HOW GOOD ARE YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS?

Are you good at explaining things? Good with language?

Here’s a 5-minute test to find out. Work with a friend.

Have your friend sit with his/her back to you. Draw a picture using (say) five geometric shapes – rectangles, triangles, circles – without letting your friend see it. Then describe what you have drawn, and have your friend reproduce exactly what you describe.

Compare your friend’s drawing with your original. How similar are they?

In the many years I have run this exercise with groups, no one has ever exactly reproduced the original drawing. Some efforts have been similar, but never exactly the same.

Even more surprisingly, none has ever been the same as anyone else’s in the same room.

What does that mean?

It means that when you transmit the same information to a number of others at the same time, they will all receive it differently. And when your information contains abstract ideas, the scope for that difference is magnified. And when they transmit that information to others, there will be even greater differences from your original.

That could be important. So it is worth finding out how to minimize the errors in verbal communication. A good starting place is at http://SpeakingAndPresentation Skills.com.