If there is one subject that gets me fired up it is the subject of communication. Maybe that’s why I chose that as my major in college. Most problems in life boil down to a communication issue. This can be written, verbal, or non-verbal. After all the one thing I learned in all of my classes was that “you cannot NOT communicate”. Every single word we speak or don’t speak, every email we send, every letter we write, and every action that we take communicates something. Good two-way communication is so very vital to the survival of every relationship that you and I have.
That is why I get so frustrated when people behave like morons when it comes to this issue. So here’s my suggestion to anyone who thinks they might need to work on their communication skills and also to those who don’t. (Because they are probably the ones that need it most)
1. Make sure you have all of the facts before making any judgment. And then get some more facts.
2. Remember to keep all things in context of the situation, and don’t forget to factor in the personality of the person with whom you are communicating.
3. Intently listen to the conversation or read the entire letter before responding. Again don’t just take stuff out of context.
4. Remember that message sent isn’t always message received, so make sure that the other person understands what you meant.
5. Watch your tone of voice and body language.
6. Ask good questions.
7. Make eye contact.
8. Be slow to speak and quick to listen. They should have a verse in the Bible about that one.
9. Remember that ALL people are complex creatures and can’t always be put into a nice neat categories.
10. PAY ATTENTION
The bottom line is that there are a lot of people that are poor communicators for whatever reason. If we could all take the time and put more effort into how and what we communicate, I believe we could see a huge difference in our world.
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2 comments:
Good list, my friend. I can't tell you how many [frustrating] times I've seen your "message sent isn't always message received" bear true lately.
Why is simple communication so hard? Could it be that we're all so self-absorbed that we continually filter out what we don't want to believe, accept, or even deal with?
I think you should know this article helped me and my friend with our school project on communication. so thanks. (:
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