Welcome to an over populated world of MISUNDERSTANDING.
Over populated? Because it’s easier to misunderstand than understand.
Why? Ineffective Communication.
Here are 11 Ways Ineffective Communication cause Misunderstandings:
1. Talking in a language others struggle to understand. People do this more to show off their language prowess than to communicate with genuine intent.
2. Being bureaucratese in speech and peppering it unnecessarily with jargons, abstractions, terminologies, euphemisms and circumlocutions, knowing fully well they may not be understood. Again done just to show off.
3. Nonverbal (body language, facial expressions, tone, etc.) not supporting the verbal (words), thus creating a huge disconnect. Is he praising me or being sarcastic? Is that a genuine compliment or a left handed one? That's why Aristotle insisted "it’s not just good enough to say the right thing, you have to also say it in the right way”.
4. Blatantly assuming that the listener has clearly understood everything said to him / her, so no need to cross check for understanding. Really, ASS U ME ??
5. Speech loaded with fillers (“ah”, “umm”, “hmm”, “like”, etc.) conveying the impression that you don’t know what you’re talking about, even if you do.
6. Rate of speech (rate at which we speak) being either too fast or too slow, conveying the impression that you’re not confident about what you're saying, even if you are.
7. Unimpressive tangibles (appearance, grooming & manners). Imagine consulting a doctor who looks like he himself needs to consult a doctor.
8. Mixing words (affect or effect, illicit or elicit, then or than, your or you’re, etc.) and structuring confusing sentences (humans are multicellular orgasms, time flies and fruit flies like bananas, etc.)
9. Careless with punctuations. Could be a matter of life or death – ‘pardoned, not sentenced to death’ vs. ‘pardoned not, sentenced to death’. Now punctuate this – ‘Let’s eat mother’.
10. Using ineffective mediums or channels to communicate. “If it was so very urgent, then why didn’t you call me instead of emailing." Learning - don’t always choose a safe & convenient medium, but an effective one.
11. Inattentive, Selective or Partial listening. Teacher: "Make a sentence with I”. Student: "I is...” Teacher: "I AM”. Student: "I AM...the 9th. letter of the alphabet”.
Safe to say then, when people don’t understand, they misunderstand.
Hence spoke a wise man – "An effective communicator is not the one who ensures his message is understood, but the one who ensures his message is not misunderstood".
So, keep your communication effective the first time around. People shouldn't have to look twice to figure out that it’s just trick photography.
#communicationskills #presentationskill #publicspeaking #communicationstrategy #communicationtips #communicationtraining
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