Communication Etiquette: Views and Opinions

The essence

Dale Carnegie’s “How to win friends and influence people” speaks about how to be a good conversationalist in Chapter four. “Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves”.  Unfortunately, there are very less percentage of people who listen to others and practically, this is the biggest advantage to make people to give more understanding about oneself, whereas listening requires excessive flow of patience and energy.  Talking in terms of interests of others also adds up to one’s esteem and personality. However good communication always ends up in smile and not by way of heated arguments or frown looks.

A discussion based topic must have a beginning and a conclusion. Practice of discussion norms of etiquette however are very important as the participants belong to different educational and cultural backgrounds,  variant jobs and responsibilities of different working cadres.  Adhering to organizational and behavioral principles and proper communication skills only leads to a healthy discussion and conclusions are fruitful. Some of the examples of expressing views and opinions in discussion would be :

1. Wait patiently for one’s turn to speak without interrupting others.
2. Express vivid, concise and concept presentation and explain benefits.
3. Use excellent English language using appropriate and admirable words which can work out to even humor bringing a pleasant atmosphere in discussion.
4. Carry a smile how much ever heat is, with the fact that practically, teamwork requires a collective effort and finding solutions to the problem is the main criteria.
5. Motives, objectives and norms should be part of  discussion and should never be slashed which would work out to a healthy discussion.
6. At times, when encountered with bad apples or hard nuts, it is important to stay quiet and calm and wait for one’s turn to give out opinions.
7. It is good to remember that the focus is on the topic of discussion and it is unimportant who is expressing good and bad. The outcome of discussion must be result-oriented and towards progressive solutions.
8. Never be shaken away by criticism. Instead, make the other person feel important which would work out towards what is truly important in the discussion.
9. Prepare, rehearse and train oneself as to how to begin a conversation, time to be taken, some of the dos and don’ts, would further give points to the participant whose recommendations would be considered.
10. Reading books of Dale Carnegie is a must for fresh university graduates or freshly recruited employees to understand what are the essentials of influencing people which are immaculately written and explained by Dale Carnegie in “Stop worrying and start living”.

Conclusion

It is important to remember that “there can only be one you” in this world and “no one can do anything without your permission”  which means neither be a part of “Tom & Jerry” nor “Cat & Kitten” whereas stay as one’s profession and personality demands and that is sufficient to gain recognition amidst of even thousands.  One should never  “howl among wolves”  instead, project oneself with honest and dutiful motives and stay motivated at all times in working environment .

References

1. Communicating Change—The Essentials Accessed 10 September 2007
2. Discussion skills for Tutorials & Seminars Accessed 10 September 2007 http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/disc.html.