Several years ago Rev. Kim Tracy and I travelled to Manaus, Brazil, to dedicate a church building New Hope had helped to finance. We were Sunday morning guests of the mother church downtown, a mega-church of the Presbyterian variety. Kim was a musician and was getting ready for the sound check just prior to the service, which was already packed with several hundred people. He wanted more sound in his monitor, so jestered upward with his thumb to the sound man in the back. He continued to pump his thumb up and down waiting for the appropriate volume.
The missions pastor of the church shook his head and kept advising, “Don’t do that.” When Kim finally got the desired volume, he ceased his jesturing. Kim was later humiliated when we were told that the thumbs up sign in Brazilian culture is an obscene jesture, equivalent to the middle finger in America.
The communications principle in this story is to beware of your jestures. People may read more into your wink than that you are making a joke. Body language says a lot about your demeanor and what you are thinking. So, think before you yawn or fold your arms.
Got any further illustrations of body language goof-ups?
Tags: communication, humor, missions
A young boy and his stepfather had difficulty communicating with each other. The man was outgoing; the boy was quiet. The elder loved to fish; the youngster loved to read.
The stepfather, wanting to get close to the boy, took him on a fishing trip. The boy hated it but didn’t know how to tell his stepfather directly. So he wrote him a note saying he wanted to go home. The man looked at it and then stuck it in his pocket.
The fishing trip continued for 4 more days. When they finally returned home, the boy shared his frustration with his mother and told her that his father had paid no attention to his note. His mother said to him, “Son, your father can’t read!”
Part of communication is being able to understand what the other person is thinking. The stepson misunderstood his stepfather’s message when he put the note in his pocket as rejection. Have you ever felt rejected or hurt by someone’s actions that may have been a misunderstanding?
Tags: communication, misunderstanding
Mr. & Mrs. Brown had a heated argument. Bitterness set in and they refused to speak to each other. Upon retiring for the night, Mr. Brown handed Mrs. Brown a note which read, “Call me at seven in the morning.”
When Mr. Brown awoke, it was nine o’clock! As he jumped out of bed he saw a note beside his own: “Its seven. Get up, you bum.”
This week and next we’ll take a look at some communication principles. The principle found in the above story is, whatever mode of communication we use, we can expect people to respond using the same mode. If we communicate in writing, we can expect a written communication back. If we email someone, we expect an email response. If we telephone someone, we expect a call back. If we insult someone, we should expect more insults back. If we are caring, we can expect a caring response. We set the mode (and mood).
Tags: communication, humor
I have a spelling checker
I disk covered four my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot see.
The words are spelled correctly, but they aren’t the right words to convey the message of the writer. It’s proof positive that if you’re looking to the wrong source for correctness, then you aren’t right.
It follows then, that its possible to trust the wrong source of information about finances, sex, or spiritual matters. It is wisdom to find the source that has real answers to life’s problems and stick to it. The Bible is always write.
Tags: Bible, communication, mistakes