Communicating To Be Heard/Communication

In my last post, I mentioned some of the reasons people are unable to listen. This time, let us look at the main distractors that keep our audience from listening. All of what I am about to say is quite obvious and most of us are aware of the points raised here. Despite this, we are all guilty of ignoring them for the most part.


The first thing to always bear in mind is, the fact that all of us are actually able to concentrate on any one thing for just a few seconds. It is thus absolutely essential for all communication to be so engaging that the audience’s attention is brought back again and again to whatever is written or is being said to them. To work towards this, we can begin by being aware of the things that can distract and in some cases eat into that few seconds’ window too.

Fillers are those repeated words and sounds we keep dotting our speech or text with. ‘Like’ and ‘You know’ are typical words used as fillers and sounds such as ‘um’ and ‘ah’ are frequently used by speakers too. For instance, someone says “ I ah would like request you to ah take up the ah presentation.” Redundancy is another problem, this is when someone writes something like: “ It was an interesting talk on a very interesting and relevant topic. The speaker related interesting anecdotes”. What the usage of fillers and redundancies do is dilute the importance of the point and may even indicate a lack of confidence in some cases. Repeated words or phrases can make the audience skip the accompanying words as they will assume that the point being made has already been covered; this is true of both oral and written communication.



Too many facial expressions and gestures very obviously draw the attention of the audience and eat into the message. Incessant flaying of the hands, constant adjusting of spectacles, rolling of the eyes can become something that grabs the total attention of the audience. This is not to say that no facial expression or gestures ought to be used; they are, in my opinion, essential to a well delivered oral message. 


Inappropriate words, jargon and unsuitable grammatical forms force the audience to focus on the correct form or sort out whatever confusion they cause. It is not uncommon to read something like: ‘Pls find attached’ and this is one of my many pet peeves. Firstly, if the person writing the message did not have time enough to type 2 ‘e’s and an ‘a’, it is not clear why she or he bothered to write at all; secondly, one can safely assume that the attachment is neither lost nor hidden so it does not need to be found.  In addition, poorly framed sentences or even mispronounced words may lead to undesirable or unfair labelling of the person delivering the message. Something as simple as pronouncing the word as ‘gowrment’ can make the discerning listener focus on the speakers possible background rather than what is being said.

It could be that the words used are good enough and that the language has no flaws, yet they are so inadequate in expressing the point that the audience is left a bit bewildered or responding in an unexpected manner. Let us imagine that an organisation has an important visitor and one of the personnel is asked by a superior to ‘look after’ the guest. The superior may have meant that the guest was to be accompanied everywhere and provided with all that she/he needs, the person in question may understand it to be merely looking into matters such as transport, meals and entertainment after the work is done.


Long messages, whether spoken or written, seldom captivate the audience. Their mind wanders off to unrelated matters or they keep thinking of how the person delivering a painfully long message needs to get to the point. A statement such as “Yesterday, being a Sunday was a holiday, and I went for a long ride on my bike. I was heading towards the lake when my tyre skidded on the gravel and I was thrown off the bike. The bike fell and I fell too. When I was lifting it, I slipped and the bike fell on me, my ankle came under the wheel and I have twisted it. This is why I cannot attend the meeting at 10 am this morning” is an example of such garrulity.  In the case of long written messages, readers often merely skim through them and are liable to miss important parts. Not many people read the terms and conditions section of anything they sign up for and that is a perfect example of long messages being skimmed over, even extremely important ones. Being so brief that the message becomes too esoteric is not a good idea either.


Oral messages with incorrect intonation, pauses and a pace that is unsuitable are distracting too. The audience is likely to either concentrate on these factors, struggle to comprehend the points or just give up and stop listening altogether. Written messages have a tone and the punctuation creates the pauses and thus care needs to be taken while writing too.


Another distractor, one we have limited control over, is outside factors. Physical factors such as noise, temperature and weather, ambience of the venue for oral communication and format of the message in written communication, unrelated matters that may be leading to a preoccupation and a mismatch of priorities.
Communicating in a manner that takes into account just the possibilities I have  mentioned will surely put one on the path to being effective.

The Language We Think In/ Communication

In order that we express our thoughts clearly, it is essential that we are able to think naturally in the language we are communicating in. In most business environments, we need to communicate in English. However, there is no unique method to start thinking in English, the process of thinking in any particular language is common to all other languages. Understanding the process a little, may help.

Let’s focus on what happens during a conversation; someone speaks, we listen, comprehend, gather our thoughts as best as we can, think of the possible responses and finally decide upon which of the points we need to share and how. This is in an ideal situation. Some of the possible things that come in the way of our response being less than ideal are:

What is being said to us is not delivered effectively.

We are preoccupied and thus do not listen properly.

We are not sure about the response we need to make.

We feel nervous about speaking.

We do not put too much thought into the matter and thus blurt out something or the other.

We are unable to think in the language the conversation is held in.

This last point was one that I mentioned in my previous post. When we think in another language, we translate whatever is being said to us into the language we actually think in,  to fully comprehend the matter. We then frame our response in the same other language, translate it and then we speak. All this happens in a fraction of a second.
It is no wonder then, that so many sentences are disjointed, poorly constructed, are open to misinterpretation or simply make little if any sense. At times we are not even aware of the fact that we have not made much sense. Since we mentally frame sentences in some other language, the written word is not much better too. In any case, most written communication is composed hastily and that in itself is a problem.

Why do people find themselves unable to think in the language they may be communicating in? The main reason is the environment. The language that is used at home is the first language we pick up and always retain the ability to think in. In a country such as India, with a large number of languages which in turn may have several dialects, it is hard to identify which language and dialect one has learnt first of all. It depends on the community one belongs to, the geographic location and a few other factors. 

If the educational institutes one attends, deliver the lessons in a particular language, that too  becomes a language we can naturally  think in Again, in a country such as ours, books written in English are taught in the vernacular. I have even heard of people graduating with English as their major having been taught English in the vernacular too. 

The language used in the workplace makes a great deal of difference to the ability of employees to conduct business communication effectively. The number of organisations that carry out regular conversations, casual or otherwise, in the vernacular is astonishing. To then expect the employees to be perfect at business communication, which remains English to this day, is unfair to say the least. The personnel in such organisations are encouraged to think in whichever language is commonly used there, and then expected to have complete command over the language of business, which is a different one. I know of some organisations that even conduct meetings in the vernacular. There are of course, certain roles that demand that the communication is in a local language; for instance when dealing with labourers or certain vendors or personnel from certain agencies or back offices.

There are enough people who do communicate in English frequently and picking up the language by being in frequent touch with them or listening carefully to them as often as we can is one way to acquire the skill of thinking in English. Unfortunately, so many errors are made by a number of such people that one may not pick up the correct form. A small example of that is how often people use the term ‘last to last’ or how people say ‘Sachurday’ in one region of our country and ‘Shaturday’ in another.

All this would imply that communicating effectively is quite impossible for most of us. This is not the case. There is enough evidence of people rising above all challenges and becoming masters in English. In my opinion,  it is a question of motivation, need, self-respect and determination. I think for adults, motivation and need are pretty much one and the same thing and it is mostly based on the desire to progress. Self-respect comes into play as no one really wishes to make a poor impression. Well expressed words create a good impression and similarly poorly expressed ones can mar ones image. Lastly, it is imperative that one is undeterred in ones effort to pick up and internalise any language. . It requires determination to work towards creating (or even insisting on) an environment that facilitates the ability to think in English.

It is up to each individual to work towards acquiring this skill.

An Essential for Progress/ Communication

While I always declare that the true spelling of luck is h-a-r-d  w-o-r-k, time and time again, it has been proved that mere hard work is not enough. Those who shine and rise like stars sometimes accomplish their goals through means that I am not here to discuss. There is this other lot of successful people who progress because they are efficient and deserve to. One of the key factors to their success is what I would like to focus on.

If we break it down, the first two factors of success are ability and efficiency. When we break it down further, it comes down to  innate qualities, inclinations, the right knowledge and consistently completing all tasks well and in good time. It is also essential to keep honing whatever skill we have to reach our goal of being excellent. This of course, is something everyone knows. In my opinion, the next factor for success is how we apply our core job related skills and the next is, being compliant. I dare say, establishing oneself as an expert while we are at it, enhances our chances of success to a great extent.

We all know that even if a person possesses all the factors I have just mentioned, success is not guaranteed. One may even become important and be much in demand and yet not achieve the desired and  well deserved recognition.

When we do something as mundane as select fruits or vegetables, we go for only that which appears to be the best. At times, some fruits and vegetables look so fresh and good that we end up purchasing them even if we do not really need them. This point may seem out of context but imagine people being selected for the next rung or role, this is often based largely on impressions. The decision makers will only choose those who stand out. As skilled and efficient as one may be, the chances of standing out only come when everyone recognises this in us.

The question then becomes, how do we get recognised? The answer is as simple as it is hard (for some): communicate effectively. A single grammatical error or mispronounced word conjures up a detrimental image or leads to confusion, badly formed sentences indicate haste and a certain lack of care. Inability to express oneself effectively may even be instrumental in others being unaware of the skills and efficiency a person possesses. On the other hand, perfectly written or spoken messages act like a neon sign that boldly flashes true worth.

There is no doubt that effective communication is about knowing the language well. However, that is only the foundation.  The next essential step is acquiring the habit of naturally thinking in the language we communicate in. In it’s absence, the possibility of arranging our words in a manner that actually befits the language we are thinking in, is extremely high.

Needless to mention, grammar and spelling also count for a lot. Using the right words and phrases, bears a huge impact on the message. This requires a good active vocabulary and inculcating the habit of referring to a dictionary. Knowing the precise meaning and correct usage for each word and phrase, reduces the chance of ambiguity in what we say or write. Many words and phrases have endless number of synonyms for a good reason. A good active vocabulary is also essential to brevity which in my opinion, is king. It ensures that attention is retained till the last point is made. If a person is sure about all the facets mentioned so far, the question of being hesitant about communicating hardly arises.

At times, responses become inadequate because the highest level of listening, an imperative component of communication, is missing. The highest level of listening occurs only when the listener is not apprehensive or nervous about what has to be said in response and furthermore, when comprehension is not a constraint.

Knowledge of how to communicate effectively even when under duress, being professional in everything one says and writes and speaking up as and when required will get people  noticed and create the impression of their being efficient, capable and reliable.

Effective communication is always precise and clear and thus a time saver. Those long-winded conversations and endless back and forth email communications are minimised. In addition, giving and following instructions, being consistently clear, documentation and maintaining records become easy to handle.

The absence of good communication skills hinders efficiency of individuals and thereby the organisation. Often, people with lesser skills make progress because they communicate well and create the right impression in doing so. They are taken to be the best for the next position of responsibility. All the while, a  better worker with negligible communication skills may not have even been noticed. In my opinion this is not entirely unfair to the better performer as it is every individuals’ responsibility to work on and improve all the possible skills to get ahead.

To sum up, effective communication  is one of the keys to efficiency, it’s absence costs in more ways than most imagine.