Submitted by Claire de Lune on
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So, just how well do you communicate? Perhaps you’ve had the old adage, “talk is cheap” thrown your way when someone is more interested in what you will do than what you have to say. For example, I recently read a quote by H. Ross Perot that said, “Talk is cheap. Words are plentiful. Deeds are precious.” This seems to me to be a bit more elegant way of saying, “actions speak louder than words.” But then I recently saw this contrarian quote on the subject, “Anybody who thinks talk is cheap should get some legal advice,” an obvious bit of humor on the cost of seeking legal counsel. So, which is it? Is talk really cheap or is it truly that we just suffer from “a failure to communicate.” Maybe therein lies the key that unlocks the doorway to transforming “cheap talk” into something invaluable. Think about it, if words are so “plentiful,” which indeed they are, why aren’t we more forthcoming with our communication, in particular with those closest to us? Could it really just be a matter of becoming a better communicator?
Thinking on this has led me to a possible discovery in the pursuit of becoming a better communicator. Interestingly this “aha” came from the recesses of introspection in the form of this question. “Am I one who seeks to simply “tickle the ear” of another or do I desire to “get to the heart” [my own and others] with my communication?” In searching within for an honest answer to this question I uncovered this reality about myself. When I just present the transparent facts of my life I’m really just a good presenter. But when I offer up the vulnerabilities of my heart, then I become a good communicator. Wow, no wonder I can be so prone to having “a failure to communicate.” How is it with you? Have you just been honing your presentation skills from behind the veil of “just the facts” or are you seeking to become a communicator extraordinaire from out in front of the curtain of vulnerability? No doubt this is hard and frankly doesn’t come naturally. In the end, however, it certainly seems to be a new way of speaking worth pursuing. And maybe, just maybe, as we get better with communicating in this way our words will speak just as loud as our actions because they too will be spoken as the outward expressions of an inward reality…the reality of our heart. So, talk may be cheap but it seems communication is priceless. Peace.
Jon Thurman