Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)
The experts tell us that, "Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.” Considering the 'powerful force' of the words we utter, we must discipline ourselves to speak in a way that conveys respect, gentleness and humility."
I would extend this meaning of the word, "help," to teaching, passing down that information to those who follow as a means of survival or today, "security and safety of self and families."
In recent postings and articles it has been said by those who don't believe that words have power that the need for such words one must act, perform and practice to achieve growth and change in karate and martial disciplines, in particular.
I believe wholeheartedly that words have power and I believe that it goes a lot further than mere words. Words do have literal meaning as one can imagine when looking up a new word in the dictionary. The definition is an approximation of what social reality wants us to understand as to meaning, literal. It changes as you probably already know when used, i.e., it comes to make true meaning once we add in the human component.
Words written have meaning and can be powerful.
Words SPOKEN have greater meaning and power because of all the traits that make up communications.
Each human carries with them certain traits that are expressed in a variety of ways toward helping others receive and understand the spoken word-message. This is a two stage process much like the diametric pairing of speaking words-n-active listening to words.
What happens when people begin to communicate with words to one another, the process as you can imagine is far more complex and complicated as it seems. Humans, especially today, take words and communications for granted in that they ASSUME what they do is proper and adequate when as you already know it is more complicated than that.
Lets us a few words to break it down:
- Human Components: Culture, Social Reality, Concepts, Experiences, vocabulary, understanding, tone, rhythm, cadence, facial expressions coupled with body language, attitude, character, personality, connection with recipients as to social reality, listening over speaking abilities, focus, respect (allowing for face saving, etc.), acknowledgment of other speakers, observation skills, reflecting, appreciation of others, motivation toward listening over speaking, attentiveness, positivity, ...
- Avoid jumping to conclusions.
- Avoid assumptions of what a speaker is saying.
- Avoid interruptions.
- Using all our sensory systems as humans to actively listen.
- Posture. (Body Language)
- Mirroring. (Body Language)
- Remembering and Positive Reinforcement.
- Appropriate questioning at appropriate moments in the communications (Clarifications, etc.).
- Summarization when appropriate.
Principles of Communications:
- Stop talking, actively listen.
- Prepare to listen: focus on the speaker, put extraneous thoughts out of mind, avoid distractions, etc. RELAX body and mind.
- Focus on what the speaker is saying; pay attention to their body language and facial expressions, set your body and facial language, the unspoken influences.
- Empathy when appropriate.
- Patience, patience, patience.
- Avoid prejudices from seeping into thoughts as the speaker communicates.
- Listen to the person’s “tone, rhythm, emotional content, cadence and content, etc.” Listen for idea’s, concepts, BELIEFS and related experiences, etc. Listen to those words and concepts conveyed by these traits.
- Pay attention to the non-verbal communications for often the words and non-verbal don’t match, listen to the non-verbal body language and facial expressions first.
- To active hear;
- To understand;
- To remember;
- To properly and appropriately and accurately interpret;
- To properly and appropriately and accurately evaluate;
- To properly and appropriately and accurately respond.
Words do have power; the human non-verbalization has greater power and reinforces or disavows the spoken words; the combination of non-verbal, social reality, beliefs and experiences support the non-verbal and can support the words.
You see, as you can imagine and as you already know and understand words are powerful when utilized with other forms of human communications to convey idea’s, theories, concepts, experiences and other factual related information for change, evolving of the species and its very survival. No where else will this concept be of greater importance than in those actions and deeds we humans take toward self-preservation, i.e., our abilities to applies skills for self-protection and self-defense.
Read these words, seek out literal definitions to understand their essence then communicate to the author or speaker in an active way to learn their actual concept and intent in that written word - or spoken when using the art of avoidance and deescalation - by performing the art of active listening, to the WORDS and all the underlying non-verbal communications that drive the words, meaning and understanding of the speaker/author.
Bibliography (Click the link)
No comments:
Post a Comment