Communication and Communication Styles

Communication and communication styles, verbal, non-verbal and written, are complex processes and has been described as being “circular and continuous, without end or beginning” De Vito (2007). We do both, at the same time, speaking and listening, questioning and responding in an interaction between us and others. It includes, interpersonal communication (sharing thoughts and ideas, our feelings and emotions, understanding others and being understood), self-awareness (knowing oneself), emotional intelligence (knowledge of self and others) and empathy (being aware of other people’s feelings, needs and issues). It is also, learning about each other, building rapport, breaking down communication barriers, and is essential, to building relationships throughout our lives with other people. It is the building blocks of interaction amongst human beings to fulfil our need to relate to others and the need to improve and develop our EI (Emotional Intelligence). One of the elements of emotional intelligence which is our personal power (the way we manage and control ourselves and the influence we have on others). It is something we practice naturally, on a daily basis and yet communication can still fail.
We start practicing our listening skills as babies, and from there on, our parents teach us our first words and we listened to what was being said to us. As we grow and get older, we are more understanding and aware of ourselves, other people and our environment. Our need for interaction with others somehow gets more involved and more complicated. We now have partners, colleagues, bosses and friends with a whole array of potential barriers(attitudes, beliefs, values, etc.) to our communications, be it verbal and non-verbal, letters, e-mails, text messages (written communication),mobile phones (electronic channels), newspapers and magazines (media channels) to name a few. Feelings, emotions, ethics and standards, relating to those in our lives, individually, all of which are