Arguably the most important skill which should be in any Jamaican jobseeker or employee or employer’s arsenal is that of being able to effectively communicate. After all how can you do your job or receive employment if you are not able to communicate? Communication is defined as the act of transmitting information, putting forth thoughts and feelings, essentially the exchange of ideas and information.

Communication therefore is not only about getting your message across clearly, but also to receive information others give you, with little or no distortion. This process should be simple if you are an effective communicator. The problem here being that many people are talkers, they don’t stop to listen. How do you expect to do well if in the interview you keep talking and the questions you’re answering are not what the interviewer is asking?

To be fair, communication is a two sided effort, so both parties need to understand the message and to get the same idea about what they are communicating. When you unsuccessfully get your message across, the thoughts and ideas that you actually send, are not what you wanted to send. The result of this is confusion and roadblocks that can prevent you from achieving your goals, personally and career wise.

A survey recently showed that a company with over 50,000 employees to choose from, the most important decisive factor in deciding who becomes manager is communication. Communication along with oral and written presentation skills are the main factor contributing to job success, not so much the schooling you’ve had, the experience you have, but how well you put your ideas across during that interview.

So, if we recognize this fact why then do so many people still struggle to communicate their ideas effectively verbally or orally? Yet if you ask them if they want to build a successful career they will say yes.

Here are some simple pointers we need to know in order to improve our communication skills.

•    As the source of the message, you should decide the simplest way to bring across your idea. You should be confident that what you’re communicating is accurate and useful.

•    Encoding is exactly how you want to transfer the information so it can be properly decoded. Encoding refers depends greatly on how well you communicate and put across information clearly and simply. In order to do this you need to know the target audience.

•    Choose the channel you want to use to send the message; you can do it verbally through face to face meetings, or use through emails, letters and other forms of written correspondence. Remember keep the message simple and concise.

•    The listener then needs to decipher the message which was given, and so you need to be able to decode it well. The easiest way one can do this by actively listening. If you don’t understand, don’t be afraid to ask for clarification.

•    The receiver then gets the decoded message and will then decide what to do with the information. They may then provide feedback, which can be verbal or nonverbal reactions to your information. This feedback gives you an indication of how well your message was received.

Once you understand these simple tasks communication becomes that much easier for you. Another way to improve your communication skills and vocabulary is by reading the newspapers (not the tabloids) on a daily basis.

Do not allow an inability to convey your ideas clearly and concisely keep you in the backseat. Work on your communication skills and see how potential employers become drawn to you during the interview. There is nothing Jamaican employers love more than a potential employee who speaks well and can handle themselves and express themselves very well. Looking the part is not enough; you must also be able to speak the part.