At one time or another, we all become victims of bad advice. It’s easy to begin telling a friend or acquaintance of a problem that you are having, as well as what you are thinking only to be met with a negative reaction that does more harm than good. As friends of others, as well as those who are receiving advice, it is important to find ways to communicate more effectively, as well as find effective means to react in a way that will support and help those that are speaking.
The major reason why a bad diagnosis is made by a friend is because of communication barriers that are developed. While the other person may be thinking that they are able to create a scenario that will significantly change your life, you are listening with the words running through your mind that “you just don’t understand.” However, you can change the misperceptions that occur between two different people by understanding where the barriers are occurring.
Before diagnosing behaviors in order to determine new understandings, is a need to evaluate the intimacy level in which you can communicate at with the other person. Typically, you will want to create a social intimacy with someone in order to create an understanding. For example, you don’t want to walk up to a stranger and tell them one of your darkest secrets. Instead, you have to diagnose behaviors and communication by the level of trust that has been established. Finding encouragement from the other person, determining whether they are willing to listen to you and evaluating the face to face conversations is the first break in communication barriers for better levels of friendship.
When you feel that there is a level of trust that has been developed, you can then move to evaluating the behavior of others. This can help you to determine the amount of communication that is needed, as well as the ways in which you can communicate. The first evaluation that has to be made in determining the behaviors of others, as well as the communication levels that are occurring is by understanding the personality of the other person.
“When you feel that there is a level of trust that has been developed, you can then move to evaluating the behavior of others.”
Typically, it is stated that opposites will attract to each other, meaning that your personality type will be the exact opposite of the person that you are speaking with. The result is a beginning of different perceptions because of the personality that is involved. If you can recognize and evaluate the personality of the other person you are speaking with, it will allow you to understand that the perception that is being said is simply coming from a different personality and viewpoint. This doesn’t only mean diagnosing who the other person is, but also understanding what type of personality you are. This will allow you to gain insight into ways that you may be communicating that doesn’t register with how the other person responds.
Beyond the idea of opposites attracting is also the understanding that there are over sixteen different personality types that are a part of friendships and relationships. This can include a variety of ideal ways in which people react as well as preferences for socialization. Personality types, such as introverts and extroverts, are often times part of a relationship that has to be evaluated. The more you understand about the personality type, in which you are interacting with, the more likely you will be able to communicate what is needed in a more effective manner.
After you can honestly evaluate the type of person that you are communicating with, you can then gain skills to allow others to know exactly what you are thinking and feeling. The easiest way to shift a communication barrier is by understanding what you need to communicate in order to be effective with what is being said. Being thorough in your explanations, explaining your emotions in relation to the situation and providing clarity with the responses can help to eliminate the barriers that are occurring.
After you have been able to define your communication skills, as well as the other individual’s personality type, you will then have more abilities to communicate effectively. This first diagnosis can lead to better abilities of communication by describing things in different terms and by trying to stop and understand what is being said from the other side. This will allow you to include what is needed in order to create deeper and more meaningful relationships that can help to build more effective conversations and ideals.
If you are unsure of the personality type, you can easily define what is occurring by simply observing the responses of the other individuals. This is an easy and effective way to learn how to communicate better with the other person. For example, understanding body language can help you to interpret and shift the communication barriers that are taking place. Simple things such as eye contact, hand gestures and shifts in the body will help you to determine when to change the conversation and when there is a genuine understanding of what is happening.
Beyond this, you can use communication through listening to the other person. The more you have the ability to understand what is being said back, the more you will have the ability to perceive the personality type you are dealing with as well as the communication that you can use most effectively in order to help the other person gain an understanding of what you are being said. You can diagnose the communication skills and your listening abilities through things as simple as the words that are being used and even the tone in which the communication is being stated in.
Creating a deeper relationship that has no communication barriers means truly evaluating the interactions between you and the other person. Developing an understanding of personality types as well as how you interact with the other person will stop any misunderstandings that so frequently occur among friendships. Developing new levels of intimacy and understanding among any person that you interact with can help you in a gaining of true understandings on a variety of levels among different individuals.