Is This Thing On?

Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw once said, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” And while it might be easy to classify this as yet another witty comment by a writer known for witticisms, the inherent truth in his statement demands attention. We can believe that we are communicating in such a way that our message is absolutely crystal-clear, but if the intended recipient of that message doesn’t get it, none of those beliefs matter. If the audience doesn’t get the message, communication didn’t take place.

This potential lack of communication is especially true when it comes to writing. Whereas with verbal communication the audience has a variety of cues upon which to interpret meaning—tonal changes, facial expressions, hand gestures, etc.—those cues are absent in the written word. All readers have to go on is the letters they see in front of them. And the writer only gets one chance to get that message across.

Further complicating the already difficult process of communicating through writing is the fact that the reader of your message is the one who determines what you actually meant to say. That’s right. You can say whatever it is you want and you can say it as clearly as you want, but in the end, your reader is the one who makes the meaning. So if you don’t express your message in such a way that your reader interprets it the way you intended, George Bernard Shaw’s reference to the illusion of communication is suddenly your reality.

It is amazingly easy to have your message misinterpreted despite your best efforts to state it clearly. So many people who try to craft their own communications are literally too close to the subject matter to be able to explain it clearly; they know it so well that they forget that they’re trying to reach an audience that isn’t as well-versed in the subject matter. As a result, the audience doesn’t get the message. Throw in things like incorrect grammar, word choice, or sentence structure, and you’ve got a full-blown communications disaster on your hands.

Don’t let that happen to you and your organization. It’s an easy trap to fall into, but it’s also an easy trap to avoid. Get in touch with me today and we can work together to create communications collateral that will ensure your message gets through to your intended audience in the way that you intend it. Make sure that communication is not just another illusion.