*** Common Communication Traps to Avoid:#nj2as #tcot Making a statement that you cannot back up with facts - Such a statement is called an OPINION, and while everyone is entitled to have one (or several), your opinion is worth about as much as any other. Educate yourself first before you attempt to inform someone else. If you don’t know the answer, just say so and if appropriate, offer to find the answer and get back to your listener. Failing to listen before you speak - If you don’t listen, you will be unable to determine whether or not you understand what is being said. If you don’t understand what is being said, how can you open up your mouth to respond? Listen, ask questions, and make sure that you understand to the best of your ability (and the other person’s ability to explain their position), what is being said BEFORE you respond. Interrupting - You don’t like it when people do it to you. Allow the speaker to complete their thought before you respond. Take time to consider what is being said. Treat the other person with respect. If you don’t believe that the other person deserves your respect (a pretty presumptuous position to take in most cases), then why are you having the conversation in the first place. Personal attacks - Again, if you don’t respect your audience enough to refrain from personal attacks, you can hardly expect them to respect or listen to you. Find some common ground and work from there - You love your kids, they love their kids. You may not yet agree on what is best for them, but you BOTH want to keep your children safe and healthy. That is just one example of course, but the idea is to understand where there is room for agreement. That gives both parties a frame of reference by which to gauge the progress of the conversation. On the other hand, if you want what is best for your children, and the person you are speaking with hates kids, that might be an indication that you are headed towards a bad outcome. Too Much Information (TMI) - You aren’t going to have much of an influence if you try to overwhelm your audience. Take your time and build a level of trust by supplying facts and sources at a digestible pace. Jargon - Just because you are fluent in whatever area of expertise you may think you are fluent in, that does not entitle you to confuse the conversation with words and phrases that the person on the other end of the conversation could not possibly know. AVOID USING JARGON! DON’T BEAT YOUR LISTENER UP WITH YOUR FACTS AND STATISTICS - No one wants to be browbeaten or to be made to feel foolish. You should be trying to make a friend, or at least to make a connection with another person, otherwise why are you trying to communicate. Use facts and sources to support your argument not to beat the other person into submission. These are just a few pointers that I am trying to employ in my own interactions with people. I am not saying it is always easy, and I am certainly not saying that I haven’t made each and every one of these mistakes. I am saying that it is worth the effort to try to improve our communications skills if we intend to Save Our Republic.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 15:12:57 +0000
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