COMMUNICATION SKILLS – A KEY TO SOFT SKILLS

COMMUNICATION SKILLS – A KEY TO SOFT SKILLS

Adequate communication skills are a prerequisite for a range of other soft skills. Communication is a basic activity of human beings which is undertaken by us every moment apart from the time when we are sleeping. Even now while reading these lines you are indulged in communication. It is so important that we can say that the foundation of our society, family, relationships and organisation is communication. Do you think we should study, learn and be trained in an activity which is so natural and obvious to us. The answer of this question is yes. In support of this answer let’s discuss the story of Robinson Crusoe – a traveller who got trapped in a lonely island for 30 years. There was not a single human being with whom he could talk and when he came back to his country he was not able to speak as he forgot how to speak.
Thus, in order to become masters in soft skills first we have to get expertise in communication skills. Especially in tourism and travel industry where you have to continuously communicate effectively with different type of people viz. tourist, airlines people, hotel staff, guide, visa officer, taxi drivers ,transporters etc.

The best way to understand any concept is to refer to dictionary for its meaning. The English word ‘communication’ is derived from the Latin noun ‘Communis’ and the Latin verb ‘Communicare’ that means ‘to make common, to transmit, or to impart’.
In simple words, communication is the activity in which we share any idea, feeling, opinion and information between two or more persons in a way that both parties have common ground of understanding. Thus in communication three aspects are of utmost importance – transmission of message, listening/receiving of message and common understanding of message among parties involved. The transmission can be done in many manners like by words -spoken or written, by body language or signs. And understanding means that both parties receive same meaning of the desired message in their mind and that can be confirmed with the help of feedback. When understanding is achieved only then communication is complete.
Communication has been defined by many theorists:
W.H.Newman defined, “Communication is an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or emotions by two or more persons.”
Allen Louis defined "Communication is the sum of all the things one person does when he wants to create an understanding in the mind of another it involves a systematic and continuous process.”