Posted on Wednesday, September 01 2010 by
Paola ::
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Photo by Russ Hutto
Communication can be confusing and often times can lead to misunderstandings, especially if you only communicate via email. Words do not have intonation, like in the spoken tongue. Even if you are specific there is room for interpretation. That is why if you can speak on the phone or in person that gives you the entire picture, as you get a feeling for what the caller is conveying to you. Just the other day one of my clients emailed me; naturally I responded however it would have been better if we spoke about her situation as emailing was just one dimensional in my opinion. I attempted to cover as much as I could yet; if we could clarify on the phone then the response would have been more tailored to her needs.
You find examples of vague communication all over the place, this is so you fill in the blanks with your own interpretation and this way the blanket message covers a wider audience. Billboards, slogans and even on television you will find some kind of ambiguity in their desired messages they want to get across.
As a Life Coach, I am more attention to detail and need specifics, I like the fact that people can be honest enough to get to heart of the matter, no matter how emotional it is or how much it can bring up the past. It is important to get resolution, forgiveness, and understanding. We learn from our past it is our history after all. Being specific really allows you to see where that pivotal point became a reality, larger than life moment that defined our experience of the event.
We are all guilty of saying things out of context, or expecting our partners to mind-read or having our communication misinterpreted. I know I still do it, having thought something and saying something out loud, “She will like that” and expecting full understanding of my four word sentence. Yet at other times I talk too much at the micro level, being too detailed that it can frustrate my husband as he likes to function at the big picture level.
So at whatever level you communicate in make sure you are understood and get your message across.