Reading Can Make You a Good Communicator

How reading is extremely essential to boost your communicative abilities?

Two months ago, I was sitting on a lawn chair in a garden near my university sipping a cup of coffee and enjoying the fresh air of the Spring. A man approached me at a moment in time and said: do you mind sitting next to you? Welcome! Have a seat, I replied. Ah! I miss the days of university very much! I see, what was your major? I replied. Sociology, he answered. Good! What have you been doing since you graduated? Emm well, I got another diploma and I have been working as a bank accountant. Good, I said with a slight smile. The discussion was going fine for nearly thirty minutes. The man recalled his memory about the university, courses he took, professors who taught him, and other things. However, I noticed one strange thing. The speech flow of the man broke up, scattered, and went lost from time to time. I had to feed him when necessary. He apologized for that and admitted that he has not read any book for a long time, trying to clarify the reason behind his problem. Of course, I did my best to cool the situation.

When I went home, I could not let go of the case of the man. I started thinking how a person can be terrible in communicating with others for not reading? The man was looking for terms and words to build up his ideas but he could not get them very often. His speech broke up regularly due to the lack of ideas, information, vocabulary terms, and fluency. What is good in the story is that the man was aware that his problem was a result of a lack of reading, or perhaps of not reading at all.

Big YES. Reading is essential for communication. In this essay, I am going to show you why reading is extremely essential to boost your communicative abilities.

Coming back to the story of the man to get a clue, the first problem the man had was that he could not finish his sentences due to missing some words and terms. It was like starting a sentence like I notice that the university became a big.. umm (campus, I add); yes, big campus. The number of students is growing year after year, leading to a high rate in .. umm, you mean unemployment? Yes, leads to unemployment. Students deserve better ..umm (opportunities?); yes, opportunities.

From these sentences and many others alike, it was clear that the man had a problem recalling words, terms, and right words to build up his sentences.

The second problem was that the man could not elaborate on his ideas and could not finish them properly. His speech broke up and he seemed as if he was lost. Sometimes he started a point and moved to another without finishing up the previous one. This caused some trouble in understanding what he wanted to say. He also seemed nervous and shy due to this problem. A bad situation!

The third problem was that the man appeared to miss a lot of information. He looked as if he had not got any updates for a long time. He forgot dates, important names, places, figures, events, terminology, etc. It’s a shame for a person who looks educated and privileged, but in communication, he misses the basics, general knowledge that everyone should have in his pocket.

These serious communicative problems cause a person to be in unwanted situations. However, the solution to them is very achievable. Reading, reading, reading…, read everything and in different domains and fields. In the next paragraphs, I will show you how reading is dramatically important for you to be able to have wonderful and joyful communicative settings. But before that, we see what cognitive neuroscience says about reading.

From the perspective of neuroscience, reading has a dramatic impact on the brain. In a study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, researchers found that the brain’s cortex is responsible for processing words and that different areas in the brain take part in interpreting the meaning of each word. When reading particular words, it was noticed that specific areas on the brain lighted up. The study showed that “semantically amodal voxels are bilaterally distributed across many regions of the temporal, parietal and prefrontal cortices”.

To put it simply, reading for the brain is like exercising for the muscles. Reading provides the brain with the opportunity to process information, make decisions, draw conclusions and judgments, etc. This way, the brain gains its wellness and enhances its functionality.

In what follows, I am going to provide you with ten reading benefits for communication.

1. Reading provides you with information: Recall the story of the man I told you about above, he was unable to complete his ideas due to lack of information. Through reading, you renew and update your information store. Reading in different fields of knowledge provides you various information and ideas.

2. Reading supplies your mental lexicon with good terms and lexical items: We need to express ourselves using scientific terms and technical words in a communication setting. This is not to show off but we really have to. Using terms from different registers is mandatory. Therefore, reading is the best way to acquire as many scientific terns and technical items as possible. Having enough of them would enable to have successful communication.

3. Reading boosts your concentration skills: Again, recall the story of the man above. Due to lack of reading, he was lost and broke up in speech because he could not concentrate to make his points. He was lost and desperate. However, reading supplies our brains with ideas and information so that we easily find them when we want to communicate particular ideas and make points. Reading, simply, hikes our concentration skills through updating our information, ideas, and vocabulary.

4. Reading increases your level of understanding: When communicating with others, the person you’re talking to could use specialized terms and ideas from a particular field of knowledge, and if you are not familiar with, at least, the general terms and basic principles and ideas in the field, you’ll face troubles in understanding them. Hence, you should read as much as you can. Also, I recommend you to read in different fields and domains and not limit yourself to your field of study. Start with social sciences and then expand your reading to specialized scientific fields.

5. Reading Improves your critical thinking skills and analytical abilities: When reading, we not only get new information and acquire new knowledge but also pick up the techniques the author is using to communicate his/her ideas. We learn from them how to build our arguments, how to persuade, how to criticize, and how to analyze and evaluate things in better ways. Reading, also, enhances our analytical thinking.

6. Reading boosts your imagination and creativity: Watching a movie or even a program on television does not allow us a chance to portray situations in our way. All information and scenes are given to us. We don’t have the opportunity to use our minds to imagine situations and create our own images. However, reading a book or any other form of writing allows our minds to work out and build up the scenes and images. It’s an opportunity for the brain to imagine the words coming to life. It’s an exercise for the brain!

7. Reading is a window to the world: It’s the best way to know everything about anything. From places to events, from skills to knowledge, reading is the key. Reading enables you to discover new things and educate yourself in any field in life. All you need to do is to find a book in the domain you want to know about and start learning. Indeed, reading is a gate to the world.

8. Reading helps you build up your confidence and enhances your self-image: Again, recall the story of the man above. He seemed timid and confused due to problems of communication caused by lack of reading, (as he admitted). Of course, his image would be distorted in the view of others. However, reading is the solution. It boosts your self-esteem through acquiring knowledge and being able to build up your arguments to persuade and convince others. Therefore, when communicating, you will make a good impression on your counterparts. You will gain self-respect!

9. Reading reduces your stress and keeps you calm: The American author Ernest Hemingway said “There is no friend as loyal as a book”. A friend is someone that accompanies you to places, talk to you, discusses things with you, consoles you…, and so does a book. Reading books, articles, essays and all forms of writing takes you far away from your reality, smooths your life, and makes you feel comfortable and calm. Also, reading can amuse you, entertain you, and heals your soul. Moreover, reading reduces your stress, alleviates your tension, and supplies you with positive energy.

10. Reading makes you satisfied: Reading enables you to have good communicative processes, therefore makes you feel satisfied. Talking to people with confidence and without feeling stressed or nervous gives you great self-satisfaction, relief, and ease.

Now, I am going to give you some techniques and methods to have a good reading.

To have a maximum benefit from reading you need to consider the following tips:

a. Know what you want: What do you want from your reading? Do you read to entertain? Do you read to learn new skills and acquire new intellect? Do you read to hike your spirituality? And so on. Determine what you want from reading then find suitable materials to realize your goal.

b. Start now: never postpone starting reading whatever circumstances are. After setting your goal, start realizing it. Start reading and noting down things.

c. Select relevant materials: Nowadays, there is a lot of materials out there. There is no problem concerning references and data. Therefore, you should carefully select what to read and not waste your valuable time in irrelevant texts. Herein, you may need to consult other people, esp. those specialized in the field you’re reading in; professors, researchers, etc.

d. I read and I don’t understand: al Razi says “the key to sciences (knowledge) is their terminology.” To understand and master the field of study you’re reading in, you have to learn the terminology of the field. Using dictionaries and glossaries is very helpful. Also, reading analyses and discussions about the texts you’re reading is very helpful. The next one is by experience. Just do it!

f. Just read: you don’t always have time and effort to explain everything you don’t understand! Sometimes, you should have an hour of reading without being interrupted by anything; even by explaining what you are reading. This kind of reading has a fabulous impact on your brain. It will help you a lot when communicating with others; for instance, giving a presentation at a conference or responding to other’s questions, queries, observations, criticisms, etc.

g. Concentrate: When reading, make sure you are fully present. Avoid all the disruptions that may break the flow of your reading process. Having a suitable place for reading is of extreme importance. A place with a vision of a fine nature is ideal.

d. Evaluate: After a period of reading, you should evaluate your reading process. Make sure whether you’re improving your communication skills or not. Engage in a discussion of a topic with colleagues and researchers etc. to see if you are progressing.

In brief, reading is a persistent need. Every person has to allot an amount of time for reading every single day. It will uplift your level of communicating with others. You won’t have problems looking for terms, words, and ideas blinking your eyes, feeling nervous and shy. Indeed, reading is extremely important and has a dramatic impact on your life. Read, read, read in all fields and domains no matter what!

Hope you enjoyed reading this story