ABSTRACT
The art of communication is complicated and amazing. When one person communicates to another, something takes place that is found nowhere else in nature, which makes interpersonal communication probably humanity’s greatest achievement. Consider a person who communicates effectively, someone would describe as socially skilled. The terms ‘social skills’ and ‘social competence’, ‘interpersonal skills’ and ‘communication skills’ and sometimes a combination of these ‘social communication skills’, can all appear to describe the same thing in different contexts and different texts. When asked about happiness or quality of life, most people will mention friends, family or a lover or partner and as Ouvry states: ‘social relationships are one of the most important aspects of most people’s lives’. Social competence has been repeatedly demonstrated to be a critical variable in predicting success in future life – the people who get jobs and then get promoted are the people with good social skills.
