Communication plays an essential role in the day-to-day activity of a human being.

In accordance
with this, communication must be learned thoroughly in order to be decent with communicating with others.
Precisely, it’s not barely communicating using verbal and non- verbal types of communication.
Communication is also adapting to the nuances of someone whose culture is far different from what you
are known of.

The first speaker, Sir Matt, talked about Socio cultural Communication. He emphasized on how to
avoid awkwardness when communicating with other people. People who are from different places and
different culture. Social cultural communication was defined by Sir Matt the communication between
people who have differences in any one of the following: styles of working, age, nationality, ethnicity, race,
gender, sexual orientation, etc. The first key to successful Sociocultural communication is also adapting
the beliefs of other people from different places. For example, in some cultures eye contact is important
whereas in some it is rude and disrespectful. Also, he stated different types of barriers to effective
sociocultural communication.

First is the stereotypes and prejudices. Prejudices are just pre-conceived judgments or opinions
about a certain thing. While on the other hand, stereotypes refer to an often unfair and untrue belief that
many people have about all people or things with a particular characteristic. Sometimes other people judge
the culture of others. With this, it creates a barrier that could lead to ineffective communication. Later on,
he discussed the second factor which is ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism was defined by Sir Matt as the
dividing a culture as “us” vs. them. It is the belief that one’s ethnic group is superior to another culture. If
the culture is the same to yours, a positive feedback arises. But when the culture is dissimilar, we often
judge it as negatively. Tension and misunderstanding come in, thus, creating more barrier to effective
communication. To avoid or to overcome Socio-cultural communication barriers, one must be able to
realize that it’s not a barrier. But also, an opportunity to know new perspectives, openness to new ideas,
and creating unity with people having different cultural background.

On the other hand, the second speaker Miss Rachel talked about how to a good communication in
terms of diplomacy. Diplomacy refers to the communication between to different states. It is a way of
having negotiations of different states on a certain topic. It can help both parties who wants to establish
good relationship. Regarding this, good communicating comes into the conversation. If one disagrees to
idea of the other, then it will be a problem. Thus, communication plays a vital role in diplomacy.

The seminar conducted last week was a big help to a student like me. It had given new idea how to
be effective listener and speaker when communicating. In addition to that, it was an eye opener for me. The
topics discussed can help more competent in communicating with others. Especially when you encounter a
person coming from a different place. In terms of being member of a family, each one must be able to
understand the proper etiquettes of being a good communicator. Especially, they also communicate with
other cultures. It can also give them an awareness not to judge other’s culture based on what they solely
saw at first glance about a different person and culture. As a member of the community, this kind of topics
can be relevant to me. I will also teach other members of the community on how to deal with people’s
culture and be able help them be more critical thinkers on the aspect of communication.

Furthermore, as a filipino, the seminar has given a wider knowledge of being a respectful individual
in giving more patient when encountered a conversation with a foreigner. Especially us filipinos, having
different ways of communicating with other people. Just like using the word “ate” and “kuya” that depicts
the callsign when talking to an older man and woman. Lastly as a human being, the fear of avoiding a
conversation with unfamiliar person finally ended. With this, in my future endeavors I will be more calm
and collected when dealing with different types communication.

For this reason, NCA Credo for Ethical communication comes into the conversation. Ethical
communication tackles of what the ways to avoid miscommunication. Especially in their credo, the
statements, cited that ethical communication is fundamental to responsible thinking, decision making, and
the development of relationships and communities within and across contexts, cultures, channels, and
media. Rather than judging the opinion of someone, the credo will teach to be more respectful of the ideas
of others even though its incorrect. Also, it supports the academic freedom and freedom of expression in
all aspects of communication. The verbal aspect of communication and the non-verbal aspect of
communication.

To sum it up, the word communication has different definition depending on the knowledge and
perspective. At the end of the day, all we want is our voice to be heard be acknowledged properly without
any hindrance that could lead to the disappearance of communication.