8 Conversational Habits of Smart Communicators(It's Not What You Think)

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8 Conversational Habits of Smart Communicators (It's Not What You Think)

By Marcel Schwantes Principal and founder, Leadership From the Core

The digital era is causing a slow degeneration in our ability to verbally communicate. Specifically, the part of verbal communication that doesn't require words -- active listening.

This affects all generations, not just Millennials. As a Gen-Xer myself, I fully admit that being connected 24/7 to mobile apps, texting, email, and social media has become a crutch. The speed of communicating in 140 characters or less is certainly convenient, but I need to guard against diminishing my own ability to verbally engage and listen to colleagues and clients when necessary.

This means courageously stepping out from behind our digital comfort zones to deal directly with the unpredictability of human emotions. This is what generations past used to do, and it's often the quickest route in cutting through conflict or setting clear expectations with intention, if you're a leader.

There are certain situations (business or personal) that call for us to have human-to-human interactions, to speak and listen authentically and communicate that which could otherwise get lost or not be conveyed through digital communication.

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