All of us are good at communicating, aren’t we? I mean, we all do it every single day. So, with all that practice, we must all excel at it.
However, you can’t help wondering if that was true then there would be no such thing as misunderstandings. Perhaps then we’re not quite as excellent at this apparently innate skill as the wealth of our experience would suggest.
Next month, on 25th June, to be precise we are hosting a special seminar, How communication can help your business with Will Kintish as our guest speaker. With this in mind we thought we would take a quick look at precisely what communication is, and over the next few weeks provide some more information on the topic as a whole.
We hope you find these articles helpful and interesting, and we look forward to seeing you at the seminar!
What is communication?
“Communication” is one of those words we all use on a fairly regular basis, but do we know precisely what it means? The reality is there are a number of different definitions. For example:
“The imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium” and “means of sending/receiving information, such as telephone lines or computers.” – Google.
“The act or process of using words, sounds, signs or behaviours to express or exchange information or to express your ideas, thoughts, feelings etc., to someone else.” – Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
“The imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium.” – The Oxford Dictionary.
These are no doubt the sorts of definitions we would immediately think of when it comes to communication. However, they convey a lot more information than we probably consciously think about when we discuss the word.
What is Communication? Four factors
- How you say something. Not only the medium you use (whether this be speech, electronic or non-verbal) but also the way you use your tone (or perhaps even your typography choices).
- Why you say something. What is the intention behind the message you are delivering?
- What you don’t say. Sometimes what you don’t say can be just as important (if not more so) than what you do actually say).
- Your body language. Too often we can think that communication all comes down to the written or spoken word. However, with the majority of communication being subconscious and non-verbal, this clearly isn’t the case.
With so many different things going on when we communicate, it’s important to make sure we get it right. Nevertheless, like any other skill, it’s one that needs to be learnt (and so few of us are actively taught) and practised on a regular basis.