|
Stopping Bad Communication
Bad communication
is ineffective communication. By ineffective communication, I’m
referring to communication that does not efficiently yield the
result desired by the communicators.
Here’s
a belief that, when you adopt it, will make you a better communicator:
“The
meaning of your communication is the outcome you get.”
So what does
that mean? For whatever you say to other person, verbally and
nonverbally, their resulting action is the true meaning of what
you communicated.
Suppose you
say to Janet, “Nice hat”. What you don’t know
is that this is Jane’s beat up old hat she uses to keep
herself dry from the rain and she’s not proud of it. Still,
you genuinely meant the compliment. She sarcastically retorts,
“Well thanks a lot. I just wear this hat to keep myself
dry! No need to rub it in!”
The real meaning
of this communication was the same as if you said, “Janet,
that’s an awful hat!” It’s the job of the communicator
to deliver their message effectively so that the receiver gets
the intended meaning. If the listener does not receive the intended
message, as Janet didn’t in this example, it’s up
to us to rework our communication so the listener gets it as intended.
Have you ever
tried talking with someone but they seemed “hard-headed”?
Did you try to get through to someone but they appeared “dumber
than a box of rocks”? If something like this occurs, the
natural reaction may be to dismiss the person as “stubborn”
or as a “bozo”. What we need to do is to realize that
we need to vary our communication so they receive our intended
message.
It’s
summed up in one word: FLEXIBILITY.
Flexibility
means varying your behavior continually until you get your outcome.
In this case, you continue to vary your communication until your
listener gets the message you’re intending. The way you
know your listener “gets it” is you watch them and
listen to them and evaluate the feedback you get from them. The
burden of communication is on you, not the listener.
With this
awesome new belief of yours, you’ll communicate better with
everyone you encounter. From here on, you understand there is
no bad communication any longer since you’ll adjust your
delivery if someone doesn’t understand you.
Kent Sayre
is a worldwide persuasion expert and author of “The Ultimate
Persuasion Formula” available at: www.TheUltimatePersuasionFormula.com
Furthermore, he is the author of the bestselling book “Unstoppable
Confidence” endorsed by such celebrity authors as Brian
Tracy, Robert Allen, and Jim Rohn.
|
