Two weekends ago, E and I were at the largest Oktoberfest celebration outside of Munich, Germany. Kitchener-Waterloo--just down the road really--is a lively, cute, and diverse area. And every year, for over 40 years, it has hosted this 9-day long event at many of its local German clubs.
One of the clubs has in addition to its wonderfully old and rich chalet-style building, a permanent tent. The tent holds an astounding 3,000 people. We head to the tent every year...
This small post isn't about the wonderful diversity of culture, food, and music experienced at Oktoberfest, but it is about diversity. It's about one's ability to communicate in a variety of ways in different environments. Whether one-to-one with our clients, or one-to-many, whether on the phone, in an instant message, or in front of a classroom or meeting room, many of us are routinely called upon to effectively communicate to different people, in different ways, and in a huge variety of different conditions.
At Oktoberfest, while the 'communications' were mostly shouted, and while a lot of them were in the spirit of good fun, they were as challenging--and as rewarding--as having a meeting with my virtual assistance clients. All messages, in both situations, need to be targeted, and need to be based on correctly assessing or surveying one's audience. But to truly communicate--to reach people--there must always be a connection. A worthy goal; that of forming good connections with people.
The dynamics and communications challenges in a colossal tent are of course very different from those of a headset. But we as people are so incredibly diverse that we can switch gears on a dime. And the sociological and psychological aspects of the different ways in which we communicate are an amazing thing to me.
Next time you're in a different or diverse environment, and away from your phone or headset, take a moment out to observe how incredible your ability to communicate is.
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