Has the time come for our keyboards to do less of the talking?
Today, the world communicates through text messages, e-mail and social media more than ever before. Even cats and dogs have their own social petworking accounts.
But is this affecting our ability to speak, think and communicate effectively with each other and if so, do our keyboards need to move to one side and allow our voices to regain centre stage?
In this article, we look at the problems that ‘electronic communication’ is creating and what we need to think about to solve them.
The art of speaking
Speech is something that we learn at an early age. Without it, we would be left to communicate through gesture, which as any frustrated two-year old knows can have its limitations!
Practising speaking is vital if we want to be able to express ourselves confidently, clearly and concisely. As with any other form of expression, be it music, dance, or art, the less we practise speaking, the rustier it can become.
Unfortunately in today’s world, more communication is performed through typing into keyboards than through speech. And as can be seen in tweets from those in even the highest office, sometimes the quality of that communication can suffer.
So what does speaking do that typing doesn’t?
Releasing our thoughts
How many times have you written, edited and re-edited an e-mail before sending it? Sometimes what you think you want to say might not really flow, or, you may not be sure if what you’re saying is the right way of phrasing something.
These are common dilemmas facing anyone who communicates via a keyboard, but why do we get so stuck when writing e-mail and what could more talking do to solve this?
The way that I see this is:
- when we type, we don’t release our thoughts, as they just end up on a screen in front of us, for us to read as many times as we choose;
- as we go through the process of comprehending what we have written on screen, we then edit it in our minds;
- we then re-type, re-read and re-edit until we are happy to press send; and
- only when we press the send button, are our thoughts actually released (which is why you sometimes experience a sigh of relief when getting an e-mail sent and off the desk).
But now stop and contrast that exhausting process with simply stopping, thinking and then speaking. What differences do you see?
Speaking requires breathing
As well as eliminating the need for reading, editing and re-editing words constantly on screen, speaking requires us to practise our breathing and co-ordination, which are essential if we want to be confident in more stressful situations. In turn, good breathing allows more oxygen into the brain, which helps with clearer thought processes.
Contrast that from typing where we don’t practise our breathing in the same way and as a result, body co-ordination often suffers (as can be seen in people who slump over their phones or computers).
The other problem with typing is that there is a danger that we try to think and type at the same time. But our clarity of thought suffers if you do that, which can also perpetuate the stress that can be experienced when writing e-mails.
That’s not to say that this problem didn’t exist in the world of pen and paper, but the speed at which it is possible to type just exacerbates the editing/re-editing process in our minds. If we’re not careful, that can lead to thought overload and indecisiveness over whether an e-mail is good enough to send, or whether it needs another edit.
However, speaking can automatically eliminate a lot of these problems. Just look at how often a quick phone call can clear up a moment of doubt, or open up new avenues of exploration.
Is a world without adequate communicators a good one?
The dilemma that potentially faces the world is that the increase in electronic communication is depriving us of practising talking to each other. Moreover, with the ability to sit behind an e-mail, there is a real danger that we fall out of the habit of practising more difficult conversations (be they having the confidence to volunteer to do an important presentation, or picking up the phone to someone to work through a difficult problem). Failure to practise speaking can lead to lack of confidence and developing the fear of confronting seemingly straightforward situations.
There are also wider social issues of children not being able to articulate problems to parents and teachers, and adults not being able to articulate their medical concerns properly, which if unchecked, could put further pressures on already stretched education and health systems.
Practising speaking allows us to develop the skills that are absolutely essential if we want to have a world in which we can communicate more openly and honestly, understand other points of view and discuss and find amicable solutions to difficult issues.
How do we get people speaking again in a world of more and more technology?
Perhaps we need to get away from the notion that technology is the answer to everything. Speaking is a basic human skill that is essential for successful relationships and better education. The more we swap speaking for typing, the more we get into the habit of not practising more complex conversations and it then becomes more difficult to express ourselves fully.
But the more that we practise speaking, the better we become at turning thought into speech and removing the stress and anxiety often caused by trying to perfect an email or tweet.
It’s also important that we encourage and support other forms of expressive education in our schools – for example, the importance of music in education, as it helps to build confidence in communication through singing, playing an instrument and performing in front of audiences. That confidence in communication is crucial in supporting the development of speech, particularly for less confident children who may find speaking daunting.
It’s been incredibly sad to see that music and other subjects like foreign languages that support and foster the practice of speaking and self-expression have been ‘dumbed-down’, with recent reports of some UK state schools even charging for GCSE music classes. That’s a trend that we need to urgently reverse.
We all need a voice that we can communicate safely and confidently with, but if we really care about the society that we live in, then we need to think more about the way that we communicate with each other and ensure that the art of conversation doesn’t become an ancient relic.
