Communication in the 21st century
hi
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
share
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