Inter-personal Communication - A complex challenge

We often think of communication between two people in simplistic terms it's a "conversation".   Its' true that most personal communication takes place on a very basic level.   But that approach can lead to poor communication habits.   Firstly things have changed over the years;   communication has become far more sophisticated and complex.   For one thing the competition for attention is intense.   Often there are several conversations going on at the same time within earshot of both parties.   Many years ago the language being used was also simpler and easier to understand.   Now with a greater level of education and a far more complex language communication even between two persons can be demanding.   We often have difficulty getting our point across because levels of understanding vary between persons of different backgrounds.   The generation gap and ethnic background as well as education levels as well as regional considerations can make a great difference in communication styles and actual language used.   These problems are only when one language is spoken by both parties.   We all live in a "global village" where fellow citizens are from all over the world and we as communicators are responsible to bridge these communication challenges.   For instance people who live in a big city environment, New York, Chicago, LA, Toronto, are much more likely to communicate in a different style than those in smaller more intimate rural or small town environments.   Just witness the language and communication style in the movie "Fargo", the language and vernacular used by actors in that movie were very accurate, take it from someone who played college football in that area.   Then compare that language and style with other areas New England, Eastern Canada, Texas or Southern California.   Not that people in these areas are not understandable but there is a great difference in communication styles and sometimes the uses of terms.   This increases the opportunity to be misunderstood and in business we must be sure that we are always sensitive to the needs of those we communicate with.