Effective Communication - Essay Example

Effective communication Introduction Nowadays drama has come to be appreciated and understood in the development of communication skills. This is because drama is one of such forms of communication that goes beyond the conventional language competence skills and involves use of body posture, gesture, some prosodic features and intonation. However, despite its relevance having been understood, it still doesn’t form as much a part of modern curriculum, books, teacher training or supplementary readings as it should have been. Drama is considered to be an active approach in as far as learning is concerned in which both participants and the audience try to identify with the roles being either enacted or watched. Evidently, any such attempt at developing language skills is anything but mere language. Language, for an understanding by the other group or an audience at which the language is directed needs knowledge of a similar language to interpret what is being communicated. Drama, on the other hand, does not because actions are universal and do not need a specific language to be well versed in. Contexts of a drama, which are mostly expressional in the form of gestures, facial expressions, and movements, tend to be shared instantaneously they form a part of everybody’s external environment. Consequently, drama tends to be ‘text performed’ and ‘spoken word enacted’. It transcends language. Body, Voice, and Group work/composition Drama only is not the one played on stage; it can also be one played by a teacher in a classroom to either gain attentions from students or enhance their performance skills by power elements of body movements and voice modulation acting is potent communication tools. Good teachers know the trick of holding the attention of their students together. Recently, there has been a thrust on such method of teaching in order to raise academic excellence in schools and colleges. Proper use of body, relevant voice modulation and emphasis and related group work or compositions make some teacher’s classrooms stand out on account of this intangible ‘presence’ which are interpreted differently by different people – luck, training, talent, or experience! Dramatic techniques have a profound impact on those who are the intended recipients of the same, and are mainly accomplished by employing body language, voice, improvisation, and role-playing (Hanley). Body language Body language, of which even be an exaggerating movements can be a part, captures someone’s attention and holds it for long. A simple move in using body language could be walking a step or two towards someone who is talking. This, it is said, boosts self esteem of the talker since he feels interest is being shown is his speech and thus some level of acceptance. Smiles, nods, regular eye contact with positive facial expression conveys enthusiasm; walking around a group of people during a discussion conveys involvement. All this falls in the category of nonverbal communication which is considered to be having a greater degree of impact and acceptance than verbal communication. This type of communication is generally taken as an ‘honest’ one than the other form, which is verbal communication. Students in a classroom are likely to trust a teacher with positive body language more than the teacher who hasn’t any or has a distracting one, like poor eye contact, aggressive posture and lack of involvement. While talking of the body movements the authority that probably holds the top most position would be (Austrian-) Hungarian Rudolf von Laban (1879-1958). Laban’s system of analyzing human movements is now known as Labonation, which makes it possible to record each and every human movement. Laban has described physical and structural attributes of body movements with regard to the parts moving, parts moving in a connected manner, parts moving on account of external influences, and relevance of moving parts to the whole body organization. Over the years Laban's theories have been further analyzed, interpreted and developed and now they are not only confined to developing communication skills but also being applied to diverse fields as fitness, rehabilitation, dance and somatic techniques. The body movements further fall into various subcategories like movements from specific bodies, several bodies interconnected to each other, body parts moving and complementing ach other sequentially, and patterns of movements, their organization and connectivity. Effort is central to body movements and also the intention underneath the effort very important to establish the relevance of the act. The ‘effort’ in order to bring into force the ‘movement’ could be similar but the intention could be different. For example, the extension of an arm would nearly identical in both offering little help to child to hold a hand and picking up a glass full of milk. But in either case even though movements are similar, they still vary in strength, control, and the timing. Each effort has two polarities and four subcategories, like Weight: Strong / Light; Space: Direct / Indirect; Flow: Bound / Free, and Time: Sudden (or Quick) / Sustained. Space, weight, and time are effort action. Acting schools use effort frequently to communicate an instantaneous shift from one emotion to another. One can make his own discovery on examples of body movements to communicate emotions. Two examples could be as below: i) As a man entered the dark room he heard a squeaking sound which made him tingle momentarily. ii) The music was vigorous and hither and thither they all jerked their bodies and they moved as if their feet asked them to do so all over the floor leaving a trail of unusual patterns on the floor. As mentioned above, weight, time, space, and flow elements are important components of an effort but not all of them are significant at any given movement. The ‘shadings’ they produce depend on the combination in which they acted. Furthermore they depend on which part of the body was moved and how much and for what reasons. Hands, legs, arms, trunk, pelvis, feet etc – all move through effort, and all need an action for implementing the intended movement – and in human being when they move they move with an emotional attribute to communicate the underlying characteristic element. It is very noteworthy here that animals' movement are generally triggered by external stimuli, but in human beings it is human qualities that charge these movements in order to communicate his inner being. Human beings have not to only master these functions but also know what they stand for. Weight, time, space, and flow are further dependent on certain attitudes. For example, the attitude toward weight could either be relaxed or forceful; towards space, pliant or lineal; toward time, prolonged or shortening; and towards flow, liberating or withholding. When there is an external stimulus, the quick actions mainly used are a flexible and strong slash, a direct and strong thrust, a direct and light dab, and a flexible and light flick. Basic actions of float, glide, wring, press, flick, dab, slash and thrust subsequently lead to their derivatives like stroke, stir, strew, smudge, smear, smooth, stretch, pluck, pull, squeeze, cut, crush, jerk, flap, flip, shake, tap, pat, whip, throw, beat, poke, punch and shove (Laban, 1975). Use of voice Use of use in a proper manner and relevant context is an important feature of developing communication skills. A good teacher uses voice nicely in a classroom, a politician uses voices correctly to attract public support and a social activist different vocal pitch to bring people’s attention to an issue of social relevance, A teacher can use distinctive accents for different characters in a story being narrated, and as per the need, even lower or raise voice in order to bring about an atmosphere of effective communication in the classroom. Monotonous and low voice doesn’t attract attention; voice modulated in accordance with the content and context does. Only words do not communicate well, it is voice behind the words that makes the difference. Voice, it is opined, help make people judgments about what is being said. Research has revealed that voice makes around 38% impression of what is being said in face-to-face communication; however, the impression shoots up to 85% when the communication is distant, like over phone. This is because in the latter instance, there are no visual cues available. For developing communication skills, a number of components are needed, like having an appropriate expression, sound as if one is very enthusiastic and alter tone whenever needed (like sound sympathetic when talking about a sad subject, having right temp while speaking (so that understanding becomes easy and clear) (Kempe & Holroyd, 2004), giving proper pauses so as to give the other side time to assimilate and interrupt if needed, doing away with fillers like "um," "uh," "you know and "OK", speaking in a non-nonsense manner (like being non-annoying and non-assertive, speaking softly (no screaming, no shouting), suing proper diction (like use going instead on gonna), controlling breathing in an excited or a nervous state, keeping hands away and use minimal hand gestures while speaking, and practicing what is intended to be spoken. In all for making voice an effective tool of communication, it is important to enhance its quality and selection of words (Budlong, Sorjourner, 2005). In this regard Cicely Frances Berry CBE (born May 17, 1926) has done pioneering work. According to her all of us are drawn to voice which has a propensity to vibrate and carries a strange resonance to it. She adds that it all about ‘making word active and make people “feel the language” one reason why singers need to practice regularly to control their breathing and range of voice. Voice, as a result of this, gives one an image of his or her own – probably why that it has led Berry remark on Shakespeare a this: “What is so exciting about Shakespeare is that when a character finds an image, it is always to do with where that character is living at that moment” (Berry, Linklater, & Rodenburg,1997). On resonance that Berry mentions, Kristin Linklater (born April 22, 1936), who is a Scottish dialect and vocal coach, theatre director, acting teacher, actor, and author, has said that resonance or resonation can be brought about by two types. "The first is used to shape or colour the voice generated at the larynx regardless of the speech sound intended and the second is that which modifies the larynx-generated sound for a specific speech sound. While the former voice is very much part of a speaker, the latter is dependent on what the speaker want to communicate -- the moment in-between the two is known as articulation. Articulation is what learned teachers use in classroom for developing effective communication skills in students (Linkater, 1976). Group work/composition Group dynamics or group work is the resultant force of multiple interaction of members in a group that tends to influence behaviour of both the group as a whole and individuals within the same (Toseland & Rivas, 2008) If the group dynamics is positive, the outcomes can be wonderful. The 21st century’s greatest engineering feats of the world have been possible through group work only. It could be the tallest French bridge which has more height than the Eiffel tower, or the dam in China that is capable of holding back 1.4 trillion cubic feet of water. Both of these are results of group dynamics showing ingenuity and understanding of the team who have worked them up. On the other hand, lack of attention on part of the group members can spell doom on any ambitious project – this is primarily because of a lack of commitment and communication. Wrong group or groups with wrong members can unleash destruction; 1920s and 1930s Hitler movement is one example, and Jonestown’ Ku Klux Klan religious cult another. Oddey (1984) is of the opinion that, for example, in theatre (which is again a group activity), members must respect each other’s thoughts, should be able to build and develop honesty and integrity, and each member must be open to “revealing the self”. Theatre comes from within, hence the importance of self. According to Oddey when the self merges in the group, members become one with it and communicate better. Conclusion Drama needs to be understood in order to realize the role that it plays in the development of communication skills. Even though drama as a tool of communication has been part of cultures since time immemorial, yet it doesn’t find as much place in the modern educational curriculum as it should have been. That, however, does not discount the fact it does hold an important place in the development of communication skills when teachers take classes. Three essential components of drama viz. body movement, voice and group dynamism reveal a storehouse of knowledge on human action and associated emotions when looked through the prism of experts in the field like Laban, Linklater and Oddey. References Berry, C. Linklater, K. and Rodenburg, P. 1997. “Shakespeare, Feminism, and Voice: Responses to Sarah Werner. New Theatre Quarterly XIII.49 (1997): 48-52. Budlong, S. and Rasa, S. Sorjourner. 2005. Berry, Cicely, documentary. Where Words Prevail. Media, L.L.C., Hanley, J. 2011. Using drama skills in the classroom. [Online]. Available at: http://www.schoolzone.co.uk/resources/articles/GoodPractice/classroom/Drama_skills.asp. [Accessed December 17, 2011] Kempe, A & Holroyd, J. 2004. Speaking, Listening and Drama, London: David Fulton Laban, R. 1975. Modern Educational Dance. Macdonald & Evans. Lawrence, F.C. Laban, R. 1975. Effort. Macdonald & Evans. Linklater, K. 1976. Freeing the natural voice; How the voice works and why the voice does not work, Ch. 1& 2, pp. 6-16. pp 6-16. New York : Drama Book Specialists, Oddey, A. 1984. Devising theatre: a practical and theoretical handbook, Ch. 2, pp. 24-41, pp 24-41. Routledge, Toseland, R.W. and Rivas, R.F. 2005. An introduction to group work practice. pp 63-91, Allyn & Bacon Read More