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Find out what Beth Lee has to say about learning and communication in her new book “Convincing Communication”.
Meet a specialist in communication with a foundation in language learning. Ms. Lee completed her studies in language training graduating from Stanford with a specialization in language acquisition. She has developed new learning techniques for communications and languages and has recently published a book concerning this subject. Language and communication strategies are right up her alley. The following is an excerpt from her book “Convincing Communication”.
Convincing Communication by Beth Lee published by Random House Publications.
The uphill battle.
Communications is all in your head. People get bogged down with aspects of communication that hardly matter in the overall scheme of things. With this idea in mind, they fight an uphill battle.
Before divulging the first principle in communication, consider this case study. Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien having won two mandates and serving the Canadian people from 1993 to 2003, has been considered one of the most prolific and successful leaders in Canadian history. He is a real case in point when considering language skills. Canada, being officially bilingual, requires politicians to be equally at ease in both official languages, and get this, Chrétien spoke neither well. This did not seem to hamper his career. Furthermore, consider former president George W. Bush. During his mandate he was hardly considered a linguistic luminary. Internationals might wonder how this might be. Perhaps there is something to be learnt by this.
First principle : Who is your audience?
Chrétien was a showman. He appealed to the common Canadian. He was considered the people’s politician. He knew his audience well, and played the part. Similarly, American culture has been known to harbor scepticism and resistance to overintellectual leadership. This is one of the major factors contributing to Bush’s success. He held two mandates. Not eloquent in his speeches, he was able to convince many voters.
How does this relate to language learning? Who is your audience? If you are learning languages for academic objectives, the concept is different. You would be amazed at how many people do not consider this. Analyze and execute. A good salesperson learns a few expressions in each language with the objective of putting his/her clients at ease. Talk to them!
Second Principle: What is the objective of your communication?
Communication functions on several levels. There are the linguistic and technical elements and then the emotional and cultural aspects. Most of the time, we consider the words we are saying and not how we say them. Delivery, whether written or spoken, is paramount for the communication. The “I have a dream” speech delivered by Martin Luther King typifies emotional delivery. Of course, these events are oral. Consider the following: Stephen Hawkins, the famous British astrophysicist who is known for developing his complex Big Bang theories, was able to write complex hypotheses for academic purposes, but more interesting was the simplifying of his complex ideas in his book “A Brief History in Time” (1988) . He was able to put very complex ideas into simple words. By the end of his book, we understand what the Big Bang theory is.
Once again how does this relate to language learning? Do we sometimes miss our communication objectives because of objective miscalculations? Consider this the next time you prepare that document or oral presentation. Or for that matter the discussion in the hallway with your colleagues.
Follow Beth Lee’s ideas on communication in part two of this book review.