06 Nov How Do Navigators Communicate?
“You Deserve To Live An Extraordinary Life!”
We live in a world that requires people to talk and communicate with each other constantly. Under the best of conditions, individuals often struggle with what is being said, how to interpret messages, and how to best send/return one’s own messages. From the vantage point of Navigating for Success, there are five key communication skills that go a long way to enhance mutual understanding, problem solving and cooperation. These skills are:
1) Knowing what conversation you are really having!
2) Listening well
3) Straight Talk
4) Accepting Feedback
5) Making no assumptions
In today’s post, let’s look at what conversation you are having. Just because you’re talking doesn’t necessarily mean you’re saying anything useful. Our research suggests that many people don’t clearly understand what another person is trying to communicate. Perhaps 40% is accurately understood. Within 24 hours, most of the conversation is forgotten, misinterpreted or distorted. What’s left is approximately 28% of what the speaker intended to communicate. What you don’t accurately remember about a conversation, you’ll probably fill in with information that supports your own beliefs and opinions. The result: misunderstandings, disconnections, and wasted effort.
A key to clear communication is clarifying exactly what conversation the other person is having. Given the rush of everyday events and the non-stop challenges of managing a business, people often say something on the run, leaving a curt voicemail or e-mail message and assuming that clear and focused communication has occurred.
Think before you open your mouth or touch the keyboard. Give the other person a fair chance of understanding your intent. Be clear about exactly what conversation you’re having. For example:
- Are you expressing an opinion?
- Are you making a request?
- Are you simply venting an upset and expecting nothing back?
- Are you lodging a complaint?
- Are you brainstorming, just throwing out ideas and expecting someone to lob some back at you?
- Are you intending to take a specific, imminent action?
Here are some helpful tips for having a useful conversation:
- Before each conversation, determine first what you want to accomplish
- Then, choose a conversation that makes your intention and goals clear to your listener. No one can read your mind.
- To maximize your listener’s level of understanding, be focused, clear, and simple.
- If you’re the listener, summarize back what you’re hearing
Navigating for successful communication is a skill that can be learned. You can start now by reading my book “Navigating for Success,” click here to order!