Getting yourself understood is so challenging. There’s the question of what you want to say, how you translate that into words and then how it’s received - and unless you know the Vulcan mind meld you have no control over the third. There’s an NLP principle that says - the meaning of communication is the response you get. And I think that’s true, because it’s more than just getting the words out. Sometimes at work I hear people say, “yeah well I told them” so now they figure they’re off the hook. But in reality if it doesn’t look like the listener *got* it, maybe it’s time to try again. Part of ’saying’ needs to be checking it was heard and understood and *then* there’s a chance it’ll be acted on.

Someone told me recently about the power of stating your intention. Because things can potentially be so ill-received - especially when you’re having a challenging conversation - it’s best to be as clear as you can. So sometimes the best place to start is by stating your intention. Then you have half a chance of being understood because the person knows where you’re coming from, no guesswork required. I haven’t had the chance to try it, I’ve been focusing on Vulcan mind meld, but I’ll get there ;-)