Engl031 - Lessons 2-3.pdf

Be specific when offering and receiving information. Oftentimes our meaning gets lost, twisted, or misunderstood because we haven’t been specific in our communication or we haven’t asked clarifying questions. The conversations demonstrate the value of being specific in communication. To become a m...

Be specific when offering and receiving information. Oftentimes our meaning gets lost, twisted, or misunderstood because we haven’t been specific in our communication or we haven’t asked clarifying questions. The conversations demonstrate the value of being specific in communication. To become a more effective communicator, let us learn these communication principles which are fundamental when communicating with others one on one, in groups or teams, or when making a professional presentation to an audience. Be aware of your communication with yourself and others. Effectively use and interpret verbal messages. Effectively use and interpret nonverbal messages. Listen and respond thoughtfully to others. Appropriately adapt messages to others. The word ethics is derived from a Greek word “ethos”, meaning character. Being ethical means doing what is right to achieve what is good. In communication, what is right refers to the responsibility to include information in your messages that ought to be there. What is good refers to the result of the communication. The ethical result is to strive for the highest good attainable for all those involved in the communication. Therefore, ethical communication strives for the highest good for all involved and provides information that is fully adequate for the circumstance, truthful in every sense, and not deceptive in any way. Because communication is relational, communication brings us face to face with questions that contain ethical judgments. We must decide what is the purpose or purposes of a relationship in which we find ourselves. We must decide how to behave. We must choose how to respond in that situation. Our responses will be based on how we regard the other party or parties and what the consequences of our actions will be. All of these are basic ethical questions in that they involve our deciding what is the "best" course of action. Every time we engage ourselves in communication, we make basic assumptions about the nature of people and our responsibilities to them and then act on the basis of those assumptions. To make the best decisions in our communication, to communicate ethically, we must give thought to the manner in which we communicate. Formulating a list of rules to be applied in the different communication situations in which we find ourselves would be a futile endeavor. The situations are too vast and too varying. Rather, we would do better to suggest guidelines for ethical communication. While the answers to those given situations may be difficult, we have to make decisions and live by the consequences. The decision to communicate and the decisions made within the communication event carry with them ethical implications. 1. Ethical communicators are respectful of their audiences. 2. Ethical communicators consider the consequences of their communication. 3. Ethical communicators respect truth. 4. Ethical communicators use information properly. 5. Ethical communicators do not falsify information. 6. Ethical communicators respect the rights of others to information. Source: Cuerda, F. & Pilapil, E. Purposive Communication in the New General Education Curriculum, c2017.