Improving Verbal Communication
Posted by Russ Ray on May 12, 2008
You might find this link to an online communication newsletter interesting. In particular, the graphic demonstrates the many things that can interfere with communication between the sender and receiver. For example:
- Interest: what is the receiver’s interest in what the sender is communicating?
- Competition: what other messages is the receiver hearing that the sender has to compete against for attention?
- Cost/Consequences: what are the costs and consequences perceived by the receiver in focusing on a particular communication event to the neglect of other competing communications?
- Willingness: what is the willingness of the receiver to listen at all?
- Time: does the time it takes the sender to communicate interfere with the receiver’s needs/agenda?
- Location: does the location make it uncomfortable or distracting for the receiver to understand what the sender is communicating?
- Motivating Factors/Belief Systems/Sensitivity: is the sender sensitive to the receiver’s needs and attitudes?
- Timing/Appropriateness: is the sender communicating at a time that is convenient for the receiver to hear it and is the message timing convenient to the receiver’s pre-existing plans?
There are other communications-related tidbits at the link as well, but these seemed most appropriate to the reading topics this week.
