How to communicate effectively

1. Viewpoint

"The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do."

2. Smile & ponder

Lunch hours were always the busiest time at the local bank with time-starved customers queuing for service. There never seemed to be enough tellers to satisfy demand.

Management decided to employ various forms of nonverbal commun-ication to help alleviate the problem. Each teller was issued with a badge indicating that he or she was undergoing training to improve his or her skills. And each teller displayed for the customers to see a partly eaten apple or a tub of yogurt and spoon.

When queuing customers finally made it to the teller, their feelings of frustration abated when they noticed that the teller was undergoing training (they became more accepting of his or her speed) - and working through lunch to serve the customers.

3. Don't forget

The words ‘information’ and ‘communication’ are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through. …