Mark Twain once wrote, “It is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” The words twins apply in the sense that communication without competence is not communication at all but rather words that form sentences that are exchanged with each other. If one does not have the ability to carry out the desired message in an utterance, that utterance is considered useless. To achieve competence it is necessary to implement the components that make up the theories of communication. The general theme of communication competence is effectiveness and appropriateness. These distinctive features can be seen in other communication theories such as Grices' Cooperative Principle, Brown & Levinson's Politeness Theory, and Barabara O'Keefes' Message Design Logic. Dell Hymes coined the term communicative competence in 1966 when he met the American linguist Noam Chomsky's conception of linguistic competence. Hymes realized that a language user must use the language not only correctly (based on linguistic competence), but also appropriately (based on communicative competence). These distinctive characteristics can be implemented in interpersonal communication competence; which allows you to achieve your communication objectives without jeopardizing the face of the other party. There are three components necessary to achieve competent communication: 1. knowledge, 2. skills and 3. motivation. These three components are all interconnected; knowledge is being aware of the situation and knowing which behavior to use, skill comes from the ability to apply the chosen behavior in a given situation, and motivation is having the desire to communicate competently. Communicating ef...... half of the document ......sensitivity theory has characteristics that contribute to the overall goal of communicative competence. To summarize, communication competence requires an individual to communicate effectively and appropriately. These distinctive characteristics can be implemented by three components: 1. Skill, 2. Knowledge and 3. Motivation. The four maxims of the Grices cooperative principle contribute to communicative competence by ensuring an effective exchange of information. Politeness theory coordinates communication and addresses the positive and negative faces of individuals. The logic of Message Design studies the perceptions of communicative competence. A person's understanding of a theory or principle will determine how he or she will react in a given situation. So if you don't possess the qualities that make a competent communicator then: “It's better to keep your mouth shut”.