What is communication?

Today, communication continues to be a dynamic and multifaceted discipline focused on improving interactions and relationships, including those between two individuals, between individuals of different cultures, between speakers and audiences, within small groups, in large organizations, and among nations

and international organizations, (O’Hair & Wiemann 2009).

Communication is a huge part of human growth and development. Without communication we would not be sending or receiving information at all.  There are talkers and there are great communicators. When I think about the individuals who I consider as great communicators, which I would want to model my communication behavior, a long list of names come to my mind. Maya Angelou, President Clinton, President Lincoln, Oprah Winfrey, and Dr. King are few of the famous individuals.

For this blog post I decided to write my reasons for choosing my former director. Even though she is not with us any more she is in my heart forever and her legacy goes on. She always told me, “Articulation matters darling. You are knowledgeable, you have a good heart, just speak up”.  She was a believer in that everyone has a voice and always encouraged everyone to speak up. Her speeches were from the bottom of her heart, but at the same time they were full of facts. She was a great communicator with a short and simple message to the point. She was an advocate for the young children. She never took a back seat when it came to fighting for the justice for the children.  She did not use her communication abilities to hurt or harm anyone but at the same time she made sure her voice was heard loud and clear, so she could achieve the goal that she was striving for. A successful communicator needs to develop the ability to determine what is appropriate and what is not in a variety of cultures and situations. Your ability to have a number of behaviors at your disposal and a willingness to use different communication behaviors in different situations is known as your behavioral flexibility, (O’Hair & Wiemann 2009).  She was a leader with great behavioral flexibility and when situations occur I always think “what would …….do?” And I end up with a solution that would work for the particular situation.

She is an inspiration for me and I try to learn from her abilities and examples because I believe that we all need our own heroes who are dear to our hearts, in this journey of life.

Reference:

O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2009). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.