We’ve heard the “tagline” on the Vodafone advert which says it’s “good to talk” haven’t we?
However, we tend nowadays to do the opposite. In fact, we rely more and more on the written word, via abbreviated text messages, short IM (Instant Message) or mail message, that we have forgotten the art of communication using our voices.
The problem of communicating with only messages instead of our voices is that the message is condensed and many times abbreviated where the actual message meaning is lost or at best, becomes ambiguous.
When we are using our voice and speaking to someone face to face (or on the phone) we can clarify what we are hearing there and then, to ensure we have fully understood what the sender is saying. Because after all, communication is not merely a one-way system, it is a two-way system.
The result with merely using messages? Mixed messages where the recipient gets the wrong end of the stick!
We, humans, are strange too… When we do receive a message we aren’t sure about, we don’t ask for clarification, but rather we fill in the “blanks” and make assumptions on what the message is supposed to convey. And often than not, we get this wrong.
So I say to you, ditch the messages and go and talk instead.
Because it IS “good to talk!”