We know how to talk, but do we know how to communicate?

October 14, 2009 -- Often times we say we know how to communicate, with our family, friends and co-workers.

The truth is we know how to talk a lot, not really how to communicate. There are many different ideas and research done on this topic and the information is truly shocking when you look at the numbers.

* 55% of impact is determined by body language—postures, gestures, and eye contact,
* 38% by the tone of voice
* 7% by the content or the words used in the communication process.

This breakdown can bring new light to the way we communicate on so many levels. Whether we are a CEO of a company, manager leading a sales team, or a parent talking with your children.

How many times have we felt misunderstood and could not fiqure out why? Maybe the reason is that when we said what ever it is we said, we had some type of body language or gesture that made that person we were talking to think something totally different. Or you are trying to talk with someone when on the phone with someone else.

The list goes on and on, and until we stop and take a good hard long look at this issue, we all will be talking and never communicating. In order for you to work more on communication you need to apply these few simples steps:

1. Listen – you can never truly communicate with someone if you do not hear them talking to you.
2. Process - take time to take in the information before answering the questions
3. Discuss - make sure your friends, family, co-workers have the opportunity to be able to talk to you about anything.
4. Follow through – is everything, when you deliver you are saying you are someone of integrity and character.
5. Come from the heart – when it is your time to commincate back to someone nothing is more powerful then speaking from your heart. It allows you the opportunity to build trust and show them you really mean business.

People don't care how much you know, they want to know how much you care.