Talk Don't Text

There are many forms of communication in today's world. We have verbal, nonverbal, technological and in person. I believe that we are losing the ability to communicate in person because of technology. It has become so easy to type a few words on the computer or the phone, maybe even leave a voicemail and move on. Communication is more than that. We have eyes, ears, a mouth and the whole body to communicate with and we are not using these tools when we just type a quick message and assume the other party received and understood the message. We have no way of knowing that electronic message was received or how it was received. We don't know what mood the recipient was in when he received our message. We need to get back to communicating with our voices. So much is lost with short, text bursts. I can't remember how many times I had to say, “The heck with e-mail,” and pick up the phone and call the other party to get my message across. I know that e-mail, text, twitter, voicemail are here to stay and they are valuable tools but they are just that, tools. The next time you have an important message to convey, or you are frustrated when your message just isn't being heard, pick up the phone and call or better yet, visit the recipient can talk in person. If you remove the barriers you will communicate more effectively.

Give something of yourself to people every day… Smile and watch the magic happen.