Communication skills in life, are like speed in sports. Speed won’t guarantee that you are a good athlete. But, if you have speed, you will be better at every sport. Being a good communicator won’t guarantee that you are good at life, but if you are a good communicator, you will be helped in every area of life.
Learning to be a more effective communicator will make you a better: teacher, friend, parent, child, employee, boss spouse . . .
Again: being fast won’t make you King (Lebron) James. But, run faster and you’ll get up and down the floor faster. Good communication skills won’t guarantee you are good at any area of life, but you’ll get to more loose balls, wherever you play in life.
Agreed?
The bad news for those who want to be good at sports is that there isn’t much you can do to improve your speed. Speaking as one who runs about as well as an elm tree, I can say from experience, “Either you have it your don’t.”
The good news is, you can improve your communication skills. And, if you learn to be a better communicator, then you will be better at every area of life. Which is to say, I recommend, Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.
Some of my sisters teach. If they read this book, they’ll be better teachers. A lot of my friends preach. This one will help them. All of the people I know communicate. For those willing to read, this book would make them better communicators, and so a little better in every area.
Chris, I SO appreciate your viewpoint on things. I miss hearing you preach each week, but enjoy reading your blogs. I hadn’t heard of this book, but it sounds like something I would enjoy, and certainly could benefit from. Thank you for taking the time to share your insights; as always, I found your take here to be spot-on!
So good to hear from you Stephanie. You are such a treasure to us. One of the great privileges of life is being a pastor for people like you.
Chris,
Thank you again for this blog. It has encouraged me and challenged me on many occasions. May the Lord bless you in His service!
Hey Chris — great to hear from you. Thanks for checking in. I enjoyed our previous dialogue and this is encouraging because sometimes one blogs into silence.
As a pastor, if you get a chance this summer to read Made to Stick, I think you would find it helpful homiletically – – not in the sense of worldly wisdom or cleverly devising your arguments. But, just in terms of being clear with God’s Word. Also, I found Why Johnny Can’t Preach to be a good challenge.
Thanks again for checking in.