Communication and relationships go everywhere and strongly influence human activity from war and peace among nations to whether a marriage works, from political action to personal friendship, from keeping it together to success in work, school, or life. .
Much of what happens in our own lives, our communities, and world events alike, depends on personal strengths and weaknesses in communicating, connecting, and interacting with others. People differ greatly here, but probably most adults never learn some skills that most children master before leaving elementary school. Lost opportunities, pointless fighting, poor leadership and negotiation, unhappy relationships, and even suicide can result. .
As modern society becomes increasingly technological and impersonal, people place a greater value than ever on meaningful relationships in their everyday lives. Research shows that the most important contributor to personal happiness - outranking money, career and sex - is a close relationship with another person.
Communication is the largest single factor determining what kinds of relationships we have with others and what happens to us in the surrounding world. Communication is the foundation for all our interpersonal relationships. Through communication we establish, develop, and maintain relationships. We also withdraw from and terminate relationships.
Communication is important in personal relationships as it allows us to share interests, aspirations and concerns, to support each other, to organize our lives and make decisions, and to work together in caring for children. Effective communication is about the way we talk and listen, and about our body language. We can all learn how to improve the way we communicate.
We are born with no experience, knowledge or skills. We arrive in the world with a clean slate, to be educated and molded by those who have preceded us. How we turn out depends to a great extent on the teaching we receive.