Blog Post #1: Effective Communication Skills

As I intend to work in different countries, being able to communicate well with others is important to me. This is especially so since I plan to work in the finance industry where proposals and negotiations are part and parcel of the job description. In such situations, any miscommunication might result in costly repercussions or put a kink in our clients’ confidence in us. This is a lesson that was drummed into my head last year while preparing for a law presentation. One of my group-mates had abruptly changed some points in the PowerPoint slides a mere day before the presentation and had neglected to inform me about it, assuming that I had already been notified of the change. As a result, I presented a redundant and out-dated law to the class, resulting in a ferocious tongue-lashing from the tutor and a loss of confidence in our group.

Effective communication is important to me not only in the business sector, but also in my friendships. I enjoy interacting with people from other races and nationalities, as I am fascinated in learning more about their unique cultures and their different backgrounds. As such, I have a variety of friends ranging from Malays to Caucasians and coming from Vietnam, Mauritius, Hungary, Hong Kong and Thailand. It is thus necessary to have good communication among ourselves as they have different customs and some of them may only have a rudimentary grasp of English. There is a higher chance that they may misinterpret my message and be offended. As I also plan to travel overseas in the future, effective communication would be essential in building good relationships with the locals. Meanwhile, I suppose practicing my communication skills on the unsuspecting citizens of the multi-racial and multi-religious Singapore would have to suffice for the moment.