All About Human Communication

What is human communication?
In simple terms, human communication is the act of transmitting information from one person to another. Within the last few thousand years, the history of communication have been revolutionize immensely by men. What started out as pictures and symbols carved on stone walls became alphabets and numbers then words and phrases consisting of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs came into the picture, which became the core structure of languages existing in the world today.

Through the years, information was made clearer through the creation of a wide variety of words, both simple and sophisticated to accommodate new meanings and expressions, with new words adding to vocabulary all the time. In addition, communication has evolved into different languages through the years, spoken by different nationalities in different tongues such as German, French, English, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi and so on. Looking at languages as a whole, regardless of what language each person speaks, all languages share one thing in common - to communicate.

Purpose of human communication
Since humans are social creatures with goals and ambitions, we see a need to connect to each other, and in order to connect, we must communicate in some way. Some of the more important reasons of communicating with one another are to accomplish tasks, combating boredom and loneliness, expressing emotions and letting people know your thoughts and opinion on a particular subject.

Communicating your thoughts and feelings can sometimes be natural, without you knowing it, like banging the table when you are frustrated or laughing when jokes are cracked. These actions and expressions serve as an indication of your thoughts and feelings to others at any given point of time.

Forms of human communication
Communication takes many forms. More so, given the advancement of technology in today’s world, getting in touch with someone has become so much easier. In the past, to contact a person from another country or state means having to painstakingly write letters or sending messengers that would have taken forever to reach the other party.

Those obstacles of the past have long been vanquished with the birth of computers, Internet, mobile phones and other fascinating technologies. Emails, live chats and calling are the norm of today’s distant communications. We become so familiar with these modes of interaction that they become a standard procedure of our everyday lives and something that we cannot live without even for a day. Another dimension of communication is defined by the expression one’s self indirectly or directly through videos, songs, poems and art.

The most massive and efficient form of communication is of course through the mass media. Newspapers, magazines, newsletters, social networking websites are such examples that exert great influence on people and in a way, shape perception on current news and popular topics. Other unique communicational forms include sign languages especially between the mute and deaf, sense of touch for the blind, radios, Morse codes and infamously, communicating with the dead.

The different communication styles
Each individual has a different way of communicating, each consisting of verbal and nonverbal characteristics. The difference in the way each individual communicates sometimes is the result of their childhood, family background, and the way they behave and think. In reality, there are a finite number of communication styles all of which can be labeled. In essence, there are four key style traits people can be categorized into:

• Emotive style traits - Someone who appears quite active, who takes social initiatives, encourages informality and expresses emotional opinions. Examples; Oprah Winfrey(talk show host)/Richard Branson(founder of Virgin Airlines).
• Director style traits - Someone who appears quite busy, sometimes giving the impression of not listening, who displays a rather serious attitude and likes to maintain control. Examples; Sir Alex Ferguson (manager of English soccer club, Manchester United FC).
• Reflective style traits - Someone who controls their emotional expression, who displays preference for order, tending to express measured opinions and seems difficult to get to know. Examples; Albert Einstein (late scientific genius)/Alan Greenspan (late American economist).
• Supportive style trait - Someone who appears to be quiet and reserved, who listens attentively, tending to avoid use of power and who make thoughtful decisions in a deliberate manner. Examples; Princess Diana (late princess of Wales)/Julia Roberts (Hollywood actress).

Most people usually display one of several behavioral clusters of these styles.

Impacts of communication
How communication affects people varies according to a wide range of factors such as the type of media used, graphics and illustrations, the content of news, marketing efforts to attract attention and many more. But it is evident that the advancement of technology has enabled communication to create a greater impact on the lives of individuals, groups, organizations and nations. Communication is now able to influence people on a global level, shape our cultures, strengthen our beliefs, change our perception, start new trends, promote products and services of organizations more efficiently, all of which ultimately maximizes human contact.

However looking at the big picture, these benefits come at a price. The disadvantages of better communication have inevitably exploded over the years. Violence and suicides are the result of influences from movies, news and a constant overflowing of new information on the Internet that can be outrageously diabolical and deviating. Cyber bullying has also become common for people to get revenge and post hate messages with low risks of getting caught. Privacy is slowly fading from our vocabulary thanks to the countless number of cameras everywhere and everyone just seems to own hand phones with built-in cameras these days, combining to the accessibility of pictures and videos through medias like picture messaging, emails, social networking sites and blogs.

How to be a good communicator
In order to be a good communicator, you have to make a deliberate attempt to adjust your communication style to accommodate the style of others, a term called style-flexing. Firstly, identify your style cluster and identify the style clusters of others. Secondly, be versatile in handling people of different styles from you so as to minimize communication-style bias. Then practice style-flexing with the following information as guidelines:

• Emotive - When attending to a person with an emotive style trait, be enthusiastic, don’t be too stiff or formal, take time to establish goodwill and relationships, maintain eye contact, be a good listener and hold their attention.
• Director - When dealing with people with a director style trait, always keep as businesslike as possible, be efficient, time disciplined and organized, identify their goals and objectives in general, ask questions and note responses provide facts and figures not vague information and provide solutions.
• Reflective - Try using thoughtful and well-organized approach with people of the reflective style trait, present information in a deliberate manner, provide documentation and never pressure for quick decisions.
• Supportive - Take time to build relationship with these people, listen carefully to their opinions and feelings, provide assurances for their views and have patience, give them time to comprehend.

Communication in summary
Looking at communication as a whole, it is perhaps the most fundamental human skill of all. We have to be able to communicate in order to learn from one another. We need to be both efficient and effective and have the ability to express needs directly, share information appropriately, solicit information, listen to others, and advocate positions, all while building and maintaining strong relationships. Thus, it’s something as essential as water and food, it affects every area of our lives and determines whether we succeed or fail, lose or win in areas such as studies, career, interests, social and family life and most importantly, survival. So take advantage of communication techniques, medias and tools available alongside your own abilities, to get the best out of life.