Principles of Communication
As a communications professional, I am usually fairly adept at making myself understood. Words are my friends, and I’ve been using them effectively for years. So, I was a bit taken aback on a recent trip to Turkey, when my ability to converse was compromised because I didn’t speak Turkish. The best I could do was hope that the taxi drivers, hotel staff and waiters I came into contact with spoke a little English, or that they would know what I meant with the few Turkish words in my vocabulary that I strung together.
To think how carefully I choose my words for the e-mails I write or the memos I send, and how I go over key message documents multiple times before landing on the perfect flow and here I was just looking for a few main words either in English or Turkish to ask if there was a place to get lunch at Topkapi Palace! Once you find yourself in a foreign country struggling to convey something as simple as where you want to go, or what you want to eat, it makes you realize that what we communicate to each other on a daily basis in our own countries is quite complex compared to that!
My various exchanges with the people in Turkey were a good reminder to me about the basic principles of communication. Whether you are trying to tell a cab driver in Istanbul that you want to be dropped off at the rear end of the Grand Bazaar, or you’re coaching a client on how to do an interview on CNBC, there are a few basic guidelines that hold true for both situations:
The shorter and more concise your messages are, the better
Repeat your main points until you’re sure they resonate
Don’t be afraid to gesture to drive the point home!
