Yes... I am talking about the gnawing feeling that we have when communication occurs like this. Dysfunctional families at dining tables are super examples of this. The conversations are either not there or they are all watching TV. If there are conversations, they relate to all the comfortable no risk topics live movies, weather, news, etc.
Exploring the “unsaid” is like taking on a huge risk. There exists the possibility of a serious altercation either due to the semantics of the conversation or the apparent of lack of integrity and sincerity on the part of the person initiating the conversation.
Being aware of what is not said lies at the root of our communication ability. I asked one my students as to why this awareness was important. He mentioned that “awareness creates choices and choices give us results”.
Nothing could be closer to the truth.
Here are some areas we can touch upon to increase our awareness:
Communication occurs at the verbal (words), non-verbal (gestures), the extra-verbal (semantics) and at the intra-verbal (sounds, intonations) level. Being aware will require you to master the art of recognizing and responding to such unsaid messages.
Being aware will also mean admitting that one is less than aware. This is crucial as we cannot change what we refuse to acknowledge.
Communication stemming from insincerity is obvious. We must do what Carnegie suggested – take sincere interest in other people. Plan the best time to say what you want to say.
We convey our external and internal messages during communication – whether we ourselves are aware or not!!!
Copyright - Nitesh Kotecha
Copyright - Nitesh Kotecha
No comments:
Post a Comment