Communication Interview

Jenny Francis is a 49 year old business executive with a prominent firm in the Midwest. She has held the same position for the past eleven years. Most of her day involves attending meetings about the company. So I found it very fitting to talk to Ms. Francis about my objectives of this journal.

Jenny considered a good communicator in her field, as somebody who feeds you relevant information with a high degree of honesty and a great desire to listen. This gave me a whole different meaning of effective communication. In my field communication can be looked at just telling somebody what you have to tell them and you move on.

At one point I asked Jenny, “when do you spot a good communicator?” You willn't believe her answer. She told me as soon as the person opens the door and walks in, she can tell if the person is a good communicator or not. Their enthusiasm of being present in the room gives it away. Then she asked me, Josephine, in your line of work if you spot a poor communicator how do you prepare for them?” Give them sometime to get in the mode of talking. No! Said Jenny. The person might never warm up. In cases like this, she continued, you have to ask them open ended questions that will force them to give you an answer so that they are fully engaged in the dialogue.

This exercise has opened me to the tools of an effective communicator with a first hand approach. According to Jenny, talking to at least seven different people a day at the workplace can be the magic needed to improve the skill. I am eagar to try this and have a follow up interview with Jenny in a couple of months