..its just hiding behind the television set. I read this phrase long back in Reader's Digest I think. Then television was the baddest influence on our culture and people still met over coffee, not orkut. Not that I have anything against that medium. But a recent blog by a fellow scribbler brought the whole new age communication thing into my mind and I set down to blog it.
Since my work is all about communication, I have found myself unconsciously eaves dropping on other peoples communication style - picking up the good bits and trying to avoid what doesn't work. This has also led me to realise there is a huge difference between the good communicators and the bad communicators, and it has nothing to do with their intelligence or other skills.
A lot of very intelligent and smart people fail to make the right impression or get their point across because they either cannot communicate properly or do not care to communicate properly. And I have also met many excellent communicators who can sell you the Moon. And somewhere in the middle are the truly exceptional jewels who measure their words, edit their sentences while speaking, pause at the right time, emphasize the right words....to create a crisp, clear communique that leave a great impression.
I remember back in my journalism class, we had a lecture by P. Sainath, the Magsaysay award winner journalist. He was slated to speak on Ethics in Journalism. In he walks into a class of 65 odd brats who have nothing better to do then tear the speaker apart at the first chance. And he starts by asking what we know of the Hiroshima Bombing. Did we know about the Australian reporter who was in Japan at that time and was the first to reach Hiroshima and report? No?
And then he told the story of this reporter who knew nothing about what had happened, and continued to report of the horrors until the Australian media was forced to block his report due to international pressure. He spun the ethics angle on it by and by and we were hooked. The story was told with such finesse that you could have heard a pin drop in that lecture hall. And I will always remember having met such a brilliant communicator in my life.
Of course, I have aslo come across Actors, celebrities, politicians, authors - who are able to deliver their sentiments in words or writing, precisely and concisely. And somehow I have always wished I can reach that level of communication in whatever media I choose to communicate in.
Getting back to the original argument, I feel in today's world of media exposure and trial by television, communication is not hiding behind the television set anymore, it is being flaunted in front of the camera and put up in Youtube. And we should take note and start dotting our i's and crossing our t's and try our darnest best to get our point across - or be lost somewhere in the editor's table.
6 comments:
Bang on! I was in that class and was it riveting or what. Just remembered another fact from that day - the American reporter whose story made it to the papers was awarded the Pulitzer for 'Journalism'.
I am not dead against the new tools of communication, what will I do without a little chat with you when you are in Ipswich and I am in Delhi. Gtalk or Skype makes that voice oh so close and I quite enjoy it to know the possibility. But good communication and bad communication will always be there. Why do we watch some select few films and read voraciously some specific authors, precisely for this same reason some communicate well and some don't. As long as long as a living organism walks the earth there will be communication. I never cease to be surprised when I watch Jurassic Park 3 where the communication of the Raptors is captured. The more effectively we do that the better it is. Aami Youtube e amar masterpiece add korechish bole chotchish keno? Heh heh!
Garcia again.. what would you say about him.. :) was he a good communicator?
Very well said! The success of a communicator can only be judged by the person he communicates to. If the recepient has understood not only the words but the message and its essence correctly I guess the communicator is successful. I remember an article about why marriages fail. and one big factor it said was bad communication. Mostlty life partners while debating/discussing (read fighting;-)) jump upon the words uttered and care less about the intentions or essence behind it. i hope improving communication can also resolve half the problems of the world;-))
It's a strange situation out there. On one hand you have the profusion of mediums (print, electronic and now new-age) where the world is saying too much, throwing it at your face that is. On the other hand, i notice it's getting increasingly difficult to make people understand each other, reach out and feel the vibes...
hey i distinctly remember sainath's class too! that was so disarming. because like u said the entire class was primed up to tear him apart. great to see u refer to that class. it was one of the best of the year. in fact, that entire series was truly superb.
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