What's The Bigger Communication Breakdown: Poor "Communication" Skills Or Poor "Comprehension" Skills?
- 3.8K opinions shared on Society & Politics topic.
There are different kinds of communication problems: Too shy and quiet; lack of vocabulary; an inability to organize thoughts and express them; or a style of communication that is obnoxious and puts people off. The latter might include crudeness, loudness, bombast, pontification, dominance, threatening metacommunication, or other things.
I know people who are highly educated and capable of clearly expressing their thoughts who are obnoxious. I don't care to be around them, let alone hear what they have to say. Despite their education, they are ignorant.
Poor comprehension skills may be due to lack of education or cognition. You would have to communicate with someone like that as if talking to a child. Some comprehension problems stem from ideology or, basically, brainwashing. How do you discuss the state of government with a political partisan? How do you have a rational discussion with an ideologue? How do you discuss geology or anthropology with a Creationist? A person with a closed mind is a waste of time.
My conclusion is, poor communication skills can be improved upon with effort and practice. Communication skills are learned. But it may not always be possible to improve upon poor comprehension skills. Therefore, I'd say that poor comprehension skills are a bigger problem, generally speaking.
My wife and I have attended counseling in the past in order to strengthen our relationship and insure its ongoing health. In doing so, we learned a lot about each other but also about ourselves. One of the most important things we learned was healthy communication. It is invaluable for couples but also serves one well in communicating with others.
Most Helpful Opinions
-
Great question Toots... those two memes are well stated... many folks are horrible listeners and do not do what's known as "active listening"
"Active listening refers to a pattern of listening that keeps you engaged with your conversation partner in a positive way. It is the process of listening attentively while someone else speaks, paraphrasing and reflecting back what is said, and withholding judgment and advice."
Great advice and insights on this page too: https://positivepsychology.com/active-listening/
More so lately I've noticed many folks have bias in their ears and it's taken the old game of two people hear the same thing then try to play it back... if the two people have different biases on the topic, you'll get a wildly different playback...
Active listening helps eliminate that... it's not always easy to do but it is great for both personal and business conversations :)
What Girls & Guys Said
13
Opinion
50Opinion
- 2.5K opinions shared on Society & Politics topic.
Comprehension. is bigger Lucky my best friend can always tell what i am saying but i always screw up something due to my dyslexia but because my best-friend has good comprehension on what i say and how i act she understands it :)
The thing is tho people can say stuff then try change what they said. But you cannot tell if it really is communication thing or them trying to look like they were right. And then sometimes we say something than realize it was wrong lmao or we screwed up.
Or we take something to literally or too little. Like for example guy said mediating was helpful to sleep because there goals are the same thing so my comprehension thought he meant they both goal for sleep lol but wen he explained what he meant i got it afterwards.
I think Comprehension is a bigger issue tho cause even a person with bad communication problems let's say you screw up a word the other person should be able tell through common sense what word your trying to say. Or you should use your common sense think he meant something he didn't write at all. Not putting words in others mouths but honestly we all screw up here. -
I find that people don't really read everything, and then just respond to what they think I am saying, when I am not, as they DON'T READ THE WHOLE THING!!!
So many are just so quick to hate, and want to argue, that they don't really seem to care what the intent is.
Yeah, sometimes, you accidentally misread, and misunderstand, but some just seem to want DRAMA, and want to start an argument, without really knowing, or caring what the posted, REAL POINT, is.
It is much harder, to really know what the other is really saying, with just text, and not seeing their expressions, or hearing the 'sarcasm' sometimes. - 929 opinions shared on Society & Politics topic.
Most often, the communicator.
There's almost always a chance to clarify what you mean to your listener, if they're willing.
That said, especially online, sometimes it's impossible to bridge the gap as a communicator if your listener refuses to, well, listen.
Personally, I find text-based communication much harder than face-to-face (video calls count, since I can see the other person). Through tone, body language, and reading the other party, it's easier as a communicator to adjust your approach or clarify.
That said, the listener also has a chance to clarify and ensure they're understanding the points. But I'd favour the communicator as the bigger factor - they're the initiator, after all. - 3.6K opinions shared on Society & Politics topic.
If we analyze the "communication loop", there is:
1. a message
2. the encoding of that message
3 the transmission of that encoding
4. the receiving of that transmission
5. the decoding of that transmission into - - -
6. the message
A breakdown at any point means the message will not get to its intended target.
If someone doesn't speak the language of a country he or she visits, the breakdown will be at point 1 or 2.
If a telegraph line breaks (ask your grandpa) the breakdown is at point 3 and/or 4.
If someone can't listen, the problem is at 4 and/or 5, and so on. -
Personally, I cannot decide as to which is worse. It depends on the person, are they listening to comprehend or are they simply listening to respond?
Not everyone is good a communicating how they are feeling. Granted this ties into comprehension, if you don not quite understand, it would be important to ask questions to make sure you have an understanding.
However, if someone is not communicating, you cannot attempt to gain an understanding. - 1.8K opinions shared on Society & Politics topic.
I see comprehension as a subset of communication skills. In order to communicate well with someone else you have to listen and verify you understand what they said. That’s where skills of active listening, patience, and understanding venting/fixing come in handy. I hope over time that a couple focuses on improving their communication skills overall because that leads to each being more heard and validated. God gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason :)
-
poor communication if you don't do that at all it will ruin a lot and don't wory about skills because you can't be skilled without any communication. i grow up with family that didn't communicat and when i had my first serious relationship with Jax i had a lot of problems with communication but now we are very good at talking and we learned a lot of skills
- 10.8K opinions shared on Society & Politics topic.
This girl from Texas is just a pen-pal and she's age 28 but she emailed me a few times but her emails are far and in between so I find her communication to be poor but we can't force people to email us... So I don't hold any promise or expect more from her.
-
A little from column A and a little from column B... In my life so far there's been occasions where I've been capable of being inarticulate and at the same time misunderstand the point , so I won't highlight either one of my faults, instead I'll give them both the credit they deserve lol I'm working on it, but it's a work in progress! LOL
- 372 opinions shared on Society & Politics topic.
It has to be comprehension, if you struggle to communicate at least if someones good at understand things you will eventually ease out what they are trying to say.
If you struggle at comprehending then it can be like banging your head against the wall. If someone can't comprehend what you are saying it's as good as not communicating. -
The art of conversation is to be heard Not just to be heard but for the recipient to understand what you have aired the at 2 types of hearing when it comes to listening but not acting on the information this person has conveyed to you Or we have the active listener who takes on board what you have explained and can clarify what they have heard
-
It lies on both ends, but I think the biggest breakdown is when one person anticipates what the other is going to say or mean and then doesn't listen because they think they know what is going to be said and their mind is already processing their response instead of comprehending the incoming communication.
-
Comprehension definitely. In fact I'd definitely say that the more heated debates between men and women in particular are all about the differences in perception and each completely misunderstanding the other.
-
poor communication. I have learned over 42 years no one listens to well. It sucks bc people can learn more about someone very well when you open one ear and listen.
- 455 opinions shared on Society & Politics topic.
It's both those are two pillars if say something and someone is not able to understand its frustrating, similarly if you don't say anything at all then no one can comprehend with it so yeah without both other will fail
-
Communication skills especially via text it is very easy to relay the wrong message or make it sound different than it is meant
-
"Comprehension skills" form the biggest obstacle.
Most people can communicate reasonably clearly.
Failure generally occurs when the receiver has an agenda that requires misunderstanding. No amount of logic or reason will get through to those who do not want to understand. For proof, try explaining the idiocy of theism to a religious type. - 1.5K opinions shared on Society & Politics topic.
True. Many do not know how to listen. They take it as an insult or think you trying to control them but they do not stop to try to understand. Or maybe the person communicating does not know how to articulate in a tactful way to convey an idea.
- 2.6K opinions shared on Society & Politics topic.
Comprehension. And the ability and willingness to accept that the speaker may have valid beliefs that do not correspond to your own.
-
Here's the thing about communication: if you're trying to convey some information or emotion to someone, and they don't understand... then you have't successfully conveyed that information. It is entirely the responsibility of the person initiating the communication to make sure the recipient (s) understand, because the initiator is the one who benefits from that comprehension.
Click "Show More" for your mentions
Most Helpful Opinion(mho) Rate.
Learn more
Learn more
We're glad to see you liked this post.
You can also add your opinion below!
Most Helpful Opinions