Communication in the 21st century

my name is mother in bova i’m 14 years

old

and i’m a freshman in high school today

i’m going to be talking about the

concept of effective communication

as the late supreme court justice ruth

vader ginsburg

once said fight for the things that you

care about

but do it in a way that will lead others

to join you

i believe this quote is super important

especially in this day and age where

activism

is such a huge part of life for a very

large demographic of people

the concept that she’s pushing is

something that should be taught to all

of our youth

and implemented in conversations in our

everyday life

in society right now there are so

many polarizing topics and the youth

are more involved than ever in these

topics due to the abundant amount of

resources that we have

youth have always been a strong voice in

fighting for change

and that voice is even stronger now

with the help of technology that

provides for the ability to learn

so much more and broadcast our voices

we the youth are passionate

and emotional about the problems that we

are facing

and have the resources to learn and

speak up

but change cannot occur with just this

i can have passion i can have conviction

my beliefs

i can have the resources but change

cannot occur

unless i have the skills to effectively

my beliefs and use my resources properly

as i said there are so many things that

we are fighting for right now

we need to learn how to fight for what

we believe in

in a way that will bring about learning

and change

this comes under the umbrella of

effective communication

and this umbrella of effective

communication

is something that i have been thinking

about for a very long time

what is effective communication

to me this term is extremely broad but

i’ve broken it down

into four main aspects that i personally

think

are the most important

the first aspect and the most

significant one in my opinion

is one’s mindset the outcome of a

successful conversation

is essentially learning for this

learning to occur

all of the parties involved have to be

ready to learn

i think this directly correlates to a

quote

that has become very popular in the tech

industry

in the last few years have strong

opinions

weakly held this means that one should

most definitely have strong opinions

and believe in things strongly but be

open to changing those opinions if a

more reasonable opinion comes along

or something happens that makes you want

to change it

there have been countless instances

where i have gone into a conversation

thinking that only i am right and not

ready for my opinions to be changed

the other people in these conversations

almost always thought the same way

about them and their opinions as well

because neither of us were open to

changing our opinions

or learning these conversations would

not go anywhere

and none of us would get anything out of

them

there was no learning no growth

no change on any side

these failed conversations are what led

me to think about this topic

and break down what makes a good

communicator

and what it takes to be one

i think one’s attitude and mindset

going into a conversation and during a

conversation

plays the most important role for a

positive outcome

the second important aspect of effective

communication

that i want to talk about is listening

you all have most likely heard how

important listening is

if you’re not listening and paying

attention to me right now

you’re not going to be understanding

anything that i’m saying

and you won’t learn anything from this

whole talk

you’d just be wasting your time

paying attention to the person speaking

is a huge part of having successful

conversations as well

because you have to understand and

internalize what the speaker in the

conversation is saying

if you want to get anything from the

conversation

if you’re not listening you’re not

learning

the third aspect i want to speak about

is the actual speaking aspect of

communication

your attitude while speaking shows the

route you want the conversation to take

be assertive but not arrogant

what you say should reflect the

listening and understanding that you’ve

gotten from the conversation so far

the person you’re speaking to feel heard

and also always be respectful

and civil another quote from ruth bader

ginsburg

that i believe is connected to this

concept

is reacting in anger or annoyance

will not advance one’s ability to

persuade

this means if you’re speaking

condescendingly

or sound annoyed rude or

disrespectful the people you’re

conversing with

won’t want to listen to you especially

when you want something or want to

challenge someone’s opinion on something

i would say this point is the hardest

one for me to digest

and it’s the one that i forget the most

sometimes i let my emotions get the best

of me

and get worked up when i’m discussing

topics that i feel strongly about with

people

but it’s a marathon not a sprint

no one’s perfect and i’m still learning

the last aspect of effective

communication

that i’m mentioning is body language

body language and non-verbal signals are

part of effective communication

that can be super helpful in many

situations

if you’re having a serious conversation

with someone about something

for example a task you need them to do

for you by a certain time

you would want to know they’re paying

attention to you

while you’re telling them about it their

body language could be a way that they

could communicate that they are

they could show that they’re paying

attention to you by maintaining eye

contact

and not doing anything else or acting

distracted while you’re speaking to them

non-verbal tells like this are very

beneficial in conversations

to understand the state of mind of the

person you’re talking to

another example of a body language tell

is someone crossing their arms when

they’re mad

or tapping their feet when impatient

body language helps to emphasize

speaking points you’re making or

send messages to the person you’re

conversing with in general

effective communication is extremely

necessary

specifically at the local level

in our little community of warm springs

with its changing demographics and needs

community development is only possible

when we actively listen

to multitudes of ideas that may oppose

our thinking

i’ve noticed that recently parents in

the warm springs community

are working towards getting better

technology for the warm springs

elementary school

this requires the support of the entire

community

and reaching a consensus with what this

contributes

to the school the community

and the neighborhood at large to reach

this consensus

the members of the community have to

effectively communicate with one another

about what they’re working towards and

why they need support

this requires the implementation of the

skills that i spoke about today

learning how to communicate effectively

is a journey that i’m only just

beginning

communication is the bedrock of success

in every aspect of our lives

school work home

friendships and community

i’m using my techniques that i spoke

about

in terms of my mindset listening

speaking and body language towards

becoming

a mer a more personable open

approachable and empathetic person

if i can ask one thing from each of you

today

it is for you to go back and take some

time

to reflect on how you communicate

are you having the impact that you want

to have

how can you improve your communication

and broaden your impact

thank you