11 Natural Laws
of Human Communication
These
laws of human communication are based on both the great abilities and
severe limitations that we human have to communicate with each other.
Follow these laws and you'll multiply your effectiveness in getting
your messages across and being understood.
If you ignore them, it will be like walking out of a skyscraper's
window and pretending that the law of gravity won't apply.
1. Perfect
communication is not possible.
We
cannot just transfer our thoughts or feelings whole to another
person. Strive
for good understanding of main points, not perfection.
As a fallible human being, you cannot express your thoughts
perfectly. The instant you
compress your thoughts into words, you begin to be inaccurate.
Most of your audience will not read or listen to much more than
half of your message, and never 100% .
2. The more
you say, the less they listen.
Speaks
for itself.
3. The more
you write, the less they read.
Says
it all.
4. When
you add more than one thought per sentence, you decrease understanding and
increase confusion.
The
brain’s “working memory” can collect and process about six items
before it is overwhelmed.
5. The more
you bury the message, the less they will dig for it.
Summarize
your main point in one sentence, and put it near the top.
If you can't summarize it in one sentence, you don't know yet what
you are talking about.
6. If you
don't know what you are talking about, they won't either.
See
Law 4.
7. The
meaning of your words lies in their heads (not yours)
Each
person speaks and hears a slightly different language.
The meanings we give to words vary from person to person, just as
each snowflake varies from one another.
Find out the meanings that they give to your words, so you can
speak their language.
8. You cannot "not" communicate.
You are always
communicating because they are giving meaning to your words (or lack
of) and actions (or lack of).
9. If you don't give them a picture, they probably won't
see your point.
People
think in flash mental pictures, so you words need to use the pictures they
already have in their heads, or you must spend time and effort to put the
pictures in their heads.
10. If you
ignore them, they'll ignore you.
11. Increased
complexity, speed, importance, and stress will increase confusion while
decreasing understanding.
Research has verified
Murphy's Law. See http://andrew.triumf.ca/cgi-bin/murphy.html
Note:
Punishment
for violating these laws is automatic, self-inflicted, and inescapable.
The
more you violate these natural laws, the more you kill the message --
and the messenger.
© Copyright 2006
Al Guyant
