| Fundamentals of Effective Communication in the Workplace | Christopher Macinkowicz | | | June 1, 2013 |

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Professor Corey Rosso
BUS 100-Intro to Business

Effective communication is necessary for any business to function properly. Without it, a business could fail. Now you may be asking yourself, what is effective communication? Simply put, effective communication is relaying information in a way that your audience can understand and making sure your message was received correctly. This is much easier said than done. But by following a few rules and practicing, anyone can become an effective communicator.
Famed American writer and self-improvement guru Dale Carnegie once said: “When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.” Even though this seems like it should be common sense, many people forget this simple lesson. People are emotional creatures and must be treated as such otherwise your message could be lost. For example, in the Army, it is not uncommon for a sergeant to lose his cool and start using some very colorful language and resort to name calling. When this happens many people will shut down, become flustered, and not receive directions effectively. This obviously is not good communication, and should be avoided in the workplace. If a boss were to belittle his employees, pretty soon he would not have any employees left to belittle.
Another rule of effective communication is to listen to your audience. Communication is a two way street and in order to make sure your message has been received, you must listen to your audience and receive their feedback. Everybody is capable of a good idea and sometimes when putting out a message, the response is more important that the original message. This is especially true in the Army. I could give numerous examples of this but one example really sticks out in my mind. Once, while deployed to Iraq, a group of soldiers were being briefed on their upcoming mission. I was one of those soldiers. We had a lieutenant who thought he knew what he was doing but in all reality, he was quite inexperienced. This lieutenant was explaining the mission objectives and laying out a course of action. One of the more senior sergeants interrupted the lieutenant and put forth his feelings that the lieutenant was giving the wrong mission brief. The lieutenant checked with his superiors and discovered that he was indeed giving the wrong briefing and quickly changed his course of action. Had he not listened to his sergeant, we would have been put on a suicide mission, for the route that he had chosen was a route that was not to be used because of intense enemy action. In this instance, by listening to his audience, the young lieutenant may have saved many lives that day. Now, this of course is an extreme example of how listening to your audience will help you, but the point is the same, you must listen to your audience and accept their feedback in order to be an effective communicator.
One of the most difficult things to do when it comes to communicating effectively is to speak clearly and confidently. If one is not confident in their message, the audience will most likely not take him seriously, therefore the message could be lost. For example, if you are being interviewed for a new position in a company, you must be confident. Speaking clearly can help portray confidence, because nobody is inspired by mumbling. If you are asked a question, answer confidently for you will still impress the person conducting the interview even if you don’t know the answer. Another part of confidence is honesty. Nobody knows everything, and everybody knows it. If a person does not know the answer, the best thing they can do is admit it. For example, when a soldier is trying to get promoted, he must stand before an oral board and answer questions about his job. He is