In this contemporary and dynamic global village, interpersonal
communication is a vital tool for survival for every citizen and is
crucial in the business world as it creates the platform for the
exchange of innovations and transaction of goods and services.
Information Communication Technologies such as mobile phones and the
Internet have played a fundamental role in the transformation of
communication and socialization to an era where geographical boundaries
offer zero limits and no longer inhibit contact with loved ones.
The adoption of Internet technologies and applications of social media
has, in the writer’s opinion, led to the dwindling of face to face
conversations. As such, it can be declared that the growing generation
has since lost touch with the skills in successfully carrying out
meaningful conversations.
What is a conversation?
Conversations are an essential tool in personifying mental debates and tend to be a source of inspiration, paradigm shift and mentorship. Realising the potential in clever conversations leads to one tapping a mine of primary, secondary and tertiary forms of data, knowledge and wisdom. The Oxford University Press Concise Dictionary of 2012 defines a conversation as the following:
Conversation: an informal spoken exchange of news and ideas between two or more people.
What do conversations do?
Conversations have an inherent ability to give insight, life changing paradigm shifts and provoke thought and debate. Engaging in witty dialogue can alter a mindset, emancipate an individual, eradicate misconceptions and myths, stereotypes and stigmatization as it sets the record straight and gets facts established when the right participants are involved.
When can a conversation he held?
Anywhere and everywhere!!!
Why hold a conversation?
Conversations are a facet of communication and are crucial to mans’
survival in every interaction and transaction of ideas and views.
Discussions offer the prospect of expanding one’s mind and thinking
abilities as well as the discovery of new dimensions of reality.How do you conduct a conversation?
Greet an individual, with further care than just ‘Hello’, listen attentively and be empathetic. Question were you do not understand and also contribute and interject were relevant. Repetition aids immensely in getting a message clear and enhances understanding. By repeating, rephrasing and summarising a particular point, a participant in a conversation can gain their own understanding of the concept under scrutiny.
Who to conduct conversations with?
Face up to your siblings on current affairs; quiz your parents on contemporary issues; chew a bone with relatives on mind boggling phenomena; intellectually interrogate teachers on concepts in and outside the classroom. Be trendy and reach out to friends on social networks through debate, empower colleagues with perspective and rediscover yourself through mental conversations with yourself.
Taking a moment of your time from the hustle and bustle of life’s daily routines to strike a tête-à-tête could have an astounding effect on the rest of your day. Greet a person with the extra care further than just ‘Hello’, to ‘how have you been’. Strike a clever conversation with them and pick their mind. There is so much wisdom you can harvest from them and, you as an individual will be prompted to think on your feet to add on to the subject matter.
Go beyond the ‘ndeipi’ ‘zkipani’ and ‘zisha ngani’ to converse on newsworthy issues that affect daily life, be it on Facebook chat, instant messaging on Whatsapp, tweets, discussion fora on LinkedIn, Gtalking, Skyping and face to face.
So don’t be a social recluse:
‘I am, because we are’ ‘Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu’,
Go out there and converse. Challenge your peers and those gurus and experts in fields of knowledge. School goes beyond the class-room, it is imprinted in your mind, engineered by your thoughts and powered by your speech. The process of knowledge just started as I held a clever conversation with your mind as you read this article.
Insigtful and informative article.so to what extent does the latest 'online' cornvesation have an urge over face to face conversations
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Mr Ratherfort for not only going through the article but also taking the time to pose a question.
DeleteIt is with great concern that I watch the art/science of conversation fade away. But all hope is not loss my kind sir, the latest 'online' conversation as you rightfully put it, can be integrated or made a continuation of the face to face conversation... Because we are all pressed for time and need to get somewere, why not move to a time where these fora are used to enrichen our conversations? I believe the two can, in unison, bring new dimensions to 'The Power of Conversations'. Please share the article with friends.
Once again, thank you for reading the Article.
An insightful post and absolutely relevant to the present generation. It's becoming so common that people sit in a room and even across the table from each other and text instead of engaging in a great conversation. I am guilty of the same thing at times. Sometimes people get lazy and don't even try hard enough to make the conversation interesting. Also, sometimes we use social media to discard of the people we have a problem with. Facebook accounts are deleted and new ones started up so that we instantly have a new batch of friends. Not everybody does this but then the previous generation was to a certain extent better at communicating than we are. Thank you for an article that reminds me to value conversation.
ReplyDeletetebogondlovu
DeleteThank you very much for going through the article, I was raising my concern on this fast growing phenomena, families are becoming disjointed and its too such an extent that within the same room, a family may communicate through instant messaging when they are seated within the same vicinity.
I think the way forward lies in a hybrid of the two, classical conversation fused with the use of instant messaging and web 2.0 applications, conversation can not be left to die a natural death...
Thank you Tebogo
pick their mind...now thats a top tip, a golden nugget if you will for it will make them remember you aswell as teach you about the other person. Ernest you always impress me with your skill-set and ability to expand on what others take for granted.....the simple yet complex art of a conversation worth having.....
ReplyDeleteAnand Ferco-Patel
Indeed Mr Patel... Idle minds never learn anything,but an active brain is open to new challenges and dimensions. How to break the Ice? Through the simple art of conversation... I have learnt a considerable lot thanks to this... Thank you very much Kind Sir Patel. I will attempt to increase this niche. Please share with others and continue the support as i greatly values and treasure it
DeleteHey Earnest, what a simplistic thought that you put together that gave a whole bigger perspective that we see happening everyday but choose to let slide. I will say that I loved ‘I am, because we are’ ‘Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu’ , as african people this saying has been taught to us time immemorial and to me is almost a natural law. I hope we never forget the essence of it because its worked for all people across every culture and race. I will also say lets not put to much of a negetive light on social media cause it has brought worlds together for a greater comman cause,its easier for you to get answers,speak to your mentors,follow them and their thoughts etc. but lets not use it as the only form of conversation.
ReplyDeletevery very insightful thoughts,keep writing and keep pushing.. *peace,love & light*
Sakubona Nkosikazi Nicole Heywood!!!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I would like to say my thousands of thanks for taking your time and bandwidth to view this article and comment on it. I value it very much and feel your comment is invaluable and constructive.
Indeed, it has become like a law to me as well, If more people would adopt this stance, many of the world's problems would slowly but surely disappear.
I concur with what you say, social media has brought the world closer and made communication more convenient. However where I am from, family units are characterised by a meal time where every family member is glued to a gadget and students communicate on instant messaging during lectures.
Please join the blog and share with many others.... I appreciate very much. I promise to keep writing and posting more material.
P.S How did you come to know of the blog?
Harvey Binamu, I told him I was looking for some local poetry as a bigger lover of the art. He reffered me to your blog, and I must say I'm impressed. I shall continue to follow.x
ReplyDeleteWow... I am humbled, thank you very much, I believe I am already following your two blogs at the moment... He is quite the talented photographer I should maintain... Love his work, it has inspired what I call Pictures and Poetry, currently available on face book. Could I send you a friend request there? whats y7our user id?
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