A very popular Zen story goes like this. Once there lived a great Zen monk Lao se Tsung who was a very articulate person. He had a group of disciples who ardently admired him and wanted to be like him. But the only thing lacking in them were their lack of dedication and involvement. One day the master, Lao se Tsung, woke up from his sleep crying. When the disciples enquired he told them that he saw a beautiful dream the previous night and in that dream he was a butterfly happily fluttering its wings and flying from one flower to the other. The disciples then enquired as to why he is crying now. Lao se Tsung then told them that he is crying because now he doesn't know whether he is actually the butterfly who has dreamt of Lao se Tsung or is he the Lao se Tsung who has dreamt of the butterfly. In one sentence Lao se Tsung has explained the state of mind of a master and the disciples understood that there is a long way for them to reach that state of mind.
An effective communication process comprises of many things like clarity, brevity, precision, correctness and relevance. These factors will go a long way in bringing forth the subtle nuances of an effective communication. Let's delve deep into these factors apiece.
Clarity - The crux of an effective communication is clarity. The sender needs to be clear on what needs to be conveyed and the receiver should be able to comprehend the intention of the message.
Brevity - The shorter the message, the more effective it will be construed.
Precision and Relevance - A communication process should not be vague and it should be to the point. It should be relevant to the context in question. It should emanate at the right time and should be precise in its content.
Correctness - A communication should be correct by its entire means and one should not beguile the receiver with facile and incorrect information.
The Art of Communication is all about expressing your thought process in a structured and lucid way so that the one who receives it will be able to assimilate the emotions attached to it. An effective communication process has saved many wars, has helped to bridge the disparity between warring nations and has definitely helped in making this world a better place to live in.
A popular adage goes like this "It is not what goes into your mouth which matters but rather what comes out of it". An effective communication is like a clear flowing stream, which exudes transparency and clarity and is devoid of any malice.
With the advent of technology, the process of communication has been simplified to a larger extent. We have now ways and means to convey messages across the globe effectively by taking only an iota of time which we used to take earlier. We are now living in a world teeming with various genres of communication like emails, SMS, Voice Mails, etc and we seriously don't know when we are going to be bombarded with a message/ mail of insignificance. To make a difference in this seemingly interconnected maze, we need to go that extra mile to be polite, courteous and receptive while communicating our views and expressions.
For an artist all the paraphernalia like the paint brush, the paint and the canvas are important and for a buyer it is just the finished product, which is a piece of art that matters to him the most. Let us become like the artist and give importance to the whole process of communication right from the choice of words to the expression it portrays so that it ultimately culminates in rendering the communication effective.
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