Good communication skills are valuable in every aspect of life. Here are the tools needed to cultivate them.

Communication is one skill that in theory is very easy but in practice is not so easy. Good communication can be simplified into a few key elements; the ability to take constructive criticism and to be able to argue without letting emotions take over.

Everybody communicates differently with different groups of people. Communication between friends is going to be different than between child and parent, and again it will be different then between teacher and student.

One of the tricks to good communication is to be able to use the correct tone with the right people. Communication between teacher and student should be professional. Students should not talk to their instructors as if they were the student’s friends.

Though the student and the instructor might be friendly, correspondence should always sound professional. It is the instructor’s job to teach, not to be friends with the students.

“I really like that saying I heard in a workshop I took,” said Sara Edlin-Marlowe, a communications instructor at SFCC. “You have to agree to disagree.”

This means that both parties understand that they have opposing views on a topic but they do not begrudge the other their opinion.

“When I know somebody is wrong I will think about it for a day and talk to them later,” said Nataliya Pigida, a student at Spokane Falls Community College.

This same concept follows through in any kind of correspondence.

This method of responding to upsetting correspondence allows room to express all of the negative thoughts and feelings on a subject.

Good communication relies on a person’s willingness to seek out information and ask questions.

“You have to be assertive and not dilly dally around.” said Caleb Heggemeier, a student at Spokane Falls Community College. “You have to seek out information, you can’t wait for somebody to give it to you.”