“The Timeless Transcendent Survival Skill” By Damon Nailer

Credit: Mr. Damon Nailer | Kitril Consultancy

Damon Nailer of Kitril Consultancy shares his insights on a skill which he finds necessary for people to develop in today’s age to survive.

Communication. As a communications specialist, I am aware of how beneficial it is to clearly articulate your thoughts, ideas and effectively listen to others as they share their thoughts, ideas. This timeless, transcendent skill is essential for all of humanity because it is necessary for sharing/receiving information, maintaining employment, succeeding at business, forming successful partnerships, and experiencing meaningful and healthy relationships.

What makes communication so vital?
It is how you share your thoughts, feelings, and ideas with others and how others share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas with you. Ultimately, communication is the two-way bridge that connects everything and everybody. One side of the bridge serves as a disseminator, sending information by verbal, nonverbal, written, and symbolic messaging. The other side of the bridge functions as an interpreter, processing and decoding the messages and information that is sent by the disseminator. When either side of the bridge is not functioning properly, there is sure to be confusion, misunderstandings, conflicts, etc.

What causes confusion, misunderstandings, and conflicts to occur?
When the disseminator presents vague details, limited information, mixed signals, and flawed facts, problems become inevitable. As a result, the disseminator must be clear in providing sufficient/specific details, clear signals, and reliable information. Here is a prime example of dissemination without sufficient information. A friend reached out to me with a potential employment opportunity by sending a message that read along these lines, “Hey, they need some workers. They will operate for a few days next week. Are you interested?” Huh? Of course, I needed more details to make an informed decision, such as who is the employer, what are the hours, which days, how much is the employer paying? Once these questions were answered, I was able to think about the opportunity and determine my availability. After deliberating for a short while, I decided to work with the company for a few days.

When the interpreter inserts personal opinions and subjective beliefs into his/her deciphering process, issues are sure to manifest.

Thus, the interpreter must objectively filter the details submitted by the disseminator without prejudice or personal bias. If you find yourself saying the following statements, you may be inserting your opinions into your interpretations of messages presented by others:

“I don’t know why they did it that way”, “If it were me, I would have…”, “I don’t know why they feel that way”. We must consider a person’s background when interpreting their various forms of communication. Age, gender, location, experience, economic status, employment sector(s) all play a part in how we communicate.

When you are aware of a person’s background, it makes it easier to objectively process their messaging because you can interpret their verbal/nonverbal communication through their own eyes and viewpoint as opposed to your own eyes and standpoint.

Here are some suggestions for disseminating information better:

• When disseminating information, provide facts and details that answer who, what, when, where, how, and why, which will decrease the potential of omitting pertinent information and causing confusion.
• Monitor your tone and energy behind your words. In many cases, it is not what you say but how you say it.
• Be mindful of the impact of the messages you disseminate. Words can commend/condemn, bless/curse, encourage/discourage, up lift/put down.
• Don’t just communicate to people’s heads, but also communicate to their hearts. Share facts/information as well as heartfelt stories.

Here are some ideas for interpreting information better:

• When interpreting information, try to remain neutral and nonjudgmental as you listen to the messages and content being shared. This will enable you to be more impartial and accurate with your processing.
• Enhance your listening skills by empathizing with those who are communicating. This translates to putting yourself in their shoes and seeing things from their place, position, and experience.
• Focus on what is being stated overtly/covertly (facts, underlying messages).
• Be mindful of a person’s nonverbal cues and body language because they send critical messages too.

Meet Our Contributor — Damon Nailer
With over 1K speaking engagements and many published works under his belt, Damon is known as a Renaissance Man, Inspirational Communicator, Gift Guru, and Authority/Expert who can provide direction, inspiration, and education to any audience. Mr. Nailer is the owner of Kitril Consultancy, where he serves as an author, speaker, content creator, and consultant, specializing in communication, leadership, entrepreneurship, professional/personal development, spirituality, mental health awareness, and parenting. As a result of his experience and expertise, he has been featured 200+ times in various media outlets, including The Huffington Post, Reader’s Digest, Thrive Global, Goalcast, MSN, Yahoo, Yahoo Finance, Redbook, Business Insider, Best Life, Go Banking Rates, podcasts, radio/TV shows, magazines, newspapers, etc. Recently, Damon added the title of Program Director of the Family Resource Center at the Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana.