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I’m not trying to be rude, George, but it’s just talking and listening. How complex is that?

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Obviously it’s more than just speaking and listening, Mary-Lynn. Effective communication requires a meeting of two or more minds. A message has to be relayed and received. That’s more complex than many people think.

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Trust me George, you’re making it too complicated. You decide on your message. You relay it. It is received. Voila, communication!

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Think about it Mary-Lynn. First you have to decide on the message you want to convey. Then you have to think about your audience. You must state your message so your audience understands it. Then you have to hope your audience is receptive to your message. You have to find a way to engage them.

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As I’ve said before, it’s just talking and listening. As long as both parties understand that, communication is simple.

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To be honest, Mary-Lynn, I think communication is simple too, on the surface. It’s executing it effectively that is difficult.

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To make a long story short, George, I was just playing with you. I think you’re right. Communication can be very complex.

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Sometimes our quirks get in the way of the message. We send signals that we may not intend to send as you can see from the above conversation.

We could go through each of these one by one but you might accuse us of having a communication quirk if we did!

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WAIT …

So let’s get right into a technique we picked up along the way that keeps us from saying things we don’t need to say.

In many cases, these goofy little sayings are just a bridge to what we really want to say. They’re fillers that are unnecessary.

So the next time you’re embroiled in a conversation, WAIT. WAIT is an acronym for: Why Am I Talking?

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When I’m getting ready to say something, I just WAIT. I ask myself if I really need to say it. I think about how I will say it. It’s not fool-proof so I still say something foolish sometimes, but it’s really helped me communicate better.

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It doesn’t need to apply to just oral discussions. You may WAIT when you’re writing an e-mail. Just ask yourself: Why Am I Typing?

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In some cases, I discard the e-mail altogether. In other cases, it helps me really shorten it up. I still get carried away sometimes, but at least I get carried away consciously!

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How about this one: Why Am I Texting?

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This keeps me from feeling like I always have to respond one more time. It helps me look for that natural end to the conversation.

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Speaking of ends of conversations, we’ve reached it on this post. WAIT and you’ll avoid communication quirks that send the wrong signal. WAIT for bigg success!

What communication quirks drive you crazy?

Share that by leaving a comment, e-mailing us at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com or leaving a voice mail at 888.455.BIGG (2444).

Wait! We want to thank you so much for reading our post today.

Please join us next time as we discuss an important part of life balance we don’t often think about. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00488-092409.mp3

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Sloan didn’t follow the custom. He squatted in his stirrups. It looked so strange that people called it the “monkey crouch”.

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Well, monkey see, monkey do. Sloan’s technique quickly caught on.

It is given credit for improving race times by 6% over the last century. No other improvements have been as successful as Sloan’s monkey crouch.

Scientists have recently discovered why racing times improved so dramatically with the monkey crouch. Using the old way, the horse had to push the jockey up with every stride because the horse moves up and down more than the jockey.

By crouching above the horse, the jockey allows the horse to expend less energy with every stride. The jockey works harder but the pair is more efficient.

What can we learn about personal productivity from Sloan’s monkey crouch?

Think outside the monkey cage.
This is an obvious one but it bears repeating. Just because it’s always been done a certain way doesn’t make it best. Always be on the lookout for a better technique. Sloan found it; so can you.

Get the monkey off your back.
People made fun of Sloan until his method got results. What works may look strange. What works may feel strange. You don’t care about that. You just care that it works!

Make monkey trial and error your constant companion.
Look at your life as your laboratory. Always test new ideas, new techniques and new tools to see which ones pan out.

Don’t swing from tree to tree.
You can’t dilute your resources. You have to concentrate your efforts on one thing at a time. If you try to improve too many things, you won’t improve any.

Set the monkey bar a little higher.
Bigg success comes from sequential small improvements. So focus on doing just a little bit better today and a little bit better tomorrow.

Don’t be afraid to monkey around.
Sometimes the best improvements come by accident. Always be tuned in to your environment because you never know from where your bigg discovery will come.

It just shows you that, sometimes, monkey business leads to bigg success!

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Thanks so much for reading our post today. Please join us next time when we talk with John Tantillo, The Marketing Doctor, about giving your brand a brand-over. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00472-090109.mp3

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(Image by Paolo Camera,CC 2.0)