We Are Always Communicating

But what exactly is being communicated?

A few years back I facilitated a series of presentation courses for one of my clients.?The spectrum of participant fear was quite broad – from slightly uncomfortable up to hands down terrified.?One person who thought he signed up for a PowerPoint class was in a mild panic and almost walked out. I am so happy he stayed – his was an incredible story of success.

A presentation at its best, whether formal or informal, is a two-way communication.?In other words, it is a conversation. One-way communication is a lecture – a data dump of information.

In the context of work, we are always presenting. It doesn’t matter if we stand at the front of the room, sit around a conference table, inhabit one of the many virtual meeting room squares, or stand around the trusty old water cooler – we are always communicating something, always sharing information, always in conversation.?

To me, even the most formal of presentations is a series of one-on-one conversations.?Whether 10, 100, or 1000 participants, I speak to one person at a time. In more formal presentations, the audience contribution comes when I see agreement, confusion, restlessness, and any other reaction. They also contribute with questions and feedback, which often takes the conversation in new directions.

In every aspect of our lives, we are always in conversation – with ourselves (negative vs. positive self-talk), with others (from friends to strangers on the street), with the world around us (feeling crushed by events beyond our control or exploring how we can help make things even a little bit better).

The words we think and speak are critical, and equally so is non-verbal communication. In addition to our words, we communicate with our presence – with how we hold our bodies, how we listen, the tone and thoughtfulness of our response.?If there is incongruency, the words are heard as false, trust is fractured, and communication fails.

It’s been through video calls these past two years that we have seen how we look to others – from the shoulders up. Even that small window shows approachability, interest, levels of agreement.?Pulling back to view the rest of our bodies highlights these elements even more.

Choosing to intentionally honor all involved when we communicate, automatically aligns our verbal and non-verbal communication.?We become curious, deep listening, active participants in the conversation. The result is an elevation of the human spirit – and that is a conversation well worth having!

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The intent of the Random Conversations blog is to inspire deep, meaningful, glorious conversation — delicious conversations.?Interested in reading more??cathyjoseph.co