Communication is a funny thing. Its one of life’s most essential things and is one of the key ways humans relate to one another. Good communication skills are important for couples, students, teachers, employees, bosses and various other relationship dynamics. But what a person says or want to convey in their message isn’t always completely understood in the correct context. And no matter how hard you try to explain your message again and again, the other party just doesn’t get it.

There are numerous things that can prevent the other party from correctly understating whatever you’re trying to communicate. Maybe you’re not conveying the message correctly to where it’s easily understood or maybe the other party’s perceptions or influences cause them to misinterpret your initial message.

Sometimes, people have to hear the message several times before they really understand it, and this can frustrate the person trying to initially communicate the message. This in turn causes them to send out several misleading messages that are farther from the original message, thus causing the vacuum of communication. What people need to understand is that since communication is key, it is important to repeat themselves at times to make sure that your message is reaching its intended audience in the way that you want it to be understood.

Everybody delivers messages differently, but more importantly is that we all receive messages different, fueling this vacuum of communication. As the two opposing sides try to figure out what the message really is, the vacuum is filled with negativity and hostility, damaging any communication between the parties. This ultimately results in communication breakdown issues.

A communication vacuum happens with a gap is allowed between what a person thinks others know and what they actually know. So the bigger the gap, the higher the chances are that the other party will fill in the details that they missed from your original message and the more likely these details will be totally off what you first intended. The biggest challenge in communication is reaching your target audience in a way that they won’t just hear what you are saying, but also comprehend the message in its original form as it was meant to.

The communication vacuum is why many partners fight (ie. men are from Mars, women are from Venus kind of thing), why employees can’t complete and assignment placed upon them by their boss and why a young person doesn’t listen to an older person.

To make sure that your message doesn’t get stuck in the vacuum, you must think creatively so that your message stands out and is interpreted as you want it to be. Also, be concise and keep your message focused on the most important things since it’s easy to misconstrue something when there’s so much happening in the message. By keeping the message simple, your audience is most likely to hear and understand exactly what you want them to hear.

Would you share your most interesting observations when it comes to miscommunications? 🙂

Kelvin