The art of successful communication is a practiced art involving a number of factors, none of them simple. Forget or ignore one and the process is sure to fail.
While it can be easy to talk it’s much more complicated to think about the words we intend using before giving them voice. But words are as powerful as they can be cheap. Their implication can be complex. Their intent can easily misinterpreted.
Conversation can be casual. Communication is a much more formal process.
Communication requires an audience. A solo dissertation to an empty room is a waste of both time and effort. Those who have something to say need to say it to those they believe need to hear it. But first we need to consider the potential impact of the words we are considering putting into voice.
Arguments begin when words are weaponised.
Communication is about much more than vocalised thoughts. And it’s much more than hearing whatever it is that is being said. Hearing is not listening. Hearing is acknowledgement of sound. Listening is understanding and processing that sound.
Listening need not be followed by an externalised response. Silence may be all that is necessary depending on circumstance.
We are all driven by a need to express ourselves vocally. We want to get our message across. We want to make a connection.
More than anything, however, we want to be heard. The way we satisfy that need encompasses what we have to say and the way we say it. We get to choose both.
Gary Bentley Counselling 