At my age I could write a daily blog on all the bloopers, mistakes and experiences of the many ways I have failed at communication. Looking back I still cringe at the memories.
One time I was trying to teach my colleagues about the needs of people with mental and emotional troubles. I decided to invite a well-known and successful local therapist to share his insights. He may have been a good therapist but he was a very poor communicator because he offended the audience.
We were all people of deep faith and deep compassion. My guest was neither. He told numerous ribald stories about his work and made fun of the people he saw in Counseling. I sat stunned as he ruined his talk, my reputation and a nice lunch.
He and I violate a basic rule. Know your audience and know the speaker. I knew my audience fairly well but I failed to know my guest. Needless to say, I was embarrassed and I failed in my goal.
Another time I was overseas and refused to eat the offered meal. It was a terrible faux pas and I look back with deep embarrassment. International travel makes communication very difficult.
Can you remember some real failures to communicate?
Let me hear of a few.
Go to our web to discover some materials to assist you to communicate better.
No comments:
Post a Comment