Howdy, Bubba! Hey, if you're new around these parts, I just want to say how much I appreciate you dropping by! Oh, and you may want to subscribe to my feed. Thanks, and a tip o' the hat to ya!

In 1991, while living in Austin, Texas, my wife and I taught marriage basics to engaged and newlywed couples at a large urban church, and my favorite subject was always the section on communication. I think it was so much fun because I loved to see the looks on their faces when they came face-to-face with the reality that communication, even between two people as close as they obviously were, was not as easy as they had thought.

One of my favorite exercises was to seat each couple back to back. One was given a pad, the other a very simple diagram similar to the one at right. The task was for the person with the diagram to describe it verbally so the other person could draw it without actually seeing it for themselves. The results were always hilarious, and more than a little enlightening. Of the hundreds of couples we’ve had do this, as far as I can remember only one ever got it right.

One would think this task to be rather easy, but I challenge you to try it with someone close to you; the closer the better. You may be shocked to discover that while you thought you were being quite clear, what the other person heard was not – quite – what you meant.

Communication is the key to – well, what is it not the key to? I’ll give you an example.

An article by Harry Joiner speaks about the importance of being clear when entering your information on Internet job boards like Monster. You’d think that something as basic as your resume headline would be pretty simple, right? Wrong! Harry suggests that instead of making that headline as generic as possible, try going in the other direction, including such specifics as industry, companies, or even SIC codes. Granted this is probably most useful for very targeted job hunts, but the principle still holds.

Here’s another simple example. Take the word, “dinner”, as in “I’ll meet you for dinner at that new French restaurant Jacques en le’Box.” Without specifying a time of day, would you be meeting that person for a meal around midday, or in the evening?

Are you sure that what you say is actually what others hear? Are you willing to back up a bit and make sure, or do you just charge ahead, assuming all the while that what you meant is coming across perfectly clear? If you could listen with other’s ears, what would you hear?

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!