Communication, What?!

Top 5 Ways of Communicating:

1. Think Before You Speak. In my eighteen years of life, thinking before speaking is definitely the way of communicating that i can improve on.  I tend to open my mouth before i truly thought about what i wanted to say.  I like to say, "It sounded better in my brain".  Thinking before we speak gives us an opportunity to really think about what we say, or if we need to say anything at all
2. Honesty.  Honesty is important in anything you do.  If you are not honest with yourself, then how can you be honest when communicating with others.  When communicating with a group or with an individual, there must be a mutual trust that must be established.  Honesty establishes trust, and trust establishes open and good communication
3. Listen.  Communication is a two-way street.  Many people tend to forget this idea, we argue, we fight and we think our argument is right.  Sound familiar, don't worry, because it does for me too.  To fully understand a person's point of view, and to truly have an open and free conversation, we must be open to listen and learn from whoever we are conversing with.
4. Care.  The best think you can do is really care about what you are having a conversation about and who you are having that conversation with.  If you really care about what you are talking about, the person you are talking to will absolutely take notice.  Take the conversation as an extension of yourself and truly use it as your own.  In my CTW class, the most important aspect of conversing and writing that i learned was to really care about your topic.  If i write a paper about a topic that i care little about, it will show through my writing   I try to find a way to care about the topics i discuss.  Find a way to bring the topic closer to home, personal.
5. Ask Questions.  Asking questions in a conversation adds a lot to the conversation as a whole.  Not only will asking questions clear up confusing aspects of the conversation, but i will also show that you have taken a real interest in the conversation.  Asking questions will prove to the group or individual that you have been paying attention and are interested in what they have to say.  This goes back to the listening aspect.

Truly, these five ways of communicating have helped me numerous amount of times over the course of my life.  I have learned from experience that conversing with others can be the most rewarding and best experience that one can have.  We can learn so much from one another!  Sometimes, we just need to start a conversation.