About The Components

The problem that had been raised by the two deaf operators, in the furious attack on each other’s puppets, then on each other, was ours. For unconsciously relying on what we did in everyday communication, but in this case, when communicating and working with an ‘extension’ of our persona. The aides and even the teachers had been surprised with how quickly the incident had occurred, when the two puppets had done their initial greeting and suddenly had run out of ‘story’. Our fault was forgetting momentarily that communication is a very, very complex combination of so many areas. Visual, verbal, aural (yes, there is a difference between the two), emotional and one other important factor I will come to in a moment.

Think of this sentence. “Stop! What are you doing?” Think first how many way’s it can be said. The ‘Stop’ could be a command. It could be shouted, screamed, laughed or even cried in the method of delivery. Each change in the delivery of the single word would have a completely different meaning. It could be said in a placatory tone. It may be you also need to gesture to emphasise how it should be understood. The hand coming up sternly, two  hands in a self effacing manner, or waving away the word. And that was just the first word in that sentence. And as yet, there has been no mention of any facial expressions that may be involved, which generally, add understanding when communicating. The levels of complexity involved in delivering a single word, are exponentially increased when delivering an entire sentence.

Many people, though I have never fully understood why, dislike Mimes (but even I laughed at the scene in ‘Tootsie all those years ago). Those poor (although some do make quite a good living at it), mistreated, silent warriors of ridicule. The performers who, have the ability to project an understanding of imaginary existence to their audience, or passers by. While people may scoff at them, those same people are usually able to imagine exactly what the Mime is doing. What is it people don’t like about them? Is it the fact they are silent? Is it, that an important component of normal communication is missing? Is it that these same people understand them, yet often have trouble understanding someone they can actually vocalise with and hear? Communication occurs on so many levels, that when it is effective do we understand why. This brings me to that missing component I didn’t mention before, and directly relates to the issue we have discussed that last few days, concerning children and communication. Time. Time to deliver the communication.

There is no doubt in my experience, that time is the one factor that interferes most with being understood. People give other people deadlines, to deliver their communication. How often have you heard someone respond to your question, “Can I talk to you for a minute?” and they answer with a glance at their watch and the response “Okay. But make it quick!” Does that mean they want to only talk to you for a quick minute? How can a minute be quick? Time moves at a particular set divided means (we decided to record it that way).

(Continued tomorrow)