The Four T's of Communication
Communication plays a tremendous role in our everyday lives. It governs how we express ourselves, comes across as and how others are presented for you. “How” you communicate more relevant than “what” you communicate. Communication skills are ranked among the top 10 soft skills desired. The ability to accurately and precisely communicate any information accurately is a vital skill that can’t be overlooked. In this article, we will dissect what makes communication and discuss the 4 T’s that form communication of any sort.
Timing
Before even speaking for dialogue, the timing is crucial to give the same kind of impact as you want to convey. Think about the situation and the setting you are in when you are talking to someone or an audience. Ask yourself, “Is this the right time for me to speak about this?” Or “Should I speak about this with this group?” These starter questions will help you understand whether it is best to talk about it by being a better judge of yourself. Understanding the nature of what you will be discussing and the person/people you are speaking about making a tremendous difference in how others appreciate your words. No matter how important and accurate the information is, it can put one in trouble if said at the wrong time to the wrong audiences.
Tone
Your tone clarifies and adds meaning to the words you speak. Your style can not only affect how people perceive you by also their willingness to listen to you – especially in the study environment or when you are saying a speech and trying to convince the audience. Your words and sentence’s tonality is the primary factor that your audience will rely on to understand how you feel regarding what you are talking about and how to interpret it. You can better understand how the audience perceives it by seeing their reaction and recognising how they feel on the topic of your discussion or dialogue. You can then tailor your cadence to suit the situation and have a more desirable effect or be closer to the one you were expecting.
Technique
The technique of a conversation is a broad theme and envelopes a few concepts. It covers your attitude while you are communicating – the vibe you carry in a conversation. This is also partially affected by your charisma. We define charisma as allowing people to be at ease with you. Therefore, it is a skill that can be worked on rather than an innate ability that is only preserved for individual few. By understand and improving on your charisma, your technique also gets better, and as a result, people become more willing to listen to you – in some cases even agree to what you’re persuading them over.
Along with speaking, part of communication is also actively listening. Actively listening is understanding what the other person is saying and continuing from where they left off to address the same concept and showing you are on the same wavelength. While you are improving on this skill, you can always check your progress by asking yourself, “Was it professional or casual, friendly or ignorant? Were you also a good listener? How well did you handle a conversation related to feedback?”
Truth
Last but not least is the Truth of the conversation. Whatever we are speaking should be of relevance and directly affecting the audience members in one way or another. Are your facts reliable and accurate? Remember, the other three aspects can be easily mastered, but this takes some solid knowledge and courage. Having in-depth knowledge about your speech topic also shows how much care and attention you give to your words. You wouldn’t know who will be in the audience. Therefore, you need to be confident with what you’re saying is backed up with sufficient evidence, and if necessary, you can share such sources of your information. If you are not prepared, your validity decreases and trust is lost from the audience no matter how well your conversation was going initially when you get fact-checked.