Good Communication

Everyone has lost something. And this doesn’t just go for those abstract nouns, such as destiny, love, or self-discovery. Nope, I’m talking about physical items; objects that, in the flesh, travel with us…and in turn, are lost by us.

What if you lost your house keys? Not just twenty feet from your front door, or along your neighbourhood block, but somewhere that hundreds of people pass throughout the course of the day? You would probably be swamped with fear, and then dread the explanatory confrontation with your folks back at home. What actions would you then take to try and address your loss to the public, and then maximize your chances to regaining and repossessing those keys? Communication would probably top your list, because that’s the quickest way you can get the thoughts – and hence, pressures – in your head out into the open.

Let’s define this term here; communication. A noun that refers to the interchange of various thoughts, opinions, or information through verbal or written means. In a way, this disperses the focus to quite a multifarious set of options, and the conclusion I’m about to approach is that really, the possibilities are endless. Communication can exist in endless forms.

But the principles of utilizing communication in a good manner are a completely different matter entirely. It not only refers to the quality and rhetoric of the articulation, but also the choice of delivery selected. What I mean by this, ladies and gentlemen, is that one’s success in communication can be completely unrelated and regardless of their skill in a particular area, for if the form of communication is poorly selected, you may find yourself permanently at square one.

For example, a masterful negotiator of price tags won’t get anywhere if the item of interest is fixed at a certain value. In this case, an attempt at communicating to lower this figure – in other words, bargaining – would be fruitless in such context. No matter how skilled you are in the art of persuasion, a seller cannot afford to give in to your standards at the risk of his or her job. Take the same skill to another situation, however, and the tides could change entirely, because we all know how, for a skilled negotiator, a good deal is only a few short steps away. No longer would it be like trying to wrangle meat from a tiger’s mouth; a use of good communication in the correct circumstances would definitely achieve desired results.

As I mentioned earlier, communication can exist in many forms, and one of the more popular examples is music, for it is, as many people see it, a form of language. Instruments and lyrics; all in the same big package. And then you have your audience; they listen to the ideas and thoughts you try to put across. So in terms of communication, what better way to convey a message in a good manner than to craft music your audience can properly relate to? Many music artists can shape their entire careers upon such decisions, for they know that choosing music to connect with their audience isn’t enough. For example, some rap music artists blare out life on the fast lane, presenting their indulgence to the world in albums about their newest car, their biggest house, or their latest riches. Many country music artists, on the other hand, base their lyrics on the lifestyles of average people…and most of their audience will fall into the category. Hence, understanding - managed through good communication, which was ultimately derived from a choice of selection.

So back to the lost keys? Same tactic. You have to choose the most appropriate method of delivering your thoughts across. Print out and stick notifications all around the neighbourhood? Bombard mailboxes with your phone number and address? Hit the yellow pages? Each method works; each technique can be well-practiced and polished to become a “good” form of communication. But in order to be truly successful, you must remember to fulfill the other half of the equation, in that only the correctly chosen forms of communication can present you the keys back to your front door…and the keys to infinite gates of opportunity.