Talk Ain't Cheap

    In my last post, I spoke to those who are endless talkers.  They know who they are.  They know this because somewhere along the way in their lives someone told them.  It may have been said nicely, almost jokingly, by a sensitive friend or delivered directly without any filters as only a family member can.  But the point was made.  And no doubt that point was made enough times that a talker will confess in some of their conversations, "I know I talk a lot..."  So they get it.  However, knowing and doing are two separate actions, and knowing they talk a lot doesn't mean they will automatically stop.  In fact, once they get rolling it seems they can hardly reign themselves in.  Their brains are churning thoughts that come rushing out like water from a hydrant, and they can't seem to turn them off.  Then there are those whose hydrant is more like a garden hose that's been left on.  They take their time and let their w...

The Endless Talker     People who talk too much.  We all know them.  They go on and on until they finally reach their point (if there is one) buried somewhere at the end of their speech beneath a bunch of other stuff we don't care about.  Others interrupt us multiple times as if we're not even speaking to make their points.  Then there are those who are just plain wasteful with words.  They take 50 to say what could be said in ten.  Yakkety, yak, yak.  Blah, blah, blah.  I don't know about you, but I eventually stop listening.  My thoughts immediately go to:  "How in the world can I get away from this windbag?"  They don't seem to notice that my eyes have glazed over or I'm nodding like crazy to get them to hurry up.  My point?  It's about economy of words.  Unless we're chilling on the front porch enjoying the breeze with no particular plans, then I'm too busy to get stalled by somebody's chatter. ...

I once heard billionaire Warren Buffett say to a group of MBA students at Columbia University that if they learned to communicate well, they could add about a half million dollars to their personal worth.  The fact is, as much as we all speak, we do a poor job of communicating most of the time.  There's not often clarity in what we're trying to say or write, we talk too much, we don't talk enough, we say the wrong things, we are not sensitive to the people we're talking to or about, we misspell words and don't go back and proofread our work, we don't listen enough, we cut people off when they are trying to speak, we talk too loud or too soft, we're too curt in our responses, we don't get to the point, we're just plain bad at communicating.  This blog will serve to help anyone out there who makes these mistakes and more.  Check it out weekly.