Better talkers than listeners 7.13.21

In reading Richard Carlson's article about Perceptive Communications for Building Effective Business Relationships, I was struck by the quote, "It is the receiver who determines whether or not communication takes place; not the transmitter."

Wow, is that a paradigm shift! I don't know about you, but for much of my life I thought that if something was missed or misunderstood it must have been on the receiver's end.

It turns out that the skill and art of communication is something that takes some time and effort; but, because it feels second nature, we spend little time analyzing or improving it. Many of the tools and techniques are not rocket science. Simply the commitment of understanding our own communication style and the styles of others is a great place to begin.

For starters, it's important to understand one another's communication styles to understand more broadly:

• How they use time

• What opportunities appeal to them

• How they make decisions

• How they react to pressure and conflict

Once we understand more about our own tendencies and the preferences of others, we can temporarily change our communication behaviors to meet the needs of others. This accommodation might mean:

• you spend more or less time communication than you'd ideally like to

• the pace is slower or faster

• the tone is more animated or less emotional

• the level of detail is increased or decreased

While these elements might be more or less than you'd like in any given moment, your ability to meet the communication needs of someone else can dramatically increase the possibility of understanding, and ultimately, success. Find more in my RESOURCES section around Communication Style Assessments.