Who is a sociable person and what does it mean?

• What does a sociable person mean?
• Sociability and communication skills: what is the difference?
• Advantages and disadvantages of communication skills
• Development of communication skills
• Conclusion

When describing personal qualities in a resume, it is customary to indicate standard features. Communication skills are found in every second questionnaire . At the same time, some people do not understand what a skill is or simply do not possess it. An employer just needs to ask a few questions to understand whether you have good communication skills. How important is this trait for professional growth and communication with friends? What is human communication skills? — we give a definition and consider the signs, find out whether it is an advantage or a disadvantage.

What is communication

Communication is one component of the riddle of the three Cs (the other two are contact and communication), but often confusion in definitions turns the term itself into a mystery. There are only three similar meanings of the word:

1. Communication is, first and foremost, a skill. The ability to convey any message, your feelings, opinions, emotions, conclusions so that they are correctly understood by the interlocutor. On the other hand, it is the ability to perceive information correctly and without distortion. In other words, the term characterizes the level of ability to encode and decode information.
2. In addition, communication is not always a human skill. It can qualitatively characterize any communication tool. Everything that has to do with the transfer of information. That is, this term is also understood as a property.
3. In addition, communication is often defined as a process of interpersonal interaction and the formation of interpersonal connections.

In general, communication is most often understood as an acquired skill that a person improves throughout almost his entire life.

Why do you need communication skills?

A person is part of society, a thread in an endless web of contacts, and communication with people is as integral a part of our everyday life as washing our hands or having lunch. At the same time, the quality of this communication and the nature of the established connections play a huge role in the development of an individual personality. Successfully established business acquaintances contribute to career advancement. The ability to find a common language with anyone gives you confidence when traveling and helps you find interesting friends. The right words open any doors and amazing opportunities.

What does communication depend on?

Psychologists argue that communication cannot be understood only as a set of skills, because it also relates to the sphere of needs and motivation. In other words, it is determined not only by a set of mechanically trained skills, but also by the aspiration of the individual. In order to have a high level of communication, a person first of all feels the need for communication. It should dominate in his value system.

IMPORTANT. A big role is played by a person’s real empirical experience, his general erudition, the ability to adapt to conditions, especially new and changing ones, of the environment, his ability to adequately and objectively perceive the world and people around him (perceptual skill), the ability to empathize and understand.

The most important thing is erudition and level of proficiency in language tools. The ability to competently, clearly and successfully formulate a thought that can be easily, quickly and effectively conveyed to others is communicativeness.

Now we should consider its differences from sociability.

Benefits of communication skills

The ability to have a lively, relaxed conversation sets a person apart in any company, at parties and even in a work environment. People who are closed and silent - on the contrary, are hardly noticeable and are not remembered by anyone. Because of this, sociability can safely be considered as an undeniable advantage, which has a lot of advantages:

1. Sociable people arrange their personal lives easier and happier because they boldly make acquaintances, enjoy getting to know those around them better, and better understand how to build relationships.
2. Pleasant and sociable people who know what communication skills are are more willing to be hired, and the ability to maintain a positive climate in a team and competently convey their thoughts are characteristics of truly valuable employees who receive both promotions and financial rewards.
3. Sociability is the key to an active social life, and a sense of belonging to society largely influences self-identification and personal integrity.

Main differences between sociability and communication skills

Like communication, sociability is often understood as a skill that ensures correctness and effectiveness of communication, but there is a big difference between these two concepts.

• First of all, this property is always and only human. Moreover, the property is positive. This is a deep personality trait that can be either acquired or innate.
• It has nothing to do with the quality of information transfer, but with the quality of communication in an emotional sense.
  In other words, sociability characterizes how a person can win over his interlocutor, how well he can make a favorable impression on him. A simple example: a teacher’s communication and communication skills. The first is expressed in how accurately and completely he conveys information to students, the second characterizes how well he is able to interest them in this information.
• A sociable person is a flexible person. He knows how to establish contacts with different people in different circumstances and achieve results. Due to charisma, well-delivered speech, confidence and other factors. This is, first of all, the ability to make an impression, the ability to make a conversation not just informative, but also enjoyable.
  

  IMPORTANT. This property should not be confused with simple sociability. A sociable person may not have these skills. A conversation with a sociable person will not necessarily be pleasant: he may be intrusive or rude.

• Sociability is the ability to have constructive, pleasant and useful communication. Its level determines the success of a person’s social and professional interaction. Many professions directly imply it: journalist, manager, teacher, etc.

Advantages and disadvantages of communication skills

People with communication skills are gladly hired and promoted up the career ladder. But it is worth understanding that communication skills border on other skills: self-confidence, leadership and initiative. Not all managers are ready for such active employee behavior. Therefore, conflicts are possible, including dismissal. However, communication has many more advantages. Let's look at the advantages and disadvantages of communication skills. Among the positive aspects:

Ability to communicate. The concept does not include empty chatter, but listening to a person, maintaining a conversation. People meet with similar interests. A sociable person finds common ground by developing common interests. Thus, he attracts the interlocutor to himself, so that he can then easily win him over to his side. Calm. Despite his activity and agility, a sociable person has equanimity. There is no anxiety, fussiness, or fear of participating in negotiations. People are attracted to the calm, friendliness and openness that comes from a communicative personality. Attentiveness. Such a person will be the first to respond to a greeting, smooth out the conflict, and sum up the meeting. There will be no awkward pauses or useless negotiations with him. After communicating with a sociable person, you are left with the feeling that you were talking with a good friend.

The ability and desire to communicate can play a cruel joke on a person. This is not a necessary quality for all positions. If, in addition to delivering the goods, the courier begins to tell stories, funny or scandalous incidents, this will not have the best effect on the company’s reputation. Disadvantages of communication skills include:

Excessive artistry . Interesting storytellers attract attention. A sociable person knows how to intrigue, makes effective pauses, plays with words, and attracts with gestures and facial expressions. Sometimes such transformation into different roles is inappropriate and causes misunderstanding among others. In reasonable measures, artistry attracts interlocutors. Obsessiveness . Establishing a connection with a stranger is not easy; you have to put in a lot of effort. The task of a sociable person is to achieve results. Therefore, various methods of influence are used: phone calls, “random” meetings. If you overdo it, then such actions will be regarded as excessive intrusiveness.

You should not consider a sociable person as a sweet, kind person. In the right situation , he is capable of showing aggression , and this manifests itself in the form of evil or witty jokes. True, he rarely resorts to backup weapons when he needs to authoritarianly declare his decision.

What determines communication skills?

Communication skills, as a concept, directly imply a high level of communication skills. A message is better understood emotionally if it is conveyed accurately and in the correct form. But there are other factors:

1. High level of empathy. Communication skills directly imply the ability to listen and understand the interlocutor, his feelings, thoughts and needs.
2. The ability to adequately and objectively perceive the situation in which the conversation is taking place, and structure the conversation taking this into account.
3. High self-esteem, self-confidence. Only a confident person is able to effectively influence his interlocutor.
4. Charismatic and high level of emotional intelligence.
5. A high level of speech culture, mastery of different styles and genres of speech, the ability to apply them in an appropriate situation.

Sociability or lack thereof is not a once and for all established personality parameter. It can be trained like any other skill.

Signs of sociability

A charming and sociable person is visible from afar: he stands out in any company, and in himself, no, no, and even attracts the eye. What makes it different from others:

1. Openness and charisma
   . Such people easily strike up a conversation even with strangers and are not shy about initiating communication. The fascinating manner of their communication will not leave anyone indifferent.
2. Broad outlook and self-confidence
   . To have conversations on any topic with people of different ages, you need to be inquisitive, devote time to self-development, and confidently use your intellect.
3. Adaptability and listening skills
   . Such a personality quality as adaptability allows you to adapt to the current mood of the interlocutor and the surrounding context in order to set the right tone for the conversation and get the desired result from it. Shutting up in time and letting your opponent speak is also an extremely important skill.

How to develop communication skills

This is an extremely useful skill, without which success in life is almost unthinkable. Therefore, it is important to possess it, at least not at the highest level. Learning to communicate is not easy, especially for people for whom communication itself is burdensome, but possible.

For this there are general recommendations formulated by psychologists:

• Do not avoid communication situations. A skill can only be trained through practice. The topic of the conversation does not matter, only the process itself is important.
• Create such a situation yourself: strive to be the initiator of the conversation. This will help not only replenish the skill, but also remove certain personal barriers.
• Communicate with different people to learn how to overcome personal, social, cultural, national and other obstacles in communication.

There are a huge number of personal trainings aimed at developing communication skills. In addition, there is a large amount of thematic literature, which may be useful.

Communication problems

Uncommunicative people are often afraid of being judged for their words. Therefore, you should overcome the fear of offending your interlocutor or seeming stupid.

It should be understood that there are no ideal people in communication. Sometimes even an intelligent and reasonable interlocutor can blurt out something stupid, for which they will get angry or laugh at him. In this case, a healthy reaction would be to calmly accept failure, take into account your mistake and continue communication without tormenting yourself for the stupidity you have done.

An anxious person should keep these three simple steps in mind if they are avoiding social contacts out of fear of getting things wrong.

What is communication skills

You have important negotiations ahead, you don’t know how to express your thoughts or convey your point of view to your interlocutor. You feel constrained in a conversation with your opponent, you are embarrassed to make even a speech prepared in advance. This is how misunderstandings, omissions, and conflicts arise.

It would seem so simple to say what you think. But while you are choosing the right words, their meaning is lost. How to develop communication skills and learn to have a direct, open conversation? Psychologists have developed many practices and trainings that help you become an excellent speaker.

Sociability is the ability to establish contact with an interlocutor, the ability to quickly adapt to an unfamiliar environment, a new work environment. Translated from Latin, “communicabilis” means “communicable.”

What kind of a sociable person is he? It has the following characteristics:

• He pursues a specific goal. Expresses his thoughts clearly. He does not speak for the sake of simply not being silent. He knows how to inspire trust and find compromises.
• Such an employee knows in what direction to conduct the dialogue in order to achieve maximum results.
• Manipulation is easy for him. He knows how to change the topic of conversation, moving from one style to another. He carries himself confidently, is charismatic, and easily finds a topic for conversation.
• He is able to easily find a common language with an interlocutor of any age, status, social status and nationality.
• It’s interesting to be with him as a teenager experiencing youthful maximalism, poppy and a wise professor.
• The quality of the conversation of such an interlocutor differs from empty chatter; he has useful and interesting information, and also knows how to present it vividly.
• Feedback and the opinion of the other party are always important to him. He perceives communication as a creative process and improvises.

A sociable person is able to speak in front of an audience without preparation. This is a person who knows how to not only win the attention of listeners, but also manage it. Leadership, restraint and flexibility of character are his natural traits.

Communication skills: what does it mean at work?

Almost every job requires one way or another to demonstrate communication skills.

It will be useful in the following cases:

1. Successful interaction on work issues with colleagues;
2. Business correspondence;
3. The need to interest the client in the services or products of the enterprise.

It turns out that a communicative employee performs work tasks most successfully. He does not enter into conflict with colleagues; he is most often sent on business trips, where it is important to show diplomacy.

Communication is the most valuable skill for getting ahead in life. It gives you the opportunity to make friends with colleagues in a new workplace, gain the trust of your superiors, arrange your personal life and resolve conflict situations in your favor.

What is the difference between sociability and communication skills?

Often confusion in meaning turns the terms themselves into a mystery. Communication skills are one of the components of sociability and contact as such. This is not an innate, but an acquired skill that can not only be developed, but also improved throughout life.

Communication is the ability to convey information, feelings, emotions, conclusions in an accessible, correct form. It is also the ability to perceive information, experience empathy for the interlocutor, the ability to understand and empathize.

The concept itself is not always a human skill. Communicativeness as a quality can characterize any tool that transmits and receives information.

Communication is a set of qualities such as:

• Non-verbal communication;
• Managing emotions, anger;
• Active listening;
• Understanding your opponent's emotions;
• Ability to express and defend your point of view.

Communication as a personality quality cannot be perceived only as a set of skills; this skill is directly related to the segment of needs and motivation.

Types of Communication Skills

Communication skills are not innate; they are acquired and developed by us as we grow older. Depending on the level of its development and the function pursued by communication, three types of communication skills are distinguished:

1. Information and communication
   . These are the primary skills that make it possible to interact with others. They include the skills to: observe generally accepted rules of politeness, voice requests, adequately formulate your own and perceive other people’s thoughts.
2. Regulatory and communicative
   . Such skills enable teamwork. They are: the ability to lead and set tasks, formulate problems and jointly find their solutions, listen to advice, express approval and disapproval.
3. Affective-communicative
   . They lie on the emotional plane. A sociable person with these skills is empathetic, receptive to the feelings of others, and is able to understand others’ and voice their emotions.

How to improve communication skills

Not everyone is able to be the center of attention and be the life of the party. But everyone wants to be heard.

3 reasons to develop communication skills:

1. A sociable person achieves great success in life and career, fully realizes himself as an individual in all areas of activity. Thanks to communication skills, a good speaker has a better chance of achieving his goal.
2. The ability to easily make contact contributes to the acquisition of a wide range of useful and friendly connections.
3. A person who can easily find a common language with any person, quickly resolves conflicts, shows flexibility of thinking and understanding.

If you want to be successful, develop communication, work on yourself.

Rules of communication

If you want positive, sociable, interesting and smart interlocutors to appear around you - “Treat people (and colleagues) the way you would like them to treat you” (c) Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Group.

Rules for productive communication:

• If you can be the initiator, take control of the conversation. To develop communication skills, it is enough to demonstrate leadership qualities. It is important not to overdo it and turn into a dictator.
• Try not to be “dry” in conversation, show emotion, empathy, and be interested in the opinion of your interlocutor. There is no need to use formal templates, be original, show artistry and creativity.
• Be optimistic. Positively-minded people are more drawn to, they consult with them, they are more frank and talk about themselves, and they are more willing to share confidential information.

If you are a shy and reserved person, work on yourself, start small, don’t be afraid to discuss interesting information with colleagues, share your opinion. All doors are open to a sociable person. Don't be afraid to show your individuality.

Manipulation as a negative side of communication skills

Sometimes people abuse their ability to communicate naturally. They manipulate their interlocutors, without taking their interests into account at all and wanting only to achieve their goals.

Often in work teams where there are good conditions for career growth, such manipulators skillfully pit their colleagues against each other. At the same time, they present themselves in a favorable light to their superiors, as if casually belittling the skills of other employees.

Such manipulation is considered a negative manifestation of communication skills. Often, you can achieve what you want without sacrificing the interests of others, but by finding compromises and striving for healthy competition in the work team.

Exercises to develop communication skills

Communication is the basis of not only personal relationships, but also work ones. Communication training is useful for negotiations, team building, maintaining self-confidence, and successful sales. Communication is the foundation on which the success of any business rests.

Communication exercises and trainings are aimed at removing internal barriers. They teach confident communication skills, self-presentation, the ability to manage the flow of a conversation, find compromises, and negotiate. Collective trainings create a friendly, warm atmosphere of support and trust, which is necessary for the group to work effectively.

We have selected selected exercises to improve communication skills:

"Tell about…"

Goal: development of confident communication skills.

Each of the participants takes turns taking any object that belongs to him and asks him: “Tell me about your owner.” During the training, participants can ask questions from any field of activity.

"East market"

Goal: honing business communication skills, analyzing strategies for achieving goals

Each participant writes their name on 5 stickers. The leaves are rolled up and sent to the box. After this, everyone in turn must draw out 5 pieces of paper, and then each participant in the training must return the stickers with their name to themselves by any means.

The first one to collect a complete set of personalized stickers is declared the winner. The following is a discussion of the strategies used.

"In other words"

Goal: developing the ability to adequately convey the same idea in different words.

Participants are divided into groups of 3-5 people. After this, the presenter tells one player from each team a phrase consisting of 5-7 words. Each participant must convey the meaning of the phrase in other words to his colleague (not a single word should be repeated).

"For that guy"

Goal: training confident communication skills

Participants are divided into pairs. Everyone tells each other about themselves, after which badges are exchanged. After this, one of the pair members sits on a chair, the other stands behind him. In turn, each player is asked questions from any field of activity, the one standing behind must answer all the questions, regardless of whether he knows the exact answer or not. Finally, the person sitting on the chair must say the percentage of correct answers.

“How similar we are!”

Goal: development of contact skills

Participants are divided into pairs. Each pair must find and write down common traits and characteristics of each other as quickly as possible. Afterwards, each participant must choose another person and also find common characteristics with him. The winner is the one who first finds five common features.

After the stage of searching for common features and characteristics, a discussion begins:

• Was the exercise easy or difficult?
• How quick and easy was it to find commonalities with other participants?
• What helped you establish quick contact?

Exercises to develop communication skills are a powerful tool that helps you visually improve your ability to communicate in the shortest possible time.

Models of communication skills

Different characters, upbringing, types of temperaments - because of all these features, each person shows sociability in his own way. Based on general similarities, psychologists have identified several basic models of communication skills:

1. Dominant
   . This is a noisy, almost aggressive manner of communication, which aims to demonstrate its superiority in any situations and groups.
2. Introverted
   . This ability to communicate appears very insecure, characterized by a muffled voice and excessive compliance.
3. Rigid
   . Communication of this model is characterized by noticeable slowness, careful choice of words and long pauses.
4. Mobile
   . In contrast to the previous style of communication, the mobile nature of communication is impatient, characterized by the speed of introduction into the conversation with a quick loss of interest in it.

Types of communication skills

There are different types of communication skills:

• Dominant communication skills. Differs in rigidity and assertiveness. In interpersonal interaction, he strives to dominate. Interlocutors quickly get tired of such a sociable type, because he strives to talk rather than listen, and does not like to be interrupted.
• Mobile communication skills. A person with this type of sociability is distinguished by a high rate of speech and a wealth of non-verbal language. Representatives of this type easily join in the conversation, but quickly lose interest in it. In everyday life, this feature does not cause them serious problems, but business negotiations can fail because of it.
• Rigid communication skills. It is difficult for a person with this type of sociability to get acquainted and make contact. However, he does not experience communication difficulties among people he knows. The ability to clearly define his position and prudence are his main advantages when he successfully conducts business negotiations.
• Introverted communication skills. At first, this person may not seem sociable at all. But this does not mean that his communication skills are not developed. He is comfortable communicating in a narrow circle, but a large unfamiliar audience makes him feel constrained and unsure of himself. Such a person will feel more confident if the audience encourages and supports him.

Children's sociability

Every parent knows what children's sociability, generated by a small, inquisitive brain, is. Endless questions, a thirst for attention - everyone experienced such a period in early childhood. It is important to teach the child to show this sociability not only in relation to relatives, but also not to be afraid of social interaction outside the home. The sooner you can master the art of communication, the easier it will be for a little person to become a full-fledged mature personality.

The best way to develop children's communication skills is to teach communication by example: let the child attend events with you, observe the manner of communication and adopt it. Encourage his initiative in making acquaintances on the playground, gently push him to interact. What is most important is to ensure that he develops healthy self-esteem, which will serve as a stable internal core of self-confidence, which is so necessary for high sociability.

Stages of developing communication skills

Communication skills are not an innate ability. It is formed only in the process of social interaction. In its development, this ability goes through the following stages:

1. Gaining first experience in the family. The first form of interaction between a baby and his parents is direct emotional communication. It uses eye contact, facial expressions, and voice intonation. At this stage, the baby acquires basic knowledge about what this or that facial expression or this or that tone of voice means. He also learns to distinguish his family members from strangers.

Successful completion of this stage of development of communication skills is possible only if the psychological situation in the family is favorable and the child’s needs for emotional communication are satisfied.

1. Gaining the first experience of social interaction. The success of this stage of developing a child’s communication skills largely depends on how the first stage of this process went. If a child has a favorable psychological environment in the family, he openly makes contact with the outside world. In the kindergarten group, children learn to communicate with peers, acquire the skills of playing together and the first experience of resolving interpersonal conflicts.
2. Interaction in the school community. As a child grows up, he learns to help his peers and learns his own strengths and weaknesses. In a school environment, children gain the experience of true friendship. It is at this stage that interpersonal likes and dislikes are most clearly manifested. Friendly communication, starting from school, accompanies him throughout his life.
3. Interaction in the process of obtaining professional education. After graduating from school, girls and boys enter various educational institutions. Sometimes students study away from home, so they live in a dormitory. Obtaining a certain profession helps future specialists master the basic principles of business communication, prepares them for real work in one or another area of ​​economic activity, and living in a hostel helps improve interaction skills in an informal setting.
4. Interaction in the work team. When applying for a job in one or another company, a person improves his business communication skills. It is important for him to learn how to communicate correctly with management, with colleagues, and with subordinates.

Formation of sociability
The success of the formation of communication skills is influenced by factors such as:

• type of nervous system;
• family education style;
• the presence or absence of psychotrauma in childhood;
• interests and inclinations of the individual;
• socio-psychological climate in the team;
• acceptance or non-acceptance of one’s individuality;
• experience of communication at all 4 stages of development of communication skills.

The degree of expression of communication skills may vary in different situations because it is influenced by social conditions. The same person will have a different level of sociability in a family where everyone loves each other and in a tense work team.

Kinds

Depending on the way people use their communicative potential, experts determine levels of sociability. For example, an individual who prefers to remain silent and not express his opinion openly is classified as a low-communication person. Such a subject periodically faces problems in work and personal life.

In social psychology, the main types of people’s sociability are distinguished.

• The dominant look is assertive and tough. A person with this type strives to take the initiative in a conversation. He doesn't like to be interrupted. Already in the first minutes of the conversation, the listener feels that the interlocutor has filled all the available space with his presence.
• The mobile type is famous for its high sociability, speed of speech and a wide variety of facial movements. People of this species find it easy to strike up a conversation. At the same time, they can quickly lose interest in him. In the business sphere, this quality can lead to a decrease in the effectiveness of verbal communication. This type is perfect for everyday communication.
• The rigid appearance is characterized by the presence of great difficulties when entering into a conversation. It is not easy for this type of person to make new acquaintances. After going through the initial stage of the communication process, such a person often becomes an interesting and pleasant interlocutor. He is reasonable and clearly articulates his position. His speech is logical and clear. This type of communication skill is great for fruitful business communication.
• The introverted type is prone to loneliness. He is characterized by modesty and silence. It is difficult to get a person to have a frank conversation. He does not strive to take the initiative and is ready to easily give it up. Harsh, rude statements can unsettle an introvert. The presence of unfamiliar faces causes constraint.

An introvert needs words of encouragement. Refuting his arguments may contribute to an unexpected interruption in verbal communication.

Examples of communicative behavior

Simple examples of the manifestation of sociability in modern society:

• Relaxed meeting with the opposite sex
  . A sociable man knows how to make himself noticeable to a certain woman with just a couple of sentences. Being cheerful and sociable, he will immediately make jokes or give an unobtrusive compliment. With a modest and silent girl, at first he will simply sit next to him, ask what time it is and ask some other trivial question;
• Demonstration of leadership in the work team
  . Some people, when they start a new job, easily get to know everyone at once and do not hesitate to talk about their lives. Within a couple of months, such individuals become the soul of the company. If necessary, they will help out or cover for a colleague, but at the same time they will not allow anyone to sit on their neck. Everyone's favorites in work teams are highly likely to make a career faster;
• Confident interaction with strangers.
  There are situations when a sociable person needs to get a benefit and at the same time prove to his interlocutor that it will also be useful to him. A striking example is an attempt to reduce the price on the market. In this case, bargaining will be a manifestation of sociability. The buyer says that he is ready to buy two things at once, but at a more affordable price. Such an offer is beneficial to the seller and he agrees.