SOME THOUGHTS ON GOOD COMMUNICATION

I'm not pretending to be an expert on communication, but I think I've figured out that it always consists of five things:

some Information
a Voice
a Channel
an Audience
a Record

In today's fractured world, there are lots of Channels, millions of Voices, and billions of Audiences. I do wonder though, whether there's roughly the same amount of Information as always there was, and we've just invented fancy ways to say it. Anway...

Here's my theory:

Good communication only happens when a Suitable Voice matches Clear Information to a Receptive Audience, through an Appropriate Channel.

What do you reckon? Can I take this show on the road?

A Suitable Voice is usually one that carries the right level of clout (or presence, or knowledge) to distribute the information. For example, it wouldn't be good communication if the office cleaning staff announced wide-sweeping redundancies. It wouldn't even be funny. But if the CEO did it, that's another story... though it er, it still wouldn’t be funny.

By Clear Information, I think I mean well-thought-through and (usually) concise. Sometimes complex information is harder to distribute, but if someone needs to know it, there has to be a good way to tell them. And clear information covers that, I think.

Receptive Audience. Confucius once said, 'nothing is taught until it has been learned'. I like this - it means the main skill of a good communicator is probably understanding whether the point has carried across to the audience. Again, there's a tangible correlation between a Suitable Voice and a Receptive Audience, as sometimes these things are symmetries of each other - and the skill of a Suitable Voice is adapting it to the Audience.

And then Appropriate Channels is about the method. Some things are emails, some are texts, some are whatsapps, some are letters, some are conversations, some are phone calls, some are coffee-shop chats, some are nudges and winks at boring parties - you get the drift. There's an emerging skill in this idea of communicating through an appropriate channel, and frankly, it's getting more difficult with technology. It's important though, especially if you want to be absolutely sure that the Audience has been receptive enough to receive it.

That's why good communication needs a Record - especially true if you're a verbal processor who enjoys using conversation as a Channel. It gets frighteningly difficult to figure out who knows what and to whom you've said it or not said it. Write it down.

So, that's my theory:

Suitable Voice
Clear Information
Receptive Audience
Appropriate Channel
Well Recorded

What do you reckon? Naive? Not well thought-through? Just about right? I'd like to say I've got it sorted, but of course, I am currently a man who has to jam his thumb into his phone to stop it from hurtling towards 0%. Limited comms at best, eh.