How to remove Barriers in Communication Part III

In the first two blogs on this topic we discussed the two very important measures to improve the effectiveness of communication. In this blog we will discuss the rest. The list is exhaustive and we can keep on adding from time to time. Hence, we will look into the most relevant measures related to the corporate world.

3. Understanding the audience: Have you ever had this instance....you were explaining something to your best...but the other person was wondering what was exactly happening. Or you are sitting in a training session but had a difficulty understanding the content delivered by the trainer. Why was this??????

Its very simple the communication was designed without taking the audience into consideration. The presentation was made from the sender's perspective and not the receivers perspective. That is one of the biggest mistake an individual can make to ruin his communication and at times his reputation.

While speaking, the sender needs to clearly understand if the receiver understands...has the capacity to comprehend.... whatever he is going to say. If he doesn't do this, it is equal to not being said... To quote an example in one of the meetings, in between the review, the manager said...There is nothing wrong in calling a spade a spade......Half of the people present there didn't understand what was that. It actually meant, "There is nothing wrong in telling the truth or the facts, why do we need to hide it." Now, when did the team come to know about the meaning... do you think it was during the meeting... definitely not.... It was after the meeting.. after asking someone else for the explanation.

People at times carry this misunderstanding that others will be baffled with their usage of high proficient english. Unfortunately it is the other way around. At times people may not be amused... why they (may) develop a complex.... they don't want to look foolish in front of others.. when they are not able to comprehend a statement. In the long run they may even refrain from talking to these individuals. So it is always better to speak in the laymen's terms.

One more example: During my MBA one of the visiting profs. from a renowned institution in India asked one of my classmates..... "What is the pedegogy that your teacher follows"..... my colleague was perplexed... as it sounded Greek and Latin to him... I would say he was in a shock... especially when someone from a renowned institution is asking you something. Only. ah...ah.... came from his mouth... and he said he didn't know. Now this professor looked at my colleague was an alien from Mars... and my friend felt very bad.. his self esteem was shattered. What was the end result.. whenever this prof asked any question in the class.. no one would answer.. even if they knew answer..

So understanding the receiver is very important in any communication. Does that mean you should not speak such language..Yes you can... with similar audience... who have the same wavelength. Two scientists who talk about proton and electrons do understand each other even though the lay man wouldn't.

Even in Training.. especially when taking session on technical skills..the trainer should make the subject as simple as possible for the audience's comprehension. He should be ready with "n" number of examples in case one example does't do the job.. He should also be ready to explain the concept from various dimensions and angles. Why all the five fingers are not alike.. and all your trainees are not alike.. So it may require multiple examples before each one of them understands the subject or the concept.

How to prepare for a training session, I will deal in a separate post.