I was watching an episode of Inside the Actor’s Studio with Sydney Pollack, the late award-winning film director of movie hits that include Out of Africa and Tootsie. Reflecting on what it took to become a great actor/director, Pollack said you need five things to be successful. Consider how his framework applies to creating excellence in any field.
According to Pollack, you have to:
1) Know who you are.
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Listening for mutual understanding challenges all of us at one time or another. Now add a layer of language or cultural difference between the speaker and listener. What began as a simple conversation has just evolved into a recipe in frustration, misunderstanding and potential disaster.
So what’s a listener to do to bridge the communication gap? Here are 7 easy tips to help you become a better audience when the speaker speaks a different language than you do:
1) Don’t stop listening when you hear an unfamiliar accent.
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Most of us have felt the frustration and embarrassment of trying to communicate with someone who doesn’t speak our language.
Here are 7 easy tips to help you get your message across when you are the speaker:
1) Slow down, but don’t speak more loudly. Pause between words instead of linking them together.
Depending on the level of the listener’s fluency, this one tip may be enough to foster understanding.
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