Quotes About Communication

While leadership is important, just as important is how leadership is communicated. On the one hand, you can command good performance from someone in exchange for not firing them. On the other hand, you might be able to ignite the desire in a person to perform well by tuning in to their state of mind.

When you're with someone, try labeling … is Jack upset? Is Jane excited? … It'll change how you hear what they're saying.

As long as it doesn't seem fake, the more we establish familiarity with our audience - not speaking to them from left field or from on high - the better chance we have that they'll listen to what we have to say. And possibly even accept it.

We were developing empathy and the ability to be aware of what was happening in the mind of another person. This, we realized, is the key, the fundamental ingredient without which real communication can't happen. Developing empathy and learning to recognize what the other person is thinking are both essential to good communication, and are what this book is about.

If I'm trying to explain something and you don't follow me, it's not simply your job to catch up. It's my job to slow down. This is at the heart of communicating: If I tell you something without making sure you got it, did I really communicate anything? Was I talking to you, or was I just making noises? In the mirror exercise, is the leader enabling the follower to follow, or is he just waving his arms?

It's being so aware of the other person that, even if you have your back to them, you're observing them. It's letting everything about them affect you; not just their words, but also their tone of voice, their body language, even subtle things like where they're standing in the room or how they occupy a chair. Relating is letting all that seep into you and have an effect on how you respond to the other person.

I took a bold step and stopped reading the scientists' research papers before I met with them. I would come in armed only with curiosity and my own natural ignorance. I was learning the value of bringing my ignorance to the surface. The scientists could see exactly how much I already understood, and they could start there.

Listening is being able to be changed by the other person.

Real conversation can't happen if listening is just my waiting for you to finish talking.

If another player creates a bump in the sculpture, you don't ignore it; you acknowledge the bump and build on it. Communication doesn't take place because you tell somebody something. It takes place when you observe them closely and track their ability to follow you. Like making a sculpture out of space, communication is a group experience.

Real listening is a willingness to let the other person change you. When I'm willing to let them change me, something happens between us that's more interesting than monologues. Like so much of what I learned in the theater, this turned out how life works, too.

You picture an audience and think, What are they already aware of? Where should I start? How deep should I go? What are they actually eager to know? If I start too far in, will I be using concepts they don't really understand?

Real listening is a willingness to let the other person change you.

Communication doesn't take place because you tell somebody something. It takes place when you observe them closely and track their ability to follow you. Like

Sometimes, being willing to see the other person means you have to be willing to let them see you.

My spelling is Wobbly. It's good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places.

Pooh went into a corner and tried saying 'Aha!' in that sort of voice. Sometimes it seemed to him that it did mean what Rabbit said, and sometimes it seemed to him that it didn't. "I suppose it's just practice," he thought. "I wonder if Kanga will have to practise too so as to understand it.

Well, if you listen, Piglet, you'll hear it." "How do you know I'm not listening?" Pooh couldn't answer that one, so he began to sing.

TV has taken reflection out of the human condition. People didn't use to have a ready answer for everything, whether they knew something about it or not. People think they have to have an answer for everything because the guys on TV have an answer for everything. But it's bullsh**t! Reflection is crucial.

Janie's a pretty typical teenager — angry, insecure, confused. I wish I could tell her that's all going to pass, but I don't want to lie to her.

Three hard of hearing guys are at a street corner. The first one says, 'Brrrr, it's windy!' The second one says, 'No, it's Thursday.' The third one says, 'Me too, let's get a drink.

Mark my words, when a society has to resort to the lavatory for its humour, the writing is on the wall.

One of the hardest things for boys to learn is that a teacher is human. One of the hardest things for a teacher to learn is not to try and tell them.

People who pressure you usually deserve a "no". People who are patient with you usually deserve a "yes".