Communication is essential for our survival. As humans, we must communicate with others to have our needs met, to build connection and resolve conflict. When communication is effective, there is less room for misunderstanding, and people often leave a conversation feeling more satisfied and fulfilled. How we communicate can influence whether we can secure a job, maintain a healthy relationship, get the right support for our mental health, and even create systemic change!

Effective communication however is not just about delivering information, it is also about helping other people receive and understand it. It’s about speaking so that others want to listen! Effective communication skills involve verbal and non-verbal communication, active listening, and also assertive communication, emotional regulation and empathy.

Here is a breakdown of these skills:

              - Verbal communication: choosing the right words and tone
              - Non-verbal communication: controlling our body language, facial expressions and reactions

Found here

              - Active listening: listening attentively while someone else speaks, paraphrasing and reflecting back what is said, and withholding judgment and advice
              - Assertive communication: speaking honestly and authentically about our thoughts and feelings with confidence and respect, communicating clearly and directly

Found here

              - Emotional regulation: managing our stress and reactive emotions in a conversation
              - Empathy: the ability to recognize and understand the emotions of others

Found here 

It’s important to note that while your communications skills and styles may change depending on the context or who you are speaking to, they are all important to building connection, communicating your needs and resolving conflict. Without each of them, barriers to communication can arise and conversations can become quite difficult.

This month long discussion will be a chance for us to discuss each different effective communication skill, how they can help and ways to implement them into our lives. It is also a chance for us to share and learn about how to communicate about our mental health in different ways, whether that is with our peers, with service providers and in advocacy settings.

To start off the discussion:

1. Which effective communication skills do you think you are good at, and which skills do you think may need more work?

2. Do you find it more difficult to communicate effectively in some relationships/settings compared to others? If so, which ones? (for example, speaking to friends vs speaking to family, or face to face vs online)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We recognise that how we communicate and communication styles are often impacted by our lived experiences and history, and are at various stages. We also acknowledge that many of us face barriers to communications, particularly Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities, through language and cultural norms. We welcome everyone to bring their experiences to this space. If you experience any distress whilst reading along with this discussion, please reach out to Lifeline 13 11 14 or the SANE Help Centre to speak to a counsellor.