Personal skill development in communication

Personal communication skills, as exemplified by talk show host Larry King, are crucial to success in today's interconnected world. King, one of America's most successful communicators, provides a valuable example of successful communication skills that have brought him world renown as a broadcaster, successful book career, and influence in the political arena. It is through the example of individuals like King that we can learn not only the value of personal communication skills, but the specifics of some of the most important of these skills. King himself notes that personal communication skills are based on a number of factors such as honesty, interest, attitude, and openness. Successful adaptation of such skills can help the individual both on a personal and professional level.

Larry King is one of America's best known talk show hosts. He hosts the well-known Larry King Live, the world's first phone-in television talk show. Larry King live is the highest-rated program on CNN, and had its start in 1985. The show contains a mixture of political debate, discussion, and celebrity interviews (CNN.com).

Larry King's exceptional personal communication skills have played an important role in his success. Perhaps the most obvious of these skills is his ability to express himself verbally. King has been called the "Master of the Mike" by Time magazine. Prior to the Larry King show, King was a popular media personality in Miami, and worked extensively in a radio (CNN.com).

King's interview skills are almost legendary. Since the beginning of his over 47-year-long career, he has conducted more than 40,000 interviews. The subjects of his interviews have ranged from Presidents of the United States, leaders of foreign governments, convicted murderers, to Nobel Peace Prize winners. Guests have included Mikhail Gorbachev, Nancy Reagan, Prince, Malcolm X, Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Tony Blair, Bob Hope, and Monica Lewinsky (CNN.com).

King's noted communication skills extended beyond the broadcast medium. His written multiple books, including a book entitled How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere: The Secrets of Good Communication. King also played an important role in international diplomacy, as host of a Middle East peace process that included Yasser Arafat, King Hussein of Jordan, and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. He has had cameo appearances in a number of movies, including the Contender, Ghostbusters, and America's sweethearts (CNN.com).

Today, personal communication skills are more valuable than ever. We live in a world that depends upon effective communication economically, politically, personally, socially, and at almost every other way imaginable. We are connected by communications technologies that include traditional telephone lines, the Internet, fax machines, traditional one-on-one communication, radio, TV, cellular telephones.

As an individual, personal communication skills are necessary to navigate our interconnected and often complex society. Personally, we must use communication effectively to establish meaningful interpersonal relationships. Similarly, we must use our personal communication skills to build effective and profitable business relationships. These skills can help us find a position, excel in that position, and meet our personal goals and the goals of our employers.

It is through the examples of outstanding personal communicators like Larry King that we can gain insight into the most essential in effective communication skills. In King's book, How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere, he notes that practice is an important component of successful verbal communication. This is true, he notes, even for those with a gift for gab. It is practice, argues King, that turns a natural talent into a useful and potentially marketable skill.