Length: 318 Words     Reading Time: 2 Minutes

I believe it was Seneca, the Roman philosopher, who once wrote that all human beings seek to be heard and to be known.  That statement is why I believe that communication skills are an essential life skill to learn and develop.  At our core, we need to communicate with other human beings, and we have a need to be understood and accepted.

In this blog, I will post on the critical communication skills we require in life, that is, reading, writing, speaking, and listening.  Also, I will post on the various aspects of each of these four topics, such as writing a speech, making a presentation, or writing a report.

I submit as my first premise that communication skills in American culture have deteriorated dramatically.  Probably, the principal drivers of this phenomenon, among others, are the growth of social media usage and texting, the degradation of educational standards in our schools, and the pernicious influence of informality in almost all social and business functions.  We have become a population of people who would rather be casual and comfortable.

I submit as my second premise that the robustness and precision of our language are essential factors in the continuation of our culture.  We have become so accustomed to vulgarity and cursing in our daily speech that no one even takes notice anymore.  Exaggerated and euphemistic language has become commonplace in our newspapers and on the nightly news. We no longer notice the editorializing and the inflammatory language, and the emphasis on emotions without reference to facts.  For example, both men and women use that almost universal locution, which is incorrect: “I feel that ….”  An emotional statement should follow the verb feel.  The correct locution should be, I think, or I believe.

I hope I can make this blog informative, educational, and persuasive. My goal is to put right some of the more egregious mistakes in all our communication processes.