This week, we’ve come across a lot of people talking about talking. So what are we going to do? That’s right, we’re going to talk about talking about talking.

Talent is a myth

Litemind has a good article about why talent is a myth. We mentioned this in The Usual Error when we were talking about rephrasing limiting words like “can’t”.

How to recover from a communication landmine

Liz Strauss (the Successful and Outstanding Blog chick) wrote a great post about how to recover from a communication landmine. She gives a different approach to coming to terms and what did you intend?

The problem of context in communication

Iris of Pegasus Librarian writes about the problem of context in communication. How do you know how much context is relevant when trying to communicate an idea? In the absence of shared context, what will the other person assume? Will it even make sense, or will communication be completely flummoxed by the usual error?

Only say things that can be heard

A communication gem nestled in a wiki of software design patterns: only say things that can be heard. If the listener isn’t able or willing to hear what you’re saying, there’s no point in saying it. Either forget it, try again later, or try to say it in a way that the other person can really hear.

The tale of the slow elevators

The lovely folks at 37 Signals recount the tale of the slow elevators. It’s a cute example of the importance of asking “What problem are you trying to solve?”

Have you got any?

If you have any interesting communication-related stories that you’ve experienced or read, let us know in the comments, and maybe we’ll use them in a future Community Update!