Communication Competence

Course Outcome: Identify communication strategies for diverse contexts using appropriate verbal and nonverbal techniques

Many of you probably took this class hoping to improve your communication skills, or as many students tell me “I want to be a good communicator.” What does it mean to be a “good” communicator? Because “good” is such a relative term, it’s better to use the term “effective”, or as this unit will illustrate – “competent”. Communication skills are learned and practiced over time. We aren’t born with effective communication skills. The first step to becoming a more competent communicator is to understanding the characteristics of a competent communicator. However, just having the knowledge doesn’t automatically make someone a competent communicator. To put into context, one of the leading scholars in relational communication has been married 3+ times! Clearly, knowledge doesn’t always translate to skill. So, next, we need to discuss HOW to become more effective through improving those characteristics.

Unit readings, lectures and assignments are below.

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• Define Competent Communication
• Explain the characteristics of a Competent Communicator
• Reflect upon your individual strengths and weaknesses as a communicator