Clarity is the key for effective communication
We were discussing six C's of communication, first two being Correctness and Conciseness. Next two elements are “Clarity” and “Completeness'.
Give full information including your intentions, purpose of writing (or talking). Keep in mind the I.Q. of the opposite person.
A sentence from an eighth class science book: “The epidermis, the dermis, and subcutaneous layer are three layers of which, a layer of dead skin cells makes up the epidermis that forms the body's shield against the world” could have been written with more clarity as: “The skin consists of three layers: the epidermis, the dermis and the subcutaneous. The epidermis layer is formed by dead skin cells and acts as a protective shield between body and the outer world”.
Your communication needs to be articulate, effective and above all, “clear”. While narrating Ramayana, if you say, “Rama, Lakshmana and his wife Sita went to forest” the listener gets confused as to whose wife is Sita. The purpose of communication is to let others know your intent and not your authenticity over knowledge.
But sometimes you should add passion to your talk. Instead of speaking with a submissive voice, “Is it wrong to kill a terrorist?” if you expressively yell, “Is it wrong to kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong?” audience would applaud.
Conversational style
Expressive: Communication should be effective and clear
Flow from one sentence to the next through smooth transition is “coherence”. Developing own way of writing that has a “conversational” tone is the best. Read loud what you wrote and correct those words and sentences which sound stiff and tongue-tied.
Thinking in colloquial language and translating it into English is a problem for many students.
“I saw a person yesterday wearing Red shirt” would be “Yesterday I red shirt had man saw” in Telugu. Using adjectives at wrong places also sounds funny.
Don't you find something odd when your friend says, “The girl smiled at me with beautiful hair”?
Answer to the previous week's riddle: There are many assumptions but here is the best.
Let us presume 100 couples, first child male-female ratio being 50:50. Parents of male child would continue with second pregnancy and in all probability the next baby would be a girl. Thus the female would be 100 and male 50, shattering the expectations of the king. You may work out on other assumptions.
Yandamoori Veerendranath
Yandamoori@hotmail.com
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