Communicate

Communication is a skill often mangled—not necessarily due to complex, confusing use of the English language. Many factors encroach upon it making effective communication difficult; ego, haste, mispronunciation, as well as missing information, often cloud clarity.

A near disastrous example of mangled communication occurred June 1815. British armed forces faced the unconquered Napoleon in the apocalyptic battle of Waterloo. The British waited with bated breath to learn of the battle’s outcome. Their only means of communication was with distant lanterns in a church steeple, using the Morse Code. Finally, the flashing message began; “Wellington defeated…” immediately a fog closed in on the lantern in the church steeple. The British panicked, losing hope. The British Board of Trade swooned in fear. Then as if by magic, the fog lifted, allowing the lantern to send again, this time, the full message; Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.

Likely one of the most famous comments about mcommunication are the words from the evil Strother Martin in the movie, Cool Hand Luke: while knocking Cool Hand Luke brutally into the pit, said, “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate!” The one sided conversation is, of course, as convoluted as it is cruelly comical. A lot of human conversation turns out to focus on one side only.

An excellent point of imprecise communication is made in the humorous old story of the village blacksmith and his apprentice: The Blacksmith tells his apprentice; “I will take this red hot horseshoe out of the charcoal and put it on the anvil. Take this hammer and when I nod my head, hit it with the hammer.” He did, and now the apprentice is the village blacksmith. Clear communication is crucial.

Rich Sloan, director of community relations for the University of Central Florida’s College of Education and Human Performance, wrote the following about communication;  What I’ve noticed of late is that as a people, Americans are experiencing a heinous failure to communicate, to the detriment of our society and quality of life. Sloan attributes this failure in communication mostly to technology.

He believes technology gives rise to such gibberish (my word not his) as in, OMG, FYI, IDK, BTW, posing as actual conversation between human beings. While it is the “in” thing for the younger generation to think this way of communication “is Fire!”, it actually communicates very little. Too many people elude direct, clear, communication, such as that of masters of language.

Sloan’s prescription for improving communication is this: Put down that mouse, get out of that chair and walk over to the next office. Put away that electronic gadget, get in the car and go see that client face to face. Just think how much more pleasant is a greeting of “Good morning,” than opening a conversation with BTW or FYI. Some of the top rated communicators (in no particular order) are: Winston Churchill, Oprah Winfrey, Howard Schultz, Lady Gaga, Steve Jobs, Chris Anderson, and Warren Buffett. This is a sample of excellent communicators who clearly use our marvelous, vibrant, language for concise clarity.

Shakespeare, in Love’s Labor Lost, uses economy of words in Holofernes’ speech, spurning elaborate, useless verbiage: He draweth out the thread of his verbosity finer than the staple of his argument. Or, as a friend of mine once said, less eloquently, of an acquaintance, “He uses twelve words, when two will do,”

The master communicator, Jesus, taught his followers to make the message clear, not cluttered with elaborate words. Often ego gets in the way of communication; the author’s self aggrandizement gets in the way of clarity of the main message. My high school English teacher often said, “Say what you mean and mean what you say.” The three most eloquent, efficient, and effective messages I think of were uttered by Jesus, The Apostle Paul, and Abraham Lincoln—in that order. They communicate. And they stand the tests of time.