Effective Communication: what is it?

Effective communication consists of information that is well shared. It could be verbal, non-verbal, written, etc. One considers emotions, the ability to speak, engaged listening, etc.

What makes effective communication tricky?

Semantic barriers. The misunderstanding between the sender and the receiver. They are due to the different meanings they give to words. People use symbols or words that can mean more than one thing. Or, also, a technical jargon.
Organizational barriers. Obstacles in the flow of information. For example: among parents and children, teachers and students. And also employers and employees, etc.
Emotional barriers. Lack of attention and premature evaluation. But also poor retention and distrust. Firstly, people are interested in other things and do not listen with attention. Secondly, they jump to conclusions without considering all the information. Thirdly, the brain retains just the information that could be helpful in the future and nothing more. The sender and receiver have to trust each other. If not, the communication will be meaningless.

And there are also personal communication barriers…

Personal barriers. Life experiences, attitudes, emotions, and behaviours. These lead to a lack of listening, attention, knowledge, and vocabulary. The receiver listens with his ears but not with his mind. He hears only what he wants to. The sender and receiver do not have the same knowledge of a specific topic. The sender uses words that are difficult to understand.

We should also mention barriers related to disability. For example, how to make a visual message accessible to the visually impaired? And how to make an oral message accessible to the hard of hearing? These questions need to be answered to be inclusive.

How do we achieve accessible effective communication?

Over the years, people have studied the accessibility of communication. Please take a look at some helpful techniques:

Accessible subtitles. They allow the hard of hearing to follow communication. Professionals use them in soap-operas, videos, films, and conferences. There are two main forms of subtitling: live and non-live. For live, firstly, one repeats what the speaker is saying using a microphone. Then, the other corrects the spelling mistakes. In a conference, for example, the subtitles will show up out of sync with the person talking. For non-live, a professional translator works with the script. He adjusts the words to a line or two. He also respects the maximum number of characters per line and the minimum appearance time. Both the words and emotions are conveyed within the subtitles. Also, sign language helps to access effective communication.
Audio description: a communication expert in theatres, cinemas or museums provides or records an oral description. For example, for the visually impaired during a play. They will usually wear an earpiece to hear the description of the characters’ movements and setting, in addition to what the actors are saying on the stage. Frequently, the theatre itself can organize a guided tour before the play, in order to help them better understand the setting. This allows people to touch the setting, for example, or the costumes.
Dubbing: last but not least, this technique allows people to understand a message in a different language by replacing the dialogue you hear in one language with the same dialogue in another language.

How LingoStar can help you with effective communication

We at LingoStar know how important effective communication is. It’s not only about doing a great job of translation. It’s also about creating a good network of contacts. We do our best to establish good relations with our customers and translators. And also with each team members. As we live in different parts of the world, establishing it is the basis of our company.
Count on us to provide you with the best service. We analyze your requests, ask professionals to complete the translations, proofread them, and send them back to you by the established due date. We are there for you! If you need more information, call us today at 604-629-8420 or send us an email at info@lingo-star.com.