A New Boilerplate for Conversation
Tags: Mental Exercises, Organize, Modesty, Listen, Conversations

The Corona Pandemic has made it imperative for IT workers to be glued to their seats more than ever before. It seems they spend an eternity in just clarifying things. For 2021, one of my resolutions is to improve my art of conversation in personal and in business contexts. If you want to join in, feel free to read some of my observations that lead to this resolution:

Listen, really listen

I read books, but only endeavor to read literature. I will explain the difference. When I read books, I interpret only what I read, what I can make sense of, oftentimes uncritically and ostensibly seeking knowledge. When one reads literature, I learnt that one has to take into account the work’s background, context and history to interpret it accurately.

Similarly, when I talk to a person, I now believe that I am dealing with a piece of literature. What the person says should be subject to interpretation based on their background, culture, attitude and the immediate context.

Be the last one to speak

If you really want to add value to a conversation to a group setting, it makes sense to wait and gather information first. Active listening is rarely practised. Learn what everyone is saying, understand their context and possibly motivations, before you offer your perspective. As a bonus, your team will feel valued and it will pave the way for better conversations.

Be less trigger-happy when it comes to sharing information

An acquaintance I have is in the top management of a small business. Interestingly, he has been known to spend half an hour one each and every email he responds to. I used to find it funny at first as I believed that time is money. But words are money, too.

When sending email or reports or analysis, think twice, even thrice before you click on the “Send” button. In a business context, every word should translate to profitability and hence it makes sense to review what you have written well to see that nothing is lost to misinterpretation. The reader should find your sentences readable and often, it is no place to showcase your literary talents.

Organize the content in your mind: It is a good mental exercise

Before you speak or write something important, exercise your mind to organize the content in your mind or in the document. Try to stand in the shoes of your reader or listener and put every bit of your effort into clarifying what you are going to say: yes, sweat the small stuff here.

Mind your articles

A brilliant insight can often be lost when it doesn’t make sense to a literate mind. Often, articles are the casualties in conversation — written or spoken. That’s why I make this point to emphasize the usage of articles “a”, “an” and “the”. Using them appropriately can convey meaning that can be easily understood. Not using them can bring down a respectable tome of a report down to its knees.

Summarize or conclude well

When you present something, people can get swayed by your nuances but they do listen or read to get the gist of something. So, make sure you add a few sentences as a summary or conclusion.

I think it will take six months to put the above into practice. If you have something to add to this, please do take a moment to comment on this post. It will help me refine my process further and thank you for reading.