3 Easy Communication Tips
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Mar 25, 2013
I'm the guy who sometimes love creating the "10 Tips In 2 Minutes" posts. While those are popular, it seems that some folks think 10 tips is too many, even if they're short. So today, I'm only giving 3 tips on communications. They're very easy to learn but maybe not as easy to do. Actually I think they're easy, but let's see what you think.
 via Compfight |
Here's the deal. You may think your language skills are great, but if you don't notice soon enough that people aren't understanding you, then you're
in trouble. There's this interesting thing about perception. Sometimes we talk to people and they don't understand what we're saying. If I'm talking about health care issues and you're not in health care, it's possible that my terminology might not be understood by you because you're not in health care. Yet, if I try hard enough, I can get almost anyone to understand many of the basic concepts of what I'm talking about without their needing to be in the industry.
That's what it's all about, thus that's what these 3 easy tips are about. Let's begin.
1. Use smaller words. I dabble in the sesquipedalian nature of vocabulary which sometimes shows a lack of perspicaciousness when interacting with others. Why didn't I just say that sometimes I use big words, which shows a lack of good judgment with talking with some people? Sometimes you'll be seen as either showing off or being out of touch with others when you do that; save that stuff for when you truly want to show off.
2. Keep your message simple. What do you do? Are you one of those people who's in process reorganization towards better paradigms for success? What the heck does that mean? Me, I help hospitals make money, and I help people become better leaders. Pretty simple right? Nice easy words? I've found that even people in the same industry as the people they're talking to sometimes have no idea what some of the industry terms mean, as strange at that might seem.
3. Expect people to interpret what you say rather than listen to what you say and progress from there. When I did the review on the book Taking Smart Risks I mentioned that the author made a good point in saying that we all should expect that our entire message might not always be being understood by the people we're talking to, no matter how simple we try to make it. This also happens when you're trying to give people criticism sometimes. You can only be so good and clear with every person you talk to so it's always a good idea to get people to confirm what you've just said to them when it's important. You'll save a lot of time in trying to get it as correct as possible up front.
There you go, 3 easy tips. Comments, questions?
I am drinking my coffee, and am just in the right frame of mind to listen to 3 tips. Thank you, I feel set up for the day: Especially the one about interpretation. We always have the hurdle of having to explain our geographic location to those with preconceived idea, rather than have them come top us to see the possibilities. Thanks for the tips – they were the perfect size!
Thanks Steve. That’s the thing about communications; sometimes we have to work harder at it than necessary because the other person isn’t ready to hear it our way, even if they end up agreeing with what we had to say.