There’s nothing effective communication can’t resolve. I firmly believe this. The key word is effective. Without it being effective, it won’t work. There’s plenty of poor communication which can easily shut-down a conversation or incite it into a yelling match—certainly killing a conversation.
Communication is a skill that requires continual practice. It is not an innate skill nor a skill most people have because it is not a required subject taught in school—unless you choose to study it in college.
Compassion and empathy are formed through active and then empathetic listening. When there is a lack of compassion or empathy, it is perpetually because of poor communication skills (in particular) poor listening skills. During a time in which empathy often feels absent, resulting in pervasive judgements, misunderstandings, divisiveness, anger, hate, ignorance, the list is endless. It is on each of us to improve our active listening skills. It’s not easy, but essential for personal and professional growth and for humanity’s sake.
I hope through my videos, we can all begin to build our communication skills and to talk less, listen more.
a) Talking
b) Listening
c) Body Language
d) All of the above
A talk less, listen more strategy that works and is instrumental in teaching pedagogy as a means to ensure students are actively listening, therefore better understanding the lesson at hand, is to paraphrase back to the speaker what s/he shared with you. For those in or formerly in education like me, we also call this checking for understanding.
Practice this with the next person you engage with. When they speak, focus on what they are saying and not your thoughts or reply. After the speaker is done, paraphrase to them what they just shared. Pay attention to the speaker’s body language too. This small act of paraphrasing/active listening has big impact. It is how deep connections and relationships are built and grown.
Can you remember a time someone paraphrased back to you what you shared? How did that make you feel?
Btw, the answer is d. However, the most effective communication involves empathetic listening mirrored by your body language like eye contact, facial expressions, your body leaning toward the speaker and you know it, less talking! Check out my other post about empathetic listening posted this past Tuesday.
In community,
Jenny