Week 2: Why We Communicate?

Communication is a tool with which we exercise our influence on others, bring out changes in our and others’ attitudes, motivate the people around us and establish and maintain relationships with them. Communication makes a major part of our active life and is a social activity. This social activity is pursued verbally through speech, reading and writing or non-verbally through body language.Communication skill is not language specific. It is not as though speakers of a particular language have refined communication skills whereas; the speakers of some other language have unrefined communication skills. But communication skill is related to the culture of the group to which the individual belongs. All messages that we send or receive are processed by a mental-filter. This mental-filter or the mindset is forged by our family, friends, neighbourhood, the school and society. Human, communication is more complex, varied and has several objectives, it is complex because of the use of language, a repertoire (Store-house) of previously accepted and agreed oral and written codes. It is varied because it ranges from simple gestures or facial expressions to the most advanced e-mail technologies.

Communication is important to us in order to understand each and everyone of us. We communicate to persuade that we want someone to do something and this desire of ours is communicated. We communicate in order to give or provide information. We communicate to seek information. And we communicate to express our emotions like courage or fear, joy or sorrow, satisfaction or disappointment with appropriate gestures and words.