Improve your Communication Skills

 

Improve your Communication Skills - Alan Barker

While I was reading a book 'Improve your Communication Skills' by Alan Barker, I came across the following point which is very easy to understand how people think of a sentence:

What does it all mean?

The transmission model ignores the way humans understand. Human beings don't process information; they process meanings.
For Example, the words 'I ám fine' could mean:

• 'I am feeling well';
• 'I am happy';
• 'I was feeling unwell but am now feeling better';
• 'I was feeling unhappy but now feel less unhappy';
• 'I am not injured; there's no need to help me';
• 'Actually, I feel lousy but I don't want you to know it';
• 'Help!'

- or any one of a dozen other ideas. The receiver has to understand the meaning of the words if they are to respond appropriately; but the words may not contain the speaker's whole meaning.
 
There is a paradox in communicating. I cannot expect that you will understand everything I tell you; and I cannot expect that you will understand only what I tell you. - Patrick Bouvard

If we want to develop our communication skills, we need to move beyond the transmission model. We need to think about communication in a new way. And that means thinking about how we understand.