Communicative skills: what is it and why are they needed?

Communicative skills - is a person's ability to interact with other people, adequately interpreting the information received, as well as transferring it correctly. These skills are very important in a society when daily it is necessary to interact with many people. Some professions oblige them to pay more attention to them, since in certain types of activity the main method of work is communication: journalism, psychology, pedagogy, sociology, etc. However, professional needs are only a small part of the reasons why communication skills are so important. After all, any person needs to communicate for psychological satisfaction, social realization, and just to survive. Individuals who neglect their working time are unsuccessful, and they find it more difficult to realize themselves.

Communication skills: definition

There is a synonymous term in psychology: communicative competence. This is a set of such human skills that are adequate for a particular social environment and include:

• Knowledge of restrictions and cultural norms in communication;
• Knowledge of traditions and customs;
• Possession of etiquette;
• Demonstration of good breeding;
• Skilful use of communicative means.

They are accumulated along with the social experience of a person, and also with the help of an additional study of psychology and other sciences. Some of the data we get in childhood with education, when we explain the boundaries of decent behavior, as well as through the assimilation of the concepts of "good" and "evil." However, this is not enough, and for the successful establishment of a communication channel, it is necessary to meet certain parameters that the addressee expects from us, and they sometimes require additional efforts. For example, a Japanese who does not know Russian can not fully communicate with Russian-speaking people until he owns their sign-semantic system of information transfer.

Communication skills: Ability

There are a number of abilities that together provide a person with communicative competence.

• Ability to make a social and psychological forecast of the situation of communication. Here, a person tunes in for the upcoming conversation, evaluates how it can be perceived by those to whom he addresses, and accordingly, model several behaviors depending on their response.
• Programming the communication process. Here the person is already trying to translate the conversation into the channel that is necessary to him, which depends on the purpose of the conversation and his personal preferences. Of course, this is done carefully, so as not to injure the personality of the interlocutors, with a degree of immediacy and diplomacy.
• Communication management. A vivid manifestation of this skill can be seen daily on television screens in various TV programs, where the facilitator conducts a dialogue with the guest. Often the presenter wants to get answers to those questions that his interlocutor does not want to talk about, but the professionals of their business in most cases still put the guest in such a communicative situation that he can not but tell about it. Sometimes you can meet enough strong-willed and bright personalities as interlocutors, whom the journalist can not induce to a conversation on an unpleasant topic.

Communication skills: rules

There are several rules that are universal for any type and conditions of communication.

• The message should be understood first of all by the one who intends to voice it.
• Understanding. Interlocutors should always be ready for mutual understanding and try to communicate their positions in the most understandable way.
• Specificity. Sounded phrases should be precise and do not imply several meanings.
• Nonverbal signs. Also, one should pay much attention to their own facial expressions, gestures and intonation, which must correspond to the information reported.

Thus, observing these simple rules, communication skills will be improved, and communication will be a way to remove psychological barriers between people.