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Importance of Communication Skills

                     “I contend that we (engineers) are undervalued because of our widespread

                    inability to explain what we do to the general public (and why it is so important).

It is one of the hardest goals to accomplish, to be able to boil down difficult

concepts into a short and easily understood presentation or elevator pitch.”

Marybeth Miceli, President, Miceli Infrastructure Consulting, USA (2011)

 

 

 

My take on this quote is that for engineers that are specialised in their field, whenever they must explain a topic needing their expertise, they tend to talk too in depth about it to the point where not everyone is able to understand what they are saying unless they have some background knowledge about the topic. 

Thus, engineers being undervalued is due to the fact that we are unable to simplify the terms for the common people to understand as the things might be too complicated, hence usually people would be asked to explain it in layman terms

Comments

  1. Hareshvaran GunaseelanJanuary 8, 2023 at 7:43 PM

    Justin made valid points about engineers having the technical knowledge in their field. He mentions that when engineers try to explain their thought processes, others may not understand what is being conveyed as they may not have the equivalent technical competence. He infers that due to the lack of effective communication, engineers are often undervalued.

    Justin puts his point across well and then follows it up with the problem (engineers are unable to coherently get their message across), its impact (people not understanding), and the result (having to explain their ideas in layman terms).

    In terms of language, there are some grammatical errors but overall, Justin has done well in gathering his thoughts about this quote.

    ReplyDelete

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