Conversation Works – Try It
Several weeks ago I was sitting in an airport observing many hundreds of people and then the very obvious reality struck that people do not talk to each other. A casual hello may occur as another person would find a seat.
“…the last thing we seem to do is talk.”
The next step for almost everyone was to get out their smart phone and have a conversation with someone; anyone that is not in the present or anyone else not in the room at that moment in time. Instead the propensity is to seek to communicate with someone outside their immediate environment. It is wild to see how things are changing.
Today, we email, text, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. LinkedIn and do all the digital forms of communication but the last thing we seem to do is talk. I see people, myself included, email or text the person in the same room or office next door. It is easy, convenient and it usually works out fine. Today, talking is usually the last or least way of communicating. We all do it.
“Conversation – a great thing to try…”
Have you found it difficult to communicate issues that are wrought with emotion, disagreement or sensitivity? On occasion it can be pulled off but, in my case, digital communicating these kind of issues tend to complicate. It is the “reading between the lines” that seems to be a problem. Although, the intent is to show sensitivity and understanding the take-away can be misunderstanding of the intended message. Knowing that “reading between the lines” is a problem it may take 10 times longer to draft a particular email than it would take to call the person and have the conversation.
Body language, inflection, facial expressions and the combination of all these non-verbal forms of communication can have as much, if not more, meaning than the words you hear. The digital medium just doesn’t do the same job. Sorry for sounding like an old guy but it is true.
Conversation – a great thing to try next time you sit next to a stranger in the airport. Hopefully, the other person will be inclined to participate instead of being annoyed by your interrupting their digital conversation with someone outside the room.
1 Comment
Guilty as charged! In construction (or a business setting) though, the use of email/text allows for a digital trail of communication between two parties which could prove to be important should a litigation take place.
Aside from business, sometimes email/text proves to be more efficient in communication because it allows the other party to respond at their leisure…but, I believe the art of verbal communication and verbal communication itself is a “dying breed,” especially with the younger generations who were born using technology! 🙂