Bunny trail

Have you ever tried to explain something to somebody and received a blank stare back? Or have you been talking with another person and end up at the same conclusion but have no idea what the other person was talking about or how they got to their conclusion? Clear communication is tough. You battle the other person's biases, perspectives that have been shaped by their past, differences in how you process things, and personality differences. So how do you best communicate with someone else? I am learning that the biggest part of communication for me is the listening part. Listening to what they are saying, not what I want them to be saying, or thinking they may be meaning, but really hearing what they are talking about. Finding the bottom line of what they are saying and then figuring out how to explain to them what I mean in similar terms. Some people are story tellers and will best hear you when you talk to them through stories, some people are just-the-facts type people and hear the details without any extras thrown in, some "hear" you best through actions - there are multiple ways that people communicate. The trick is learning which one they are so that you can talk to them in their language. I am not really sure what type of communication is my style. I tend to be random, but can also be straight to the point sometimes. Definitely hear and believe actions speak louder than words, but also need the words to go with them a lot of the times. Love stories and seeing the example, but can also get lost in the story and not hear the point as well. Really I don't know that I have or that most people have one style of communicating. Not really sure why I am writing about this other than I question how well I communicate the important things to people. Wonder when I talk what people are thinking as they are nodding their head in agreement - Oh, that makes perfect sense! or What the heck is he talking about? or Are we even talking about the same thing? Probably on my mind as I have talked with a variety of people the last couple of days, and not really sure that I have communicated well in any of those circumstances. Well enough of my rambling about communication. Time to move on to other bunny trails.