“Communication is a skill that you can learn. It’s like riding a bicycle or typing. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life.”  ~ Brian Tracy

In almost every conversation I have with clients when I ask them the biggest challenge facing their organization, ninety percent of the time they say…communication.

Communication has been the same answer I have heard for the last 25 years in this business. BTW you can apply this issue of poor communication to most personal relationships as well.

So, if poor communication has been a problem for so long and for so many folks, why haven’t we been able to correct this issue?

Here’s a Possibility

You can speak at a rate of 120 – 180 words per minute. You can listen at a rate of 400 – 800 words per minute. However, your mind can process up to 3000 words per minute!!

Anybody see a problem here?

The Harvard Business review stated that 87% of business issues are due to the lack of effective communication skills, NOT the competencies of the parties.

When our mind is processing information so much faster than the rate at which the other person is speaking, we create opportunities for dis-connection and … disconnection is the antithesis of effective communication.

So what do you do with the gap in communication speeds between speaking, listening, and the speed at which your brain processes? Most of the time it is not good!

Here’s an exercise for you to help you figure your Effective Communication Score :

Grab a piece of paper and a pen and make a hash mark for every one of the behaviors you demonstrated in the last week from the list below.

10 Things That Will Kill Effective Communication:

1. Interrupted the other person.
2. Didn’t make eye contact with the other person.
3. Faked attention.
4. Distracted yourself.
5. Didn’t pay attention.
6. Said, “Yes but, instead of yes and…”
7. Got ahead of the other person and finished their… (yes, the correct answer is sentence)
8. Didn’t respond and instead reacted to the other person’s point.
9. Talked more than you listened (this is especially critical for sales professionals)
10. Told the other person what you wanted before you listened to what they needed.

Now total the number of items you checked and subtract it from 10. (If you marked 7 then 10 – 7 = 3). Now divide that number by 10 (10/3 = 30%). That will give you your Effective Communication Score (ECS), 30%, yes out of 100%.

So how did you do? 20%, 30%, 50%, 80%?

Good News – Here’s How You Can Fix it

The good news is that regardless of what you scored you can always increase your communication effectiveness if your willing to work at it!

So here’s how to work at it: simply review the list and then choose 3 items you will commit to working on, you already know which ones you need to work on, then simply ‘do the opposite. ‘

For example, instead of interrupting… listen, instead of talking more…shut the hell up and listen more, and instead of telling others what you want first…ask them what they need first!

Get the picture?

It’s true, a 1000 words doesn’t necessarily paint a picture, especially if your communication is ineffective…

But you can change all that, so why not start today!