One Reason You're Misunderstood

Crash Courses in Communication with Alex Perry

Today we’re talking about one reason you’re misunderstood. This one is going to smack you in the head like “duh”.

One reason you’re misunderstood is because you’re using words that people don’t understand.

Here’s a fun statistic:

A new word is created every 98 minutes.

That means there are approximately 15 new words created per day, 105 words per week, and 38,325 words per year! HOLY MOLY! Before you get overwhelmed thinking about all the new words created daily, take a deep breath. Only about 1,000 of the words generated are adopted into public use each year. But still, 1,000 new words is A LOT. It's no wonder miscommunications happen. We are literally making words up as we go along. That's why it matters so much that you do everything you can to make yourself easier to understand. Some might call it "dumbing things down," but it's not dumb to make yourself easily understood; it's brilliant. The next time you find yourself using made-up or overly complicated words, stop and ask the person or people in the room if they understand what you mean. It takes an extra minute in the short term but will save you from miscommunications in the long term.

That’s it for today. If you want more content and resources for communication, make sure to sign up for the email newsletter at pswithalex.com where you’ll get weekly communication resources delivered right to your inbox and if you’ve got a question you’d like for me to answer here on the show write me a note in the comment section or email me at [e-mail].

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