear, honest, and open communication. Show
What do we mean by competent communicators?We mean more than the ability to use language well, or to articulate one’s thoughts and feelings clearly. We mean more than knowing how to get a message across. We mean more than being able to listen well, although that too plays a part. When we talk about competence in communicating we really mean three things.
Fundamentally, then, competence in communication means challenging and changing the ways we listen and talk to one another. It means turning some of our traditional ideas about communication upside down. At the heart of this concept is the idea that competency in communicating is different from competency in any other field or endeavor. That’s why it’s so hard. We’ve all experienced what happens when two unskilled communicators get in a room together and fling assertions back and forth like Ping-Pong balls. Ping:
That’s how we do things at XYZ Corp. Asking questions – especially good questions – is a sign of competence in communicating. Flatly stating your opinions is a sign of incompetence. Curiosity is a reflection of competence. Certainty is a reflection of incompetence. Good communicators realize that knowing all the answers isn’t a sign of competence. It’s most often a sign of incompetence. How do you teach competent communication?The Straight Talk survey is a powerful tool on its own, and a great way to introduce Straight Talk. The blog and its newsletter are designed to teach the basic principles of Straight Talk over time. The video course is a great way for individuals to learn about Straight Talk at their own pace. The quickest way to teach Straight Talk is our trainer’s guide, which includes a participant handbook and exact script to host your own training session. The Straight Talk book provides the common ground to help teams gain competency in communication as quickly and effectively as possible. Learning Objectives
Communication competence has become a focus in higher education over the past couple of decades as educational policy makers and advocates have stressed a “back to basics” mentality (McCroskey, 1984, p. 259). The ability to communicate effectively is often included as a primary undergraduate learning goal along with other key skills like writing, critical thinking, and problem solving. In advanced communication courses, students are expected to move beyond the basic communication competence expected of any college and university graduate by engaging with challenging communication scenarios related to specific business/professional contexts and by enhancing their abilities of engaging in reflexive, metacognitive processes of self-monitoring and self-assessment. In addition to supporting you directly in your future managerial/ leadership roles at work, the advanced communication skills taught in this course are meant to foster your development of the seven “Job Skills for the Future” Fanshawe College plans to prioritize in future years. Here is the list:
You can read more about these skills here: https://www.fanshawec.ca/about-fanshawe/choose-fanshawe/innovation-village/silex-and-job-skills-future# Since this book focuses on advanced professional communication in terms of workplace managerial/ leadership applications, you will see connections to the higher-order cognitive skills referenced here in all chapters. A “Getting Competent” feature box is included in each chapter specifically to emphasize aspects of communication competence of high impact on your development of higher-order cognitive skills. Defining CompetenceDeveloping communication competence can bring many rewards, but it also requires time and effort. Paul Shanks – Communication – CC BY-NC 2.0.Communication competence refers to the knowledge of effective and appropriate communication patterns and the ability to use and adapt that knowledge in various contexts (Cooley & Roach, 1984, p. 25). Knowledge of communication patterns. The cognitive elements of competence include knowing how to do something and understanding why things are done the way they are (Hargie, 2011, p. 9). Since you are currently taking a communication class, try to observe the communication concepts you are learning in the communication practices of others and yourself. This will help bring the concepts to life and also help you evaluate how communication in the real world matches up with communication concepts. As you build a repertoire of communication knowledge based on your experiential and classroom knowledge, you will also be developing behavioral competence. The ability to use communication. At the individual level, a person’s physiological and psychological characteristics affect competence. In terms of physiology, age, maturity, and ability to communicate affect competence. In terms of psychology, a person’s mood, stress level, personality, and level of communication apprehension (level of anxiety regarding communication) affect competence (Cooley & Roach, 1984, p. 25). All these factors will either help or hinder you when you try to apply the knowledge you have learned to actual communication behaviors. For example, you might know strategies for being an effective speaker, but public speaking anxiety that kicks in when you get in front of the audience may prevent you from fully putting that knowledge into practice. The ability to adapt to various contexts. What is defined as competence varies based on social and cultural context (Cooley & Roach, 1984, p. 25). Social variables such as status and power affect competence. In a social situation where one person has more power than another (e.g. supervisor vs. employee), the person in the higher position in the hierarchy is typically the one who sets the standard for competence. Cultural variables such as race and nationality also affect competence. A Taiwanese woman who speaks English as her second language may be praised for her competence in the English language in her home country but be viewed as less competent in the United States because of her accent. In summary, although we have a clear definition of communication competence, there are not definitions for how to be competent in any given situation, since competence varies at the individual, social, and cultural level. The National Communication Association (NCA) has identified the following aspects of competence — with a focus on speaking and listening, and noting that developing communication competence in these areas will help people in academic, professional, and civic contexts (Morreale, Rubin, & Jones, 1998):
These are just some of the competencies the NCA identified as important for college graduates. While these are skill focused rather than interpersonally or culturally focused, they provide a concrete way to assess your own speaking competencies at the start of this class and to then track your progress throughout the term, as we study and attempt to assimilate a large variety of advanced communication strategies and techniques. Developing CompetenceWe all have areas where we are skilled and areas where we have deficiencies. In most cases, we can consciously decide to work on our deficiencies, which may take considerable effort. There are multiple stages of competence you should try to assess as you communicate in your daily life: unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence, and unconscious competence (Hargie, 2011, p. 9).
When you reach the stage of unconscious competence, you can communicate successfully without straining to be competent. Just because you reach the stage of unconscious competence in one area or with one person does not mean you will always stay there. We are faced with new communication encounters regularly, and although we may be able to draw on the communication skills we have learned about and developed, it may take a few instances of conscious incompetence before you can advance to later stages. Becoming more mindful of your communication and the communication of others can contribute to your communication competence. Free Stock Photos – public domain.Obviously, becoming a more mindful communicator can speed up your progress toward communication competence. A mindful communicator actively and fluidly processes information, is sensitive to communication contexts and multiple perspectives, and is able to adapt to novel communication situations (Burgoon, Berger, & Waldron, 2000, p. 105). Becoming a more mindful communicator has many benefits, including achieving communication goals, detecting deception, avoiding stereotypes, and reducing conflict. Whether or not we achieve our day-to-day communication goals depends on our communication competence. Various communication behaviors can signal that we are communicating mindfully — such as asking employees to paraphrase their understanding of the instructions given (showing that you are aware that verbal messages are not always clear, that people do not always listen actively, and that people often do not speak up when they are unsure of instructions for fear of appearing incompetent or embarrassing themselves). Some communication behaviors indicate that we are not communicating mindfully — such as withdrawing from a romantic partner or engaging in passive-aggressive behavior during a period of interpersonal conflict. Most of us know that such behaviors lead to predictable and avoidable conflict cycles, yet we are all guilty of them. Our tendency to assume that people are telling us the truth can also lead to negative results. Some tentativeness and mindful monitoring of a person’s nonverbal and verbal communication can help us detect deception. However, this is not the same thing as chronic suspicion, which would not indicate communication competence. Spotlight: “Getting Competent”Getting Started on Your Road to Communication Competence The “Getting Competent” boxes throughout this book are meant to help you become a more confident and skilled communicator. While each box will focus on a specific aspect of communication competence, this box addresses communication competence more generally. A common communication pitfall that is an obstacle on many students’ roads to communication competence is viewing communication as “common sense.” In fact, this can be accurate in some cases but not in others. For instance, many of us are aware that conflict avoidance can lead to built-up tensions that eventually hurt an interpersonal relationship — it may be “common sense” to expect that. Still, in order to put that “commonsense” knowledge to competent use, we must have a more nuanced understanding of how conflict and interpersonal communication relate and know some conflict management strategies. Communication is common in that it is something that we spend most of our time doing, but the ability to make sense of and improve our communication takes competence that is learned through deliberate study and personal reflection. Throughout this term, try to systematically engage in the following:
If you start these things now you will be primed to take on more communication challenges that will be presented throughout this book.
Overcoming AnxietyCommunication apprehension and public speaking anxiety are common but can be managed productively. Ana C. – day 339 butterflies – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.Decades of research conducted by communication scholars shows that communication apprehension is common among college students (Priem & Solomon, 2009, p. 260). Communication apprehension (CA) is fear or anxiety experienced by a person due to actual or imagined communication with another person or persons. CA includes multiple forms of communication, not just public speaking: 15 to 20 percent of college students experience high trait CA (they are generally anxious about communication) and 70 percent experience some trait CA — which means that addressing communication anxiety in a class like the one you’re taking now stands to benefit the majority of students (Priem & Solomon, 2009, p. 260). Public speaking anxiety is type of CA that produces physiological, cognitive, and behavioral reactions in people when faced with a real or imagined presentation (Bodie, 2010, p. 72). Research on public speaking anxiety has focused on three key ways to address this common issue: systematic desensitization, cognitive restructuring, and skills training (Bodie, 2010, p. 72). Communication departments are typically the only departments that address communication apprehension explicitly, which is important as CA is “related to negative academic consequences such as negative attitudes toward school, lower over-all classroom achievement, lower final course grades, and higher college attrition rates” (Allen, Hunter, & Donohue, 2009). Additionally, CA can lead others to make assumptions about your communication competence that may be unfavorable. Even if you are intelligent, prepared, and motivated, CA and public speaking anxiety can detract from your communication and lead others to perceive you in ways you did not intend. Top Ten Ways to Reduce Speaking AnxietyWe will discuss this more in later chapters, but for now, here are a few basic tips that can help you manage your anxiety:
Key Takeaways
Exercises
ReferencesAllen, M., Hunter, J. E., & Donohue, W. A. (1989). Meta-analysis of self-report data on the effectiveness of public speaking anxiety treatment techniques. Communication Education, 38(1), 54–76. DOI: 10.1080/03634528909378740 Bodie, G. (2010). A racing heart, rattling knees, and ruminative thoughts: Defining, explaining, and treating public speaking anxiety. Communication Education, 59(1), 70–105. DOI:10.1080/03634520903443849 Burgoon, J. K., Berger, C. and Waldron, V.R. (2000). Mindfulness and interpersonal communication. Journal of Social Issues 56(1), 105-127. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00154 Cooley, R. E., and Roach, D.A. (1984). A conceptual framework. In Bostrom, R.N. (Ed.), Competence in communication: A multidisciplinary approach (pp. 11-32). Sage. Hargie, O. (2011). Skilled interpersonal interaction: Research, theory, and practice. Routledge. McCroskey, J. C. (1984). Communication comptence: The elusive construct. In Bostrom, R.N. (Ed.), Competence in communication: A multidisciplinary approach (pp. 259-268). Sage. Morreale, S., Rubin, R.B, & Jones, E. (1998). Speaking and listening competencies for college students. National Communication Association. Priem, J. S., & Solomon, D.H. ( 209). Comforting apprehensive communicators: The effects of reappraisal and distraction on cortisol levels among students in a public speaking class. Communication Quarterly 57(3), 259-281. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463370903107253 What are the principles of competent communicators?Researchers have broken down the characteristics of competent communicators into five (5) areas: self-awareness, adaptability, empathy, cognitive complexity, and ethics.
How can we improve communication competent?There are specific things to do that can improve your communication skills:. Listen, listen, and listen. ... . Who you are talking to matters. ... . Body language matters. ... . Check your message before you hit send. ... . Be brief, yet specific. ... . Write things down. ... . Sometimes it's better to pick up the phone. ... . Think before you speak.. What is the importance of being competent in communication?Competent communicators are able to assess what is going to be appropriate and effective in a given context and then modify their behaviors accordingly. That ability is important because what works in one situation might be ineffective in another.
How do these qualities or skills help you become an effective communicator?Communication skills are needed to speak appropriately with a wide variety of people whilst maintaining good eye contact, demonstrate a varied vocabulary and tailor your language to your audience, listen effectively, present your ideas appropriately, write clearly and concisely, and work well in a group.
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