What is Communication?

    

 A few years ago, Yale University researchers published a report that exposed a shocking number of children expelled from preschool (Gilliam, 2005). I witnessed a spontaneous, bring-down-the-house speech at a local press conference that featured the grant project for which I work. Our agency had invited a few parents and child care center directors to attest to the success of our tax-based grant at retaining children with special and behavioral needs in their preschool programs, contrary to the Yale report. Our child care center director arrived just as the interviews were beginning, and was surprised to learn that she was not a guest, but a guest speaker, and was escorted to her seat behind the table set with microphones. After a series of rather boring speakers, the child care center director rose from her seat, moved out from behind the table, and addressed the cameras and audience in a calm, clearly projected voice. Her hands were clasped in front of her, and she made eye contact around the room, unlike the agency higher-ups who stuttered reading through their notes. She used a slow, evenly paced voice to announce what she would talk about, gave some facts and experiences, and briefly re-stated what she had just presented. I was stunned to hear and see such a smooth impromptu peformance after witnessing a series of CEO's stumble through dry data that they had prepared for the occasion. Joan the Director exuded confidence, used concise, effective speech, spoke slowly enough to be heard, made eye contact with her audience, and smiled slightly while she spoke. She was persuasive in defending the value of the program. The manner in which she communicated her testimony was far more convincing than higher management who did not use these speech techniques. Public speaking is only one form of communication, but the goal is the same for public or personal, that the speaker be heard and understood by the listener(s). Joan the Director attributed her communication skills to practice with a group called Toastmasters.

More can be learned about public speaking and general communication skills at http://www.toastmasters.org .
References:
Gilliam, W.S. (2005). Prekindergarteners left behind:Expulsion rates in state prekindergarten programs. Retrieved from http://childstudycenter.yale.edu/zigler/publications/34775_National%20Prek%20Study_expulsion%20brief.pdf