The Art of Communication

The Art of Communication   By  Mike Nixon

Communication.  It is the simplest of acts and yet one of the most complicated tasks that I attempt each day.  From the day I was born, my first cry signified the desire to communicate my wants and needs.  Until my dying breath, my goal is to connect, share and interact with those around me in meaningful ways.  Why, then, do I find it so hard?  Why is it the most challenging job that I do each day?  Why do I fail regularly at the task in which I am so well versed and practised, yet so seemingly incompetent?

In a word: skill.  I am unskilled at using the tools required to communicate with others well.  When I think of men like Reid Buckley (The Buckley School of Public Speaking), whose command of and ability to instruct others in the use of voice and the English language, I am awed.  You see, as an “engineer”, the vernacular and methodology of communication from my college education was to use a unique and selective dialogue.  It was preferred that we use this “foreign” language that created a clique of those “in the know”.  Many in my profession lost sight of the bigger picture and the common tools at our disposal.  Ultimately, we forgot that we must communicate in order to persuade and educate others.

However, I have come to appreciate in more recent times that the tool of voice alone is often not enough.  While great authors evoke emotion though their use of language, an artist can do so in a glance.  I have the great privilege of being associated with Don Breeden who can communicate the feel of South Texas with the stroke of his pen and the swipe of his brush.  The tools of his muse are different than voice but no less effective when wielded with skill and experience.  By the way, he's pretty good at turning a word as well.

Very recently, I have met another gentleman and his team of expert communicators at MDG Advertising.  Again, adept at the written word and art, Michael Del Gigante adds another tool to the toolbox.  MDG combines these first two with the electronic medium of the social network.  While using art and the written word along with “new media” is not that unique, the excellence with which the first two are crafted is. Then, when combined with the third, the result and message become truly amazing.

So why the rant about these methods of getting a point across?  As outlined at the beginning, we all communicate in different ways and with different methods.  Some do it better than others but we all want and need to communicate more effectively.  While the author's typewriter, the artist's pen and brush or the technologist's computer do not automatically create excellence of content, the lack of those tools can certainly impede the task.  This idea was planted in me and has been steadily growing.  Some of the most useful tools are those that facilitate not only sounds and words and pictures but something new – emotion and understanding.

When I think of the myriad tools in the market, I can't help but believe that we are on the forefront of a new era of understanding.  Tools in computer software like Google and Facebook and Twitter allow us to connect in new and convenient and interesting ways.  Hardware tools like the Ipad/Iphone and Android devices provide the “pallet” on which to create our art.  I am excited about the direction we are headed.  I want to be a part of this movement as I commit to hone my skill and upgrade my brush and pen.  And, now, we are going to contribute to those tools as well.