Darin and Tiffany Oakes 
Please raise your hand if you have EVER said something that you regretted. Everyone? I thought so. We all have said something in our past that we shouldn’t have said. These words can result in a communication breakdown. Here’s the situation. Someone said something to you that they shouldn’t have. Have they ever given you … Read more
Have you ever had a conversation with someone, but couldn’t get a word in? Okay, maybe it was really a monologue. They just kept on talking and talking and talking? A monologue is a long speech by one person. See this monologue example from the Incredibles How do you get this person to stop talking? … Read more
Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash In today’s COVID-19 world, there is an explosion of online communication. This can create problems. These problems affect both our work and personal lives. Online communication does not have the context that face to face communication has and can lead to miscommunication. When writing an email or text, a … Read more
Have you ever gone to a meeting only to find that someone didn’t do their assignment? Instead of being able to move forward you must reassign the task and possibly rehash the same information. Frustrating, isn’t it? Most of the time this is not a person error, but a process error. Let me explain. For … Read more
Some communication involves the transfer of information. It is successful once the other party knows what you know. Other types of communication involve persuasion. I know, I know… Some people associate persuasion with manipulation. But we are talking about persuasion, NOT manipulation. In his book No-Fail Communication, Michael Hyatt describes 5 steps to help you … Read more
Not fully communicating with others can cause problems. It causes some to feel like they are being kept in the dark and makes them suspicious. Sometimes this is done through an oversight. Other times it is from attempting to protect people from bad news. In addition, there are those who put so much energy into … Read more
Most people want to communicate well. I don’t think anyone goes into a conversation saying, “I want to totally frustrate Joe.” Especially if they are talking to Joe. 😉 So why is it that this frustration is so common? The most likely problem is “busyness.” We all have a lot to do and are looking … Read more
Communication takes two parties: the sender and the receiver. The sender gives the message. The receiver gets the message. Only when both parties come to the same understanding does communication really happen. You would think that would be so simple… It’s not. In the title question, your answer will depend on your outlook. If your … Read more
Communication is how people understand one another. It is how we express ideas and feelings with one another. Communication involves the spoken words and the tone of voice we use while speaking. It also includes body language. How are we posturing, what are the facial expressions we display? The problem is that many times communication … Read more