“Miscommunication” is more the rule than the exception in our everyday life. So much of our communication with other people is not about what we say but about how we say it i.e. the tone of our voice and our body language. A person pays much more attention to these aspects than the words that actually come out of our mouth! Therefore it is even more important that we make sure our message is targeted correctly to the audience we are speaking to reduce the risk of it being misinterpreted.
When “talking about things” with our colleagues, managers, friends or family it’s important to have the ability to speak with confidence and respect but also make sure we are targeting our audience appropriately. For example, you wouldn’t speak to a five year old the same way you would speak to a 50 year old, would you?
When thinking about who you are speaking to whether it be one person or an audience of 100 people it is important to understand their background, education level, their values, interest in the topic and previous knowledge about the topic. There’s no point in talking about the technical aspects of how to build a car if the person you are speaking to has no engineering or mechanics training. In this scenario, in order to get your message across effectively it may be useful to use visual aids, simple words and analogies to help your audience relate to your “story” of how to build a car. By keeping your message simple you message is less likely to be miscommunicated and this is the ultimate goal.
So, when you’re next in a conversation with your friend, family member or colleague, think about who you are speaking to and try to target your language appropriately to meet their needs. This, will ultimately make it a much more rewarding communicative experience for both of you.