Communication

__** Communication **__ Communication, defined as "the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one person to another" ("Communication and Leadership" 1), plays a major role in leadership. If a leader is unable to properly communicate with others, how are the people supposed to trust and understand the leader? Thus why proper communication is essential to have.

Communication is a process that can be broken down into the three steps //thought, encoding,// and //decoding//. These three titles display the act of thinking of something (//thought//), sending that thought via words, actions, or emotions (//encoding//), and then the receiver figuring out what the sender meant (//decoding//). Throughout this process, the sender (person talking) can do many things to enhance their communication ability. They can use gestures, talk slowly and clearly, and make sure to keep good eye contact and posture. These factors help make the speaker seem more respectable and help keep the listener(s) more involved and interested.

Besides there being helpful communication factors, there are many barriers. In other words, there are many things that can make interpreting a message very difficult. Some of these barriers are noise and environmental factors. If the environment is loud, then it will be harder for people to actually focus on the main speaker and more on the people around them; This lack of focus also occurs when there are bright lights or other distractions. More barriers include the stress level of the audience and their perception. If the audience is stressed out they will not care about the information being told, and if the audience does not like the topic or believe the speaker, they will not care about what is being said. However, this can be overcome by choosing an audience that will enjoy the topic and by not speaking to them at night or mid-week when they are tired. These are all serious barriers, but one of the biggest barriers is culture. If a speaker does not adapt his/her speech to respect and/or intrigue the audience, it may confuse the people or even make them mad. These varying barriers make it very important for a speaker to not only know his/her topic, but to make sure that it is relatable and easy to understand for their specific audience.

There have been many great leaders throughout history that have created movements and changed the course of history. Two of these leaders were Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr, who were both able to push humanity toward the betterment of man with inspirational actions and words. Both men gave many speeches, but have one particular speech that will always be remembered. Abraham Lincoln's speech "The Gettysburg Address" took place after a terrible and horrific battle during the Civil War. Many brave men died, which brought fear and dread along with it, but through his words, Lincoln was able to push the people forward and to restore courage back into their hearts. Similarly, Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream speech," is one of the most famous speeches in history. This speech was made during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, when African Americans were fighting for equal rights. During this time it was very dangerous for African Americans to do anything, so King just stepping to the podium was courageous and inspiring, but his words took his leadership to the next level. His speech touched the hearts of the many and inspired people to keep fighting for what they believed in and to never give up on their dreams.

Both of these men went into a dark and harsh situation and were able to create a light to lead the people; and they did this not solely by actions, but by communicating their ideas and beliefs properly and by speaking from their hearts. However, one does not have to make an inspirational speech and change the world to have good communication skills and be a good leader. People who run businesses and large corporations have great communication skills because without them, the president's desires and dreams for the business would not be understood properly, thus damaging the business and causing chaos. In other words, good communication is important from small businesses to world movements.

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Gettysburg Address: []

I Have a Dream Speech: [|http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/martin-luther-kings-speech-dream-full-text/story?id=14358231#.T6ifY-v2ZIF]

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