MD 68 ff
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Communication occupies a significant part of human life and it basically defines social, human interactions. In this case, the audience is introduced to Tom, a Professor of Communication, who is not only a chair of a Media Department, but is also a Principles of persuasion lecturer. He shares nuggets of wisdom just from his life’s story. On this note, this reflective essay details matters surrounding difficult communication in various aspects of Tom’s life that is applicable in the audience’s lives too, directly and indirectly.
The guest majorly touches on difficult communication in this day and age, especially the disastrous aspect of it. Humans today have embraced the social media kind of communication. This has not only affected the formal aspect of things, as picked out from the conversation, but has also affected the simplest kind of communication taking place between/among human beings. With a selfish approach to how people listen and converse today, society would greatly benefit from formal training in schools as well as informal training. This is a task that ought to weigh heavily on parents, teachers and other guardians within the home environment and the school environment. The approach may be as simple as recognizing the thoughts and deeds of the other person, and out rightly responding to them so that people can be heard and hopefully be more sober-minded about interactions with others.
Communication, as Tom has mentioned, not only applies to the real world directly, but also applies to the Communication major taught in school. Communication is taught in various forms and in all majors in one way or the other. Children as well as students will take after what they see in their environments. Theoretical and practical approaches best help convert a theory to an applicable bit which would encourage a person to apply critical thinking before undertaking any action or before engaging in communication in whichever form. The theoretical and practical aspects ought to be taught, and taught well for that matter. Encouraging people within and without school to practice their speaking and writing, especially as major forms of communication is a great place to start.
Unfortunately, this does not come naturally. An important aspect from the podcast is the importance of having people who are rich in knowledge and experience to impart such training. Given that communication is such an important aspect of human interaction, it is especially important to ensure that persuasion, especially in the many cases that apply difficult communication is vigorously taught. Human beings learn by listening and training or practicing often, thus training on how to undertake difficult communication is not exempted. On top of this, training on giving reasons when people encounter those moments of difficult communication is an important aspect that ensures that there is mutual communication and this can be done through projects that call for in-person interactions (application) for effectiveness. The best way to learn is to face the difficulties head on.
To summarize, difficult communication is a present part of our lives. The better trained and ready society is for such aspects of their lives, the better it is for difficult situations to be resolved and the better it is for human interactions improve. Clarity and understanding are better achieved, with better formal and informal communication during interactions being realized as the Communication Professor encourages.
