Adaptability

In Chapter 16 was discussion about the need to adapt and be flexible in our communication styles for different situations. We can not approach the same technique to everyone. We can almost say it is inconsiderate to communicate the same way to everyone. When we adjust our styles, use a softer tone to loved ones, more assertive to business collegues, a child sounding tone for children etc. it is like we are considering the feelings and the person we are dealing with, thus we are providing respect so to speak. When we talk to infants, we use baby gibberish and sound all goofy, but if we did the same thing to a 6 year old they would be like "I'm not a baby, I'm a big (boy or girl)" and it would be insulting to them that you see them as an infant still. Not to mention if you speak baby talk in a room full of grown up, you just end up making yourself look like a fool! When you talk with your friends you want to be soft and sweet (or however you men would like to describe the way you talk to your buddies) because you want to be liked and be a pleasure to be around. However if you used a soft and sweet approach as a CEO or Manager of an Oraganization, your employees are going to think of you are a push over. So in a boardroom or office you would be to assertive in what you want and expect from your employees, but while still be soft and considerate for their feelings---Don't want to be too cold hearted. So we need to be able to adjust automatically our approach for communication for the circumstance. In most cases, I feel adaptability is instinctive. Now there is the rare occassion when a mother of a newborn has a hard time doing that switch from baby talk to adult talk, but she eventually gets it. In some circumstances we need to pay attention to the way we talk and think if it is correct or not. So this chapter is good for showing us what we need to be aware of to better be able to consciously adapt our communication skills to make sure we are communication effectively.