COMMUNICATING: Get It Right

"SAY WHAT YOU MEAN, AND MEAN WHAT YOU SAY."  

-- Alice in Wonderland

 "IF YOU HAVE AN IMPORTANT POINT TO MAKE, DON'T BE SUBTLE OR CLEVER. HIT THE POINT ONCE. THEN COME BACK AND HIT IT AGAIN. THEN HIT IT A THIRD TIME -- A TREMENDOUS WHACK ."

  -- Winston Churchill, British prime minister 

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Successful relationships at home, school and elsewhere require solid skills in speaking, writing, listening, reading, and questioning. 

Here are some suggestions 

• When you speak or write, make it as easy as possible for people to understand your message, goal or purpose. Keep sentences simple and limit your number of ideas in every one. That way, people are less likely to "read between the lines" or make assumptions which could be wrong.

• Stick to the point and be brief.  If you are careful, you can avoid repeating yourself and use of unnecessary sentences or words such as "for instance," "you see," "kind of," "literally," "basically," or "I mean."

• By using appropriate details and facts such as names, places and times, you can be more specific and create images of what you want to  communicate. 

• Proofread everything to avoid errors when you write.

• Try to be "logical" by connecting your points -- and be sure they are relevant to your main idea. 

• Seek to be friendly, open and honest with people -- by respecting their viewpoints and by being empathetic to their needs.