Communication Fundas - Part 9

Continuing on the subject of punctuation, I do not think there is a better book than Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss. The blurb on the book says it all: "The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation!".

Unlike other books on Grammar, this one is wickedly humourous. It has been on various best seller lists, so you may already possess a copy. If you want to know more, you may want to read a review on Eats, Shoots and Leaves on my Squidoo lens. Enjoy!

Communication Fundas - Part 8

I read ...
"But Bachelier also ventured into new mathematical territory. Nearly a century before the great French mathematician Jean Baptiste Fourier had devised equations to describe the way heat speads, Bachelier knew the formulae well from his physics lectures."

This cannot be right! So, was Fourier incorrectly credited? I read it again ...

"But Bachelier also ventured into new mathematical territory. Nearly a century before, the great French mathematician Jean Baptiste Fourier had devised equations to describe the way heat speads. Bachelier knew the formulae well from his physics lectures." [Extract from: The {Mis)Behaviour of Markets by Benoit B. Madelbrot]

Ahhh! Now it made sense. When we read we tend to skip the punctuations. All of us know the difference between:

A woman without her man, is nothing

 and

A woman: without her, man is nothing.

And yet we persist in overlooking the importance of punctuation when we write and when we read.

Solution:
a) Read what you have written before shooting off that email / letter / report.
b) Reread what you read before coming to a conclusion.

Communication Fundas - Part 7

Communication is as much about conveying information as it is about making an impact. Sometimes it is possible to do so by just placing words at a correct place.

Here's an example I picked up from the Incredible India's West Bengal page ...

The Heritage Trail travels across 350 km and several centuries of Bengal's history. The lay of the land speaks about the golden era of trade and commerce, of a rich culture and a land torn by betrayal, partition, poverty and famine.

Now let us move a few words around

The Heritage Trail travels across several centuries of Bengal's history. The lay of the land that stretches 350 km speaks about the golden era of trade and commerce, of a rich culture and a land torn by betrayal, partition, poverty and famine.

The focus immediately shifts from 350 km to centuries of history. In fact, the '350km' is not even relevant here and could be confined to a minor paragraph down the web page, don't you think?

A few words here and there but a world of difference.

Communication Fundas - Part 6

In my last post I talked about my struggle to refrain from use of 'would' and 'could' in my spoken English in an attempt to form simple sentences that is easy on the ear.

But don't get me wrong. These words should be used as and when necessary. 'Would' and 'Could' are thought to be more polite that 'Will' and 'Can'. And, in some cases these words have deadly impact. Especially as one liners.

Sample these:

1)
A: "Everyone is corrupt. How can I not be influenced? When there is easy money to make, why not? Tell me? Would you still hold on to your stupid principles?"

B: "I would!"

2)
A: "The customer is expecting us to deliver in this crazy schedule! Has he gone bonkers? It is not even worth a try."

B: "If I were you I would."

Communication Fundas - Part 5

Very early in my career I was fortunate to have friends who spoke their mind. They were open with their views without being offensive. They still are.
...
That Sunday as my friend, Ashish Balaya, and I walked together I said something that was long winded and an extremely complex sentence. Ashish looked at me for a second and said, "Amitabh, why do you always speak in complex / compound sentences?" I laughed it off. But his comment remained with me.
...
I had arrived in Bangalore from Gwalior - a town in north India. And though I studied in Central School, an English medium school, Hindi was the defacto lingua franca. Whereas in Central Schools in the south of India students would wish their teachers with a "Good Morning, Sir", a student in Gwalior wishes her teacher with a "Namaste, Sir". As a result, all the English I knew was derived not from spoken English, rather from the English books I devoured (I was an avid reader even then!)

Text books can contain sentences such as ... "Would the economy have fared any better without globalisation? Had it been closed to international flows of goods and capital, could it have adopted those productivity-cutting policies and paid no price at all? The answer is no." When you speak, this clearly is not on.

As a result of reading such books my spoken English was full of would's and could's, even when none was required.

That was some 20 years ago. My struggle to speak simple sentences continues. I am more successful with emails though. Once I have written what I wish to say, I re-read my emails and my final version is much superior to my initial draft. The language flow is smoother and easy to read.

By the way, the text I have given as example, above, is from a book called Economics: Making Sense of the Modern Economy, edited by Simon Cox. It is published by The Economist. More on it some other post.

Communication Fundas - Part 4

Have you noticed, how easy it is to be rude when you are talking to a person on phone?
The next time you get one of those annoying cold calls check out your own reaction, and you will know. This heppens because you can get away with rudeness. You don't get to see the other person's reaction and in any case, the caller can't do anything about your being rude; after all, s/he is the one who is intruding, no?
But guess what? It does not take time for this to become a habit. And in no time you appear rude on phone. Even when you do not intend to.
Great communication skills are acquired with constant practice; being firm but polite when talking to total stangers who can do you no harm is a great way to practice your skills.

Communications Fundas - Part 3

Communication is all about acknowledgement.
Acknowledgement that the other person is worthy of your attention.
This goes not only when communicating face-to-face, but also for written communication.

Let me prove it to you.
What is your first reaction when you see an email with lots of typos? The best you may come up with is: "A casually written mail!"
And the worst: Delete It!

If someone has taken the effort and time to convey something to you in written form, it becomes your responsibility to put in similar effort and time to understand what is written. That's when good communication happens.

Communication Fundas - Part 2

With Emails and messages making for bulk of business communication, ‘Context’ has become more important of the two components of communication.

You see, context for any communication is set up not only by a preface but also by body language: the tone and volume of the voice, pursed or smiling lips, narrow or smiling eyes, tight or relaxed facial, aggressive or encouraging body posture – communication is not just words exchanged; it is information exchange to achieve a goal.

Because the body is effectively detached from emails, the context that body language sets now has to be performed by written words. And as we all know written words do a miserable job of conveying messages, even though English is a fairly rich language with words that have subtle variation in connotation.

Besides, the issuer and the recipient are separated by space and time. This means that emails can easily be misinterpreted – deliberately or otherwise – to gain time or deflect attention.

I find use of non-verbal cues in emails help (the theory being – non-verbal physical signals can only be replaced by non-verbal characters). Italics, underline, different font, colour and bold letters, are examples of non-verbal cues that can be effectively used.

See the difference.

Please complete the work by today Close of Business.

Please complete the work by today Close of Business.

Emoticons (or smilies) are powerful non-verbal signals that can be conveyed over emails. Smilies have gone beyond figures formed by keystrokes. There are rich varieties available and I find these extremely effective.

Use of emoticons in business mails is generally frowned upon. But do not worry too much about it. Unless, it is proposal or a cold call or a response to a customer complain or such!

Communication Fundas - Part 1

Communication has two and only two components: Context and Content.
Improving your communication skills require paying attention to both.

In the next few pages you will be introduced to skills that should improve your communication skills with immediate effect.

“I need an umbrella” - this is content.
“It is raining” – this is context.

You might rearrange the above sentences in any which way that suit your style (more about style later).

It is raining. I need an umbrella.
It is raining, so I need an umbrella.
I need an umbrella, because it is raining.
You can go ahead and embellish the sentences. Like, so …

It is raining heavily. I definitely need an umbrella.
More garnishing?

It is pouring. How do you think I can go out without an umbrella?

Now, check out how change of context modifies the picture in your mind.

The sun is beating down. I need an umbrella.

There! Did you see that?

Change the context and the meaning turns on its head. Even a simple scenario, requiring a couple of sentence requires a context.

Communication breaks down when context is missing or is misinterpreted.

Emotions in written communication

Written communication is not a patch on face to face communication, they say.
80% of all communication is non-verbal, they say.
Why then do we cry or laugh when we read books?
If an author can evoke such emotions in a 'broadcast' mode, surely when you send an e-mail directed to a particular person you should should be able to convey all your emotions even better.
And surely, emoticons are not the only way to convey your emotions.
Think about it.