Over-communication is a problem that a large chunk of people in our generation face. We usually fail to understand where to draw the line and end over-sharing and pass on unnecessary information. Here is how to keep it in check.
Here are Tips to avoid over communication
Know what over communication is. The first step to avoiding over communication is to know what over communication is. Know when you are deliberately over-sharing or passing on unnecessary information and make a conscious effort to stop yourself.
Speak about only necessary things. Stick to things that are important and necessary in the given situation. Do not wander off to places that add no value to the conversation while you are in the middle of it.
Emphasize what is important. Make sure to pay more attention to the things which are important and highlight them in the conversation. This helps you to stop yourself from repeating the same things over and over again.
Know when to stop. You have to build a habit to know when you need to end the conversation or the communication to stop yourself from oversharing. Assign certain alarms in your head that tell you it is time to stop.
Use simple language. Just like any other communication channel, things become a lot less complicated when you use simple language. People can easily understand what you are trying to say when you use simple language.
Use keywords. Have a few keywords ready at all times related to the topic. Make sure to put more effort into those keywords when you address them so that it stays with them for a longer time, even after the communication has ended.
Do not beat around the bush. Remember to come straight to the point and do not waste time indulging in any kind of small talk. Conversations like that tend to people talking about things that are not needed and eventually oversharing.
Know what the other person wants. When you know what the other person wants from the communication, it becomes a lot easier to frame your conversation to live up to their expectations and not overshare.
Ask more questions. Oversharing is a bad habit that will not go easily. Keep asking questions to the people that you are talking to know about the relevance of your dialogues and how much of it was just straight up over-communicating.
Be a good listener. Being a good listener can solve half the problems in your life without any effort. When you actually take an interest in listening to what the other person has to say, you understand how to build balanced communication.
Look for feedback. Let people tell you about what they thought about communication first hand. Active feedback helps in all parts of a conversation and learn to treat it as a learning experience more than anything.
Break things down. Learn to break things down into layman’s terms to make sure that no confusion takes place and do not have to go about explaining the same thing again and again, eventually over-communicating.
Work on attention. Work on holding on to the attention of the people that you are communicating with so that you can get the message across in the swiftest way possible without repeating or over-communicating.
Filter all that is not needed. Filter all that can be left behind when you start communicating. Keep only what is absolutely needed and focus on the quality more than anything else. Keep that filter in your head at all times.
Do not make anything complex. Keep all the complexities out of the room when you wish to create efficient communication. Over communicating is ultimately the result of complications where the person does more than he has to.
One topic at a time. Take small steps as you progress through the conversation and cover one topic at once. Remember to keep only those topics that are truly important and leave everything unnecessary to the side.
Look for a segue. When you wish to move from one topic to the next, do not abruptly make the switch. Use proper segue and time it well so that the message stays with the people you are targeting; get creative.
Avoid being repetitive. Repeating what you have already said is different from emphasizing. When you keep repeating the same things, you hinder the communication more than establish, which could lead to over-communicating.
Do not clutter. Do not clutter the communication with information that you do not need, both ways. Encourage people to give their opinion but also make sure that everyone knows to stick to the topic and not get distracted.
Know your audience. Know your target audience to get a better understanding of what they want from the communication, how they want it to be conducted, and most importantly, where is the over-communication line?
Do not negate opinions. You must never completely negate what the other person has to say. However, you should try and avoid the conversation going haywire to the point that it turns into overcommunication.
Save time and energy. Focus on saving time and energy, and you would have no problem with over-communication. When you are more focused on being productive and making the best of the situation, you will stop oversharing.
Allot periods. When the communication has already been established, allot certain timestamps to each topic that you need to cover. When you are on a deadline, you would not be able to go off-topic and over-communicate.
Be efficient. Being efficient is the arch-nemesis of over-communication. Efficiency is the key to establishing the ideal form of communication and keeping communication at bay. Focus on being more efficient.
Stop assuming. Do not assume anything about the intelligence of your listeners. They could be anywhere between understanding things quickly to being a layman, treating them accordingly.
The method of communication. The method of communication is the most important factor when you need to stay away from over-communicating. Talking, messages or calls, each one has its drawbacks, do your research.
Structure your talks. Structure your talks in a way that you would have no room for over-communicating. Keep your talks compact, tight, and to the point to always be sure.
Create a healthy environment. Create an environment where even when people over-communicate, the others can freely point it out and stop it other than keeping the cycle up without offending anyone.
Have more meetings. Instead of repeating things, complicating things, or even stretching the conversation, start to host frequent meetings. When people come with a fresh head, they are more focused and driven.
Constant efforts. Avoiding conversation is all about constant efforts in checking yourself. It is only human of us to engage in interesting conversations with people around us even if it has got nothing to do with our work.
Strike a balance. Learning to avoid over communication is all about striking the right balance between your work life, your personal life, and everything around it. Oversharing is strictly subjective to people we are talking to, and we need to be reserved.
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