Two monologues do not make a dialogue!
The above quote by Jeff Daly got me thinking. How many times have we encountered people indulging in monologues which they consider as dialogues? How many times do we pause and reflect while we are talking to anyone to check the response and then proceed with our talks? What annoys us so much about that over-bearing sales person? Or that non-stop nonsense of any show MC or a RJ or a VJ? Even if we consider that they are placed to do a job and that is what their job entails still we have to agree that there is nothing more tiresome than a perpetual one sided hearing.
Communication is an aspect which engulfs our existence. If we exist we must communicate. Even a hardcore recluse is heard claiming he or she loves to ‘communicate’ with nature. So what defines communication and who could be considered a great communicator?
Personally, I feel anyone who can make us understand his or her thoughts in a clear, crisp manner is a good communicator. The benchmark of great then would be the sustenance of those thoughts. There are many who will be great talkers but only few who can leave us with an impact or make us cherish for more such interactions. That surely indicates a pleasant exchange even if we have all the time been an observer and an absorber!
Nowadays we see a lot of people who are very aware but does it convert into a great communication skill? Not necessarily! Because a knowledge-gatherer and a person with strong opinions may not be able to extract the pearl of wisdom and then present it to the next person in its most polished form. And here lies the secret of a truly great influencer.
Communication has always been a keyword for a successful leader. But even if we consider ourselves, the comparatively ordinary mortals, there is no shying away from developing and utilizing this skill on a daily basis. And communication is all about connecting with the other. It is not about living in your own self-created island, dreaming your own sweet dreams! When we are communicating there ought to be an exchange. A great communicator is never a chatterbox. But even if one loves to hear one’s own voice one can always mould it to light up a conversation in a manner where there is an equal partnership and a lot of interaction. To talk dime a dozen only adds to our stress while distancing others from us. The cacophony of endless gibberish that goes in the name of communication is hardly so. In today’s time we are surrounded by too much sounds almost always much to our annoyance and distress. So let us just cut the noise, even if it is of our own thoughts, make it more streamline, in a way that we impart and exchange it in a more interactive manner. This is one of the key factors of having a joyous personal and professional life and we must develop this skill to live our life the fullest.
