16th November 2009
Help others to listen to you
The individual's whole experience is built upon the plan of his language.-
HENRI DELACROIX
We talk and we hear. But do we communicate and listen? These are different dimensions in inter personal communication. Language is very important to maintain the quality of our inter-personal communication. When we speak to others, are we clear what is happening to them? Are we aware that the purpose of our communication is not merely to ensure that the sound waves hit the mechanical ear drums, but to make an impression on the other person's mind? The objective of any communication is to ensure that the message is `embedded' in the mind of the other person and not `deposited' on the ears of the other person.
In order to ensure that the purpose of the communication is met, we need to be conscious how we carry out the process of communication. In the present context of a highly charged environment, the mind is not focused enough to catch everything that is uttered. There is an enormous amount of distraction and the attention drifts. This makes the process of communication even more difficult.
These days, one of the main modes of communication is the phone, that too, cell phones. When we speak to someone on cell phone, we do not keep the above principles in mind. We speak from a place where there is so much of other noise. Sometimes the telephone instrument that we use is not of good quality and consequently the message is not delivered properly. On other occasions, the signal is not clear and we are not aware that the other person is not able to catch clearly what we are trying to say.
When we communicate with someone, we need to understand what we are doing. We are helping the other person to listen. If we are helping someone, let us do it properly.
N C Sridharan
Posts
