No matter what you do today, you have to communicate. You could be a student, a business worker, a manager, a hair stylist, a mechanic, a farmer, a corporate CEO. It doesn’t matter because you’ll need to communicate. Communication always assumes a community. You have to have at least two people. And it helps if both sides want to communicate, or it quickly becomes very frustrating and a waste of time. Just look and listen to our government, it certainly looks like everyone is talking but very few are trying to communicate or listen. If only there were 3 steps to good communication. But wait–perhaps there are!
3 Steps to Good Communication
Here, laid out as simply as possible are 3 steps to good comunication:
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First, you’ll need to have thoughts and ideas that you want to share.
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Second, you convert those thoughts and ideas into words that others can understand.
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Third, you express those words through speaking or writing
And that’s only one-way communicating. You’ve pitched your idea out there, the sound waves went through the air, text and images flew through phone and internet technology. But did they get there? Were there gaps in your words? Did they understand your words?
Let’s face it, once it leaves you mouth or hands, it’s really out of your control. You have very little power over what and if they actually received. You have even less control over what they think.
Yes, there are many good things and techniques that you can use to be as clear as possible. Using more common words that are more easily understood. Phrases that can be grasped by anyone. Painting word pictures is also helpful.
When Paul met with leaders of the early church, they were the insiders and he was the outsider. They had been together since the beginning. Some of them were the original apostles Jesus chose. Some were disciples that had walked with Jesus all over the place. They had heard his voice, seen his miracles. They had a lot more time and experience following Jesus than Paul. They were the seasoned veterans. He was the rookie.
So, as the outsider, it was Paul’s responsibility to reach out to them. To speak and communicate in a way that they could understand. Words and expressions that they could understand. You can read about this meeting in Acts 15.
