As a communicator, I feel confident that I get it where communication is concerned. I know words matter. And that tone matters just as much. I understand the importance of knowing my audience and speaking to them.
But that doesn’t mean I’m perfect. Especially in my personal life — where I spend less time strategizing my communication efforts — I’ve been known to misread my audience. I’ve been known to accidentally insult someone … thinking they’d think I was funny. (A different friend in the same situation would’ve laughed, but I forgot my audience.) And I’ve made assumptions — which proved to be false — about what someone already knew about a situation.
From all of these misunderstandings, I’ve learning something about communication. And I try not to make the same mistake twice … or at the very least, not with the same person. But I know there’s benefit in thinking about these misunderstandings every so often — not to dwell or punish myself, but to remind myself of the importance of good, clear, appropriate communication.
So, this week, I encourage you to do the same.
This week’s writing prompt is: Describe one of your most memorable misunderstandings. What contributed to the problem? How could you have avoided the misunderstanding? What did you learn, and how has that affected your communication since?