PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

COMMUNICATION:  Communication is the art of passing a message, information, ideas or feelings across to another person in such a manner that adequate or correct understanding is created in the mind of the Receiver. Until understanding close to the idea or thought of the speaker is aroused in the Receiver, communication has not taken place. Communication is two-way: Verbal / Non-verbal.

THE SPEAKER:  The speaker is the communicator who has an idea, thought, feeling or imagination he wants to pass across to another person. The speaker is faced with the problem of knowing the language which the Receiver understands. Language is generally the means of communication. It is therefore the duty of the speaker to know his/her audience before the commencement of the communication process.

THE RECEIVER:  The Receiver is the person who hears the message of the Speaker. The receiver is said to have received the message when he understands the content of the message or information.

It is an interesting thing to note that communication goes on 24 hours of the day. As a matter of fact, the world exists on communication. Only the dead do not communicate.

Communication goes on everywhere. There is Verbal and Non-Verbal communication.

VERBAL COMMUNICATION: Verbal communication involves the use of words of mouth to pass across a message or information. These words sometime may be put on papers. The speaker uses the language understood by the Receiver to transmit his message.

Transmission:  Transmission takes place when the message reaches the ears of the Receiver. Many messages were transmitted without the message bringing the desired goal i.e. understanding. It is important for us to know the ears of the Receiver. Communication takes place only when the message passes through the ears and reaches the mind and the understanding is achieved. (Ps. 119: 130). “The entrance of thy word giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple”. There cannot be an understanding of the WORD without the word entering into the heart of the hearer.

Acceptance:  Acceptance takes place when the desired change i.e. obedience, is effected in live of the Receiver. There should always be a goal in the heart of the communicator, and that is to effect understanding that will change in the opinion or attitude of the Receiver.

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION:  Non-verbal communication involves passing a message or information across by signs or actions. When a vehicle trafficates, the message is: the vehicle is turning at the direction of the trafficator. A man who sleeps under the message of a preacher is saying the preacher is not communicating.

MEDIUM OF COMMUNICATION:  Medium of communication is the route through which the message is sent this could be by mail, road, telephone, television, radio etc. the choice of the medium of communication depends on the speaker and receiver. It will be wrong for a man who wants to pass information to a friend to go on Television to do it. Medium of communication also involves the use of language. The communicator has to identify his audience and know which language is best used, i.e. register.

It is better for a communicator to master the language of his audience, otherwise he will not communicate effectively. Knowing one’s audience helps in choosing the right register.

REGISTER:  Registered is the vocabulary or grammar used in particular circumstances contents, e.g. legal, commercial, theological, and so on. A communicator who is called to addressed medical personnel will not be communicating effectively if he does not used the medical vocabulary. This is why it is very important for the communicator to first know his audience before coming to address them. Jesus changes his register from person to person. He used water which was relevant to the Samaritan woman to open a discussion with her. He used fish to describe what Peter, a fisherman, will do if he follows Him: “I will make you fishers of men.”

A good communicator must be able to identify the need of his audience otherwise he will misfire. This implies that the subject or content of message must be relevant to them. Else, the message will turn out to be ordinary noise.

PREPARATION OF A MESSAGE

1.       The first step in message preparation is to personally understand the message. In a situation where the message is not understood by the communicator, he will just discover that his thoughts are uncoordinated.

2.       The introduction of the message must be striking. First impressions are usually lasting and not easy to change. When the first sentences of a message strikes the Receiver’s interest, the speaker gains an audience and a better hearing. An introduction is interesting when it goes straight to a point of interest to the receiver, and when the idea is expressed in an original manner.

3.       The introduction should be clear, uniform, brief, modest specific and unapologetic.

4.       An appropriate passage of scripture must be selected either as led by the Holy Spirit or because it is the obvious text to meet a known need of the people.

5.       Write on paper every thought which occurs to the mind regardless of order of relevance. This should include explanations, proofs, illustrations or applications.

6.       Rearrange these thoughts in a logical form and build it towards a climax which is the sharp arrow end of the message.

7.       Build a very compelling conclusion which brings the Receiver to a point of decision. The introduction and the conclusion of a message are small parts, but they are extremely vital to the success of the message.

NOISE IN COMMUNICATION:  Noise is anything which interferes with communication and inhibits understanding. There are two types of noise: Mechanical and Semantic noise.

MECHANICAL NOISE:  Mechanical noise is that interference that comes either from a moving object, a working machinery, people discussing close to you, cry of a baby, distracting thoughts, and unnecessary shouts during the message and so on.

SEMANTIC NOISE:   Semantic noise involves lack of understanding as a result of inappropriate or unfamiliar words used in the discharge of a message. Some people use some unfamiliar words to impress their audience, but in reality, they may end up confusing their Receivers. For example, a man who wants to preach to a Muslim friend only to open his message by saying: I want to share with you the gospel of the Son of God; automatically, the phrase, “Son of God” will turn the Muslim brother off. Another example is a man who is asked to introduce a speaker who began to speak to the audience, just to impress them that he too could preach, when he was not asked to do so will make the people to switch off before the message.

So noise can come from the message, from the world around and from the communicator. The best we can do is to anticipate it where possible and do what we can to prevent it from disrupting our communication.

HUMAN FILTER:       In every Receiver or Hearer there is a filter. This is what is used to process every information that is coming to the mind of a hearer. This filter is what determines whether a message should be accepted or not. It is important at this point to analyse how human beings process information i.e. how human beings hear messages.

          Each of us has a filter through which all in-coming communication passes. Water filter screens out impurities and other foreign agents and allow only desired contents through. When a message comes to a man it goes straight into the filter which contains the world view and the rest. The world view is the basic values and beliefs about life. We view everything first from this screen. The next port of call is our learning and experiences. These learning and experience are what we personally believe to be true or false e.g. there is God, the earth is round and so on. Another stage in humans filter is our feelings about these beliefs. These feelings are called “attitudes”. The last stage is what makes us unique; and that is what is called our personality, which is the total of what a person is physically, mentally, socially and spiritually. (LK. 2:52).

HUMAN FILTER

                                     

Communication

World View

 

Learning and Experience

 

Beliefs and Attitudes

 

Personality

HOW FILTER WORKS: If a message says “Jesus is not the Son of God”. If you are well grounded Christian, your filter will not let this message pass through. Your response to such message will be at variance to the expectation of the Speaker. One may react by closing the filter altogether or refuse to listen. One may listen and misunderstand the message, or fail to change even if the message is understood.

In other words, the way a Christian will react to the message above is the way a Muslim will react to any message that runs contrary to his beliefs. Therefore, many times, there is a difference between what the communicator tries to get across to the hearer and what the hearer actually understood. As a result of this, it is important for the communicator to try and understood what is in the other person’s filter and therefore change his communication strategy following the example of Jesus so that our message could have the desired effect.

Having discovered the problem of “noise” in the message, and how to handle it, then the communicator sits down to arrange his thoughts in such a way that there will be a flow, otherwise he will confuse his hearers. For example, if water is to be discussed, then one can begin out by considering sources of water, components of water, important water, abuse of water and its dangers, preservation etc. the flow usually takes the Receiver through some vital information about the subject.

COMMUNICATION BREAK DOWN OCCURS WHEN:

1.                Ability to engage in a meaningful dialogue is lost, weakened, or damage.

2.                When people shout on each other and refused to listen.

3.                When the intension are misinterpreted.

4.                When people lie against each other.

5.                When non-verbal communication create stress overload.

6.                When fear brings torment and love is chilled.

 COMMUNICATION BARRIER OCCURS WHEN:

1.                There is poor image of the other person.

2.                There is cultural differences.

3.                When there is conflict of interest – (I Cor. 3.)

4.                When there is Hidden Agenda

5.                W hen there is power struggles.

6.                When there is too little application of Biblical truth in our lives.

7.                When there is Nurtured Prejudice (make someone have unfair idea about something) (Etanu).

8.                When there is illogical reasoning (Rironu Odi)

9.                When ignored feed back.

10.           When there is suspicious attitude.

11.           When there is conflict of roles.

12.           When there is inflexible attitude.

THE LISTENER

·                   Listener is an active participant in communication

·                   The Listener does not only receive the message

·                   He also shapes and molds the message according to his/her view of the world.

WHAT THE LISTENER DOES TO THE MESSAGE ABOUT JESUS

1.                He is shaping the message – for good or bad.

2.                He is understanding the message, one way or the other,

3.                He is acting against or for the message on the basis of his understanding.

                                     

THINGS TO AVOID IN COMMUNICATIONS

1.                 Unnecessary Shouts: Many Communicators or preachers these days feel that the power of the message is in shouting. Shouts do not have anything to do with the anointing. The voice of the Speaker may rise in crescendo during a message, but that does not mean that he must shout throughout. Many times, shouts are emotional and not inspirational. Never start a message with a shout or on a high tempo because you may not be able to maintain the tempo throughout the message.

2.                 Unnecessary Movements: Movement could not be totally avoided especially when communicating verbally. But when it becomes too frequent it leads to noise.

3.                 Repetition of Words:  Words like “Praise the Lord”, “Halleluyah”, “Amen” could be used wisely but not as fillers when one is short of words. When you do not know what to say again please keep quiet and quit the stage! “Halleluyah” is a word of praise and should not be used loosely.

4.                 Irrelevant/Unnecessary Digression: Sometimes a communicator may have to digress a bit from what he has been discussing. But many times these digressions could lead to distraction. A man who is asked to speak on water, and because fire interest him more than water ended up in speaking more about fire; is not a good communicator. This is why a communicator must be a good listener. When asked to speak on faith don’t start to speak on prayer, they are not the same.

5.                 Display of Irrelevant Knowledge: It has been found over the years that people love to emphasise their past successes or exploits. A man may preach a message somewhere and the message may bless the people, the next thing that will happen when next the preacher has opportunity to preach; now on a different subject, is that he will make sure that previous message is preached half-way in the new one. This is manifestation of pride and disregard to decency. It is alright to refer to previous message(s), if the reference is relevant, but make sure you come back as quickly as possible to the original subject.

6.                 Indiscipline in the use of time: Timing is part of communication. Make sure you are as brief as possible, because the tendency is high that people may loose interest in the message. The percentage of your excess in the use of time should be pegged between 10 to 20. For example, if you are to use 15 minutes and you ended up using 30 minutes; it means you are indiscipline in the use of time, which is bad communication.

7.                 Personal Problem: When you are communicating, especially in the Church, please avoid personal problems or grievances with anybody in the congregation. Please address the people’s problem. Pastor Paul Jinadu in one of is write ups says: “A man lacking experience would probably go to the pulpit and deal with his own problem rather the problem of the people who are sitting in the pews listening to him”.

8.                 Settling Conflicts: Many ministers have come on the pulpit with a specially prepared message to attack somebody in the congregation. This is no communication. If you have problem with anybody, the pulpit is not the place to settle it. It will only lower your integrity in future, because the congregation will eventually have the impression that all your messages are not from God. If anybody does anything wrong let such person be queried at an appropriate forum. Many Churches have lost good growth as a result of this cankerworm. And many ministers have lost their respect as a result of this ignorance.

In conclusion, “For we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things. And if any one does not offend in speech-never says the wrong things – he is a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature…. Even so the tongue is a little member, and it can boast of great things. See how much wood or how great a forest a tiny spark can set ablaze! And tongue (is) a fire. (The tongue is a) world of wickedness set among our members, contaminating and depraving the whole body and setting on fire the wheel of birth-cycle of man’s nature-being itself ignited by hell (Gehena).” – James 3:2-6 (AMP). I pray the LORD will make you a perfect communicator in Jesus Name.

Wishing you fruitful communication.