Common terminology of Communicating

Active listening = Making a concerted effort to hear and understand the message the other person is trying to convey
Aggression = An attitude of hostility
Assertiveness = Able to assert or stand up for oneself
Attention = Awareness, mental concentration
Aural = Related to hearing
Clarifying = Making clear, ensuring understanding
Cognition = Ability to understand
Colloquialism = Word or phrase used in everyday speech but not for formal speech or writing
Communication = Passage of information from one to another
Cues = Things that are said or done which serve as a signal for something else to be done
De-escalation = A term commonly used to refer to techniques for diffusing a potentially aggressive or hostile situation
Double entendres = Double meanings dependent on context, for example ‘The dog had to be put to sleep’ and ‘The anaesthetist will put you to sleep’
Dyslexia = Impairment of ability to read with comprehension
Dysphasia = Difficulty with speaking
Dysphonia = Difficulty in pronouncing sounds
Dyspraxia = Difficulty in performing co-ordinated movements
Empathy = The ability to identify with another person and understand their point of view
Inferences = To imply or suggest without stating directly
Labelling = A form of stereotyping, for example the unpopular patient
Mirroring = Unconsciously mimicking or adopting a similar position to another
Non-verbal = communication Communicating without the use of words, for example touch, gesture, facial expression
Oral = Related to mouth/speech
Paraphrasing = To express the meaning in simple terms, rewording
Perception = Ability to see and understand
Personality = Our individual character, our distinctive qualities which makes us who we are
Self-awareness = Noticing or being aware of yourself, your actions, your abilities and the impact these have or may have on others
Self-image = The way you see yourself or would describe yourself to others
Stereotyping = Assigning people to categories based on assumptions rather than fact, for example all fat people are lazy
Summarizing = Pulling together the main points
Sympathy = A feeling of pity or tenderness towards one who is suffering
Therapeutic = Healing, curative, comforting
Verbal communication = The spoken word and how we speak, including tone, pitch and volume
Validating = Confirming, checking
Violence = Unwarranted physical force or strength exerted with the intention of injuring or destroying another individual