I had to think about that for a minute. I don't think that I answered very well. But since I am me, I kept thinking about it and now I have an answer that I'm somewhat comfortable with.
In theory, good communication is when a clear message is sent from one person or group to another person or group and all of the obstacles are successfully navigated.
In practice, good communication requires a number of steps:
- A message - So real communication starts when one side has a message.
- Preparing the message - Even if it only takes half a second, we need to get the message from jumble of ideas to the medium. It's got to be a clear message.
- Making contact - We need to make sure that whoever we're sending the message to is ready to receive our message.
- Deliver the message - actually saying what we want the other party to hear.
- Verify receipt - we need to make sure that the other party actually got the message.
- Check for understanding
- Follow up if needed
That's my own model that I've been tossing around inside my head. I'm sure there are better models. But I'm satisfied for now.
The interesting thing is how many things can go wrong at any stage in the communication process. I might not know exactly what I want to say. I might not be able to put it into words. I might not have time to get the other person's attention. They might not be able to hear. They might think they understand, but don't. I might not have time for more than a short, "Help me!"
Then there are emotions.
Good communication is useful. But exploring all the ways it can go wrong is much more interesting for our characters and stories because miscommunication happens all the time. Some times it is the speaker or writer's fault. Sometimes it's the reader or listener. Sometimes it's neither. Sometimes it's both. Sometimes it's on purpose.
That's what makes writing about people who are trying to communicate so interesting.
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