Ms the word: What I learned by disabling skype
*Want to devise a better marketing campaign? Shut up and listen.*
Want to devise a better marketing campaign? Shut up and listen.
I have no shares in the company. In fact, I do not know if they even have shares. But I am a real fan of Skype.
I had it before and it worked fine, but it has taken me several days to get it to work properly on this new computer.
It is my fault. I connected an external microphone and disabled the sound card, and it took me that long to work out what I had done.
I found the help lines offered by the computer are amusing and largely useless.
Unless I want to download, and pay for, another piece of Microsoft kit, the best option is to call a friend which is actually offered, by the way.
But while the microphone was not working, some interesting things happened.
Some of my contacts did not realize that I could hear them, even though they could not hear me, and either made rude comments about my technical skills, shouted at meas though that would make it easier for them to hear meor hung up.
One or two, though, realized the problem and adjusted their approach to accommodate me.
One in particular, Clive, told me that he realized I could not speak and altered his language so that I was able to interact by writing responses to his questions.
He was even kind enough to test his system by playing some music, in case the break in communication was at his end.
He began to use simpler sentences, which required simpler answers, and to try to predict what I was writing, so that I did less typing.
Over about 20 minutes, we built an agreement that was better than if we had both been speakingbecause he put himself in my shoes, tried to get inside my head, and understand where I was coming from, and I tried to write concisely and unambiguously.
I think our friendship developed faster.
We definitely covered more ground and we developed more tolerance for each other.
Now, I am not going to suggest that a faulty Skype system is going to solve all the problems in the world, but it did give me something to think about.
In conversation, the brilliance of our own voices can carry us away.
Communication is more than the alternate making of noise by two or more people; it is about building towards a consensusconsensus on something as simple as whether to invade Iraq or as complicated as whose parents we go to for Christmas.
Listening from the other persons perspective will bring a better understanding, which means better marketing, a better program perhaps, or a better campaign.
I think I might disable my system again.