And once I get it out of my head...

The next challenge is picking the right words to express my thoughts.

We all tend to default to common phrases and cliches. At one time they really helped clarify thinking, but now they just turn people off.

Here is a list of "Americanisms" invading the British vocabulary... and a bit of commentary on how Brits feel about them.

What over-used terms and phrases drive you crazy?

Meetings

This week's theory lecture on communication in workgroups and teams gets very practical when applied to the most common team communication venue - meetings.

For many, meetings are the bane of organizational existence. Sometimes that is because of bad behavior at meetings. Sometimes it is poor meeting management. Sometimes is due to lack of clarity on why we are meeting, what we are supposed to accomplish and what my particular role in this situation actually is.

How would you grade your organization on the general quality of your meetings? In your experience, what makes "bad" meetings bad? What makes "good" meetings good?

False Evidence Appearing Real - FEAR

This article - Using Stories to Overcome Fear - by Peter Guber on the HBR Blog network captures some of the popular discussion around the power of story in delivering and driving business results.

Do people in any organizations to which you belong live under the power of F.E.A.R?

Getting it out of my head...

Studying communication can be like dissecting a frog to figure out how it works. In the pond, frogs jump and swim, croak and mate, eat and escape being eaten. Catch that same frog pickle it and pin it down, start poking, probing and pinching it and you may learn a lot about the frog, but in the process, the frog dies.

I hope not to kill communication in the process of studying it with you.

Communication happens when I get something out of my head into the space between our heads so that you can process it in your head and agree or disagree with me, act upon or ignore what I said.

Any one of us starts the process when we get a story, an experience, an idea, an emotion out of our head and into the space between us. None of us are mind readers. No one can really know what we are thinking unless we tell them. Telling them starts the communication process.

• How easy is it for you to get stuff out of your head so that others can interact with you?
  
• What are the hindrances you need to overcome in doing so?
• Do people regard you as a conversationalist?

“Today, communication is instant, constant, permanent and global.”

—	Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life