COMMUNICATION

I think that effective communication comes mostly from practice. I know that over the years I have learned at lot from watching other people and though my own failures to communicate effectively. As much as you can read about how to be a good communicator the only way to really become one is though practice. Each person is going to have different strengths and weaknesses which will influence how they best communicate with other people. The following are my preferences when it comes to communicating and what works with my personality.

Top 5 Methods of Communication with an Individual
1.  Especially now that I'm in college, I have realized the value of face to face communication. Though being around people all the time, I have found that it is often the most successful too communicate with them in this way.  It helps avoid miss understandings that can happen over text, email or facebook chat, and when you talk to some one in person you know they receive the information. 

2.Going off of face to face communication, eye contact is supper important. IT SHOWS PEOPLE THAT YOU CARE and that they should care too.         

3. LISTEN! Listening is key. You need to be able to answer their questions, clarify things they don't understand ect. Also, just talking at someone the whole time is not an effective way to community and give information. They will get bored and stop paying attention. 

4. Use good body language. There are two parts to this. First, hand gestures and facial expression help tremendously when talking. A large part of communication is non-verbal communication. Secondly, show you are listening with how you hold yourself. This will show you care and encourage a mutual respect between you and the person you are communicating with. 


5. Repeat things that they are saying to you back to them so that you know you have them right. If your facts are wrong then they can fix them. This works both ways! Ask them to tell you their understanding of what you told them so you can correct any misunderstandings as well. 


Top 5 Methods of Communication with a Group
1. "Repetition is the hallmark of a jesuit education"-- I don't know how many time I heard that in high school, but its true. The best way to get your point across to a group of people is to repeat it as many times as possible. There are always gonna be some people who are not paying attention or who wont remember what ever it is you want them to know. The more times you repeat it the more people are going to remember. 

2. Write stuff down!! As a swimmer, I know from experience that its a million times easier to remember what you are supposed to be doing when it is written down. This way the group can also look at it and be reminded incase they forget or aren't paying attention. This also helps the visual learners A LOT. 

3. Give one instruction at a time or once piece of information at a time. With a lot of people too many instructions at a time creates chaos and improves the likely hood that more people don't know what they are supposed to be doing. 

4. Don't talk when other people are talking or when people aren't listening. These actions by people in the group distract others so that more and more people will not be listening to you when trying to get across important information. 

5. Ask for questions!!! This way, incase your explanation wasn't clear or people missed information it can be clarified.