Communication. Communication. Communication.

I cannot state this enough. Communication is the most important thing for us to do and in the same sense; it is the hardest thing for us to do.

Introductions, friendships, business contacts, family, the distance in between two different people, or the tension that arises from conflict – bottom line is that the dynamics are always changing and our skills in effectively communicating is a lost art.

So how do we fix it?

I’ve learned much of communicating falls under effort.

For example, let’s say one of your friends in your hall from freshman year moves to a different hall and both of you no longer see each other as much as you did before. In this case, because both of you are living in different places and taking different course/workloads, it becomes essential that there is a simple texting of Hey when is a good time that both of us can hang out this week?

That shows that you care. It's okay to make appointments with your friends. It’s okay to make an appointment to talk to them. The fact that you are making that effort, regardless of how busy you are, communicates that you care.

Now let’s transition to listening. I’ve written on this subject before but I’ll say it again, I don’t care one bit about what you have to say unless I first know that you care.

That being said, to effectively deliberate, communicate, or whatever –ate is out there in this world, you have to be able to learn from others and ask questions because let’s face it, we don’t know everything.

Take the best philosophers, the best preachers, the best political orators… the common denominator in each of these communicative arenas is the facet of understanding the argument or position in front of them. To be able to see the other side of things, and coherently knit together what they have to say in addressing the subject at hand.

We quite literally cannot communicate with one another without first learning each other’s differences.

And finally, my third easy tip for when it comes to communicating is to be personal.

People naturally gravitate to those who are transparent and vulnerable. They like listening to stories, they like sharing a good laugh, they like hearing the different things that relate to them.

So be personal, listen to those around you, and put in the effort.