Hey, it's Rachel Cook, your modern mentor. I'm the founder of Lead Above Noise, a firm

specializing in helping leaders end the tug of war between people and performance, finding

ways to drive results and engagement together. We do leader boot camps, keynotes, and pulse checks

to help build custom blueprints to drive your team forward. Just let us know what you

need. So a fun fact about me is that I'm kind of a tough customer when it comes to pithy quotes

meant to offer life advice. I mean, so many of them sound great until you really sit down and think about

them. Like if we're not supposed to judge a book by its cover,

then why don't books all have the same cover? Or if we're supposed to live every day as if it's

our last, then who's going to pay the mortgage in a month? Am I cynical? Yeah, a little, but I'm also

practical, which is probably why I love this one quote by George Bernard Shaw. And if you've ever

been in a workshop that I've run on communication, then you've seen it. He said, the biggest problem

with communication is the illusion that it's taken place. I love this because no matter how long I sit

with it, and at this point it's been years, it stays true and wise.

In every instance of communication, verbal, nonverbal or written, in person or virtual,

synchronous or asynchronous, there are always those giving the message and those receiving it.

And so often, those don't align. The meaning intended doesn't match the meaning

received. Leaders think they've said something a thousand times, and employees have no awareness

of the thing at all. Because what the leader believes they've said just isn't what's been received.

Leader or not, we are all transmitters of communication sometimes. So let's talk about some ways

you can dial up your meaning, reducing the misfires, and making sure your message has meaning.

First, it's only valuable if it's debatable. One reason communication fails to deliver meaning

is it's totally bland. One of my clients calls it the

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