So, why effective communication?

“Speak Well, Be Understood” – Singapore’s Speak Good English Movement (SGEM)

Indeed, in order to be understood by people around me, I have to first communicate my ideas effectively. That is also the reason why I see effective communication as an essential life skill to master – because communication is important in so many ways!

For one, strong bonds are not forged overnight. It has to go through many stages and communication is a very important part in developing and maintaining good relationships with people. Being the only child, I value my family more than anything else in the world. As such, I make an effort to make sure I have dinner with my parents at least twice a week no matter how busy I am. Constant updating about each other’s lives can certainly help to bring the parent-child understanding to a higher level. And in order for both parties to update each other, communication must take place. (Edited)


Communication also displays its importance in my friendships and relationship. I believe that being able to communicate effectively with friends will strengthen our friendship as my friends would then be able to relate to my experiences and get to know me a lot better. Moreover, communication is so essential in keeping a relationship going. Trust and understanding are two very important aspects in maintaining a stable relationship and both use communication as a platform.

Lastly, effective communication is crucial in understanding people from all walks of life and allowing them to open up to you. Being a volunteer under the NUS Students’ Community Service Club, I give voluntary tuition at a children’s home every Wednesday evening, and perhaps this story of mine would further illustrate how communication works wonders:

Close to a year ago, I started volunteering at this children’s home. A primary 4 girl (I apologise for not being able to write down her name as the identities of the kids are to be protected) was attached to me as my tutee. Despite spending 2 and a half hours with her each week, I only left a vague impression in her memory as her volunteer and each week I had to find her in a group of young girls to get to her and re-introducing myself to her. As such, both of us discussed on the best way for her to remember me and I was the “jie-jie” (jie-jie means sister in Mandarin) with long hair and has metals on her teeth (those were braces and I happened to be the only one with braces and long hair then). However, what I didn't expect was the fact that her vague impression of me was going to change for the better with the use of appropriate communication. (Edited)
 
As her attention span is relatively short, I tried to make our sessions interesting by playing games with her. Whenever she loses the game, she has to finish a mathematics problem. And this not only greatly enhanced the learning process; it has also indirectly built up a relationship between the both of us. Today, whenever I arrive at the home every Wednesday evening, I see a small hand waving enthusiastically at me accompanied by a broad smile on her face while calling out for me. Such a gesture signalled to me that she was more than prepared for more games, for more interesting school updates to be shared with me, and so was I. What's more? She remembers me.

So there you have it, verbal and non-verbal communication has contributed a lot to my personal development & relationships with the people around me. Communication is an art, and I hope to become a skilled artist.

Edited: Monday August 24th, 9:32PM.