The other day, my husband was talking about tires. And wheels. I listened patiently for a while and then broke some news to him that will forever change the way he looks at me. I informed him that I don’t know what the difference is between tires and wheels. I said that all I had been hearing for most of the conversation was Charlie Brown’s teacher (wa-wa-wa-wa).
He looked at me with a mixture of shock, disgust and amazement. At that point, I think he was mentally reviewing the marriage license he had signed only three short weeks prior. When he realized there probably wasn’t an escape clause in the fine print of the license, he began to patiently explain the difference to me.
“a tire is the round black thing,” he said with more than just a hint of patronization.
“you mean the rubber part?”
“yes dear, the rubber part. The wheel is thing the tire goes onto”
“oh! You mean the tire is the doughnut and the wheel is the Tim Bit?” You could almost see the light bulb go on over my head. “now you’re speaking my language!”
This is a lesson that many people who are trying to communicate need to learn. When you are trying to get a message across to someone, or a group of people, make sure you are talking their language.
Every group, organization or profession has their own lingo and acronyms. Don’t assume everyone is conversant in this language. Take the time to explain. If you use acronyms, write it out in full the first time you use it and then use the acronym in brackets. From then on, feel free to use the acronym. For example:
We are avid supporters of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). The CNIB helps those who…
If you are using words that aren’t in the dictionary, offer an explanation or definition. Don’t leave your audience scratching their head and wondering what you are talking about. And speaking of scratching their heads, don’t forget names of buildings and rooms. Saying “On Thursday we will meet in the Cloverbar conference room” isn’t very helpful to someone who maybe doesn’t even know what building the Cloverbar conference room is in.
Be careful that you aren’t making assumptions about the language your audience speaks. What I find helpful sometimes is to get someone to review my communication who is totally removed from the subject. I ask them if it makes sense. They are usually pretty quick to tell me what parts are Greek to them.
You see, there is nothing that makes communication more difficult than when conversing in two different languages. When my husband was talking tires and wheels, he thought we were speaking the same language. Turns out, I speak foodese…he speaks English.
