During my recent fieldwork, carried out in secondary schools as an extracurricular activity, I got to experience my communication skills in different ways: from the use of the right words, gestures, pauses in speeches, and the “feelings,” or I would better say empathy, of the message to be communicated.
Thanks to what I learned in the first training with ProfessionalED, I was able to move beyond the irrational belief that I could not speak in public and fortify myself that, in fact, it is a skill that wears well on me and somehow belongs to me. In my case, I have matured that it is just a matter of putting it into practice.
In fact, having done the first workshop, my personal confidence was such that I was looking forward to the remaining ones.
But, how to clearly communicate and convey a given message?
Among the very first things I experienced in knowing how to and wanting to properly communicate a message was undoubtedly the clarity of the content of the message and the order in the processing of sentences and content.
And, in addition, the conviction of what we are talking about.
I think, of all the skills, that of active communication comes fundamentally from active listening and, I would say, active speaking as well. What do I mean by saying “active speaking” is: the awareness of what we are talking about (that is not just saying words without any sense). It is the awareness about the relationship between the narrated objects and the linguistic structures used for their communication.
A skill, this one, that one either has or does not have. But it can be worked on.
What did I look for during the communication, also to make sure that the message came through clearly and accurately?
The direct and active confrontation with the pupils, the desire to listen to them and interact with them, their expressions during the discussion (also so as not to let the activity remain an end in itself and not have resulted in any emotion or consideration).
And, among other things, the confirmation that the message I wanted to communicate came through correctly, according to what were my expectations of my interlocutors’ understanding of it by asking questions.
Finally, I would like to make a point: I have personally matured that if one is strong in that given message that we want to communicate, if we take ownership of it and make it our own, we will find the best ways in order to have it received in the way we want it.
In this we are helped by:
- the use of an appropriate language register for a given category of people;
- clarity;
- gestures;
- expressions;
- feelings.
