{"id":37,"date":"2016-06-29T15:05:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T15:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lucilleossai.com\/Blog\/index.php\/2016\/06\/29\/solving-the-crisis-of-poor-communication-skills-in-nigeria\/"},"modified":"2016-06-29T15:05:00","modified_gmt":"2016-06-29T15:05:00","slug":"solving-the-crisis-of-poor-communication-skills-in-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lucilleossai.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/29\/solving-the-crisis-of-poor-communication-skills-in-nigeria\/","title":{"rendered":"Solving The Crisis Of Poor Communication Skills In Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"
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With this post, I probably won’t win any brownie points in this country but the truth must be told.<\/span><\/div>\n
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As Nigerians, we’re not in denial about many truths – endemic corruption in the public sector, epileptic power supply, chronic unemployment, and the slow or non-existent dividends of democracy such as equity, good governance and the effective rule of law. Yet, we’re clueless about our inability to communicate effectively as professionals. This fact is evident not only in the ridiculous speeches given by our leaders, but also in the error-ridden content often printed by our newspapers or visible in other media.<\/span><\/span>

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I’ll thus take my cue from a quote by Ernest Hemingway<\/span><\/a>, beloved American author and Pulitzer Prize winner, who gave sound advice for writer’s block:<\/span>

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<\/span>“Write the truest sentence that you know.”<\/b><\/i><\/span>

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And for years, I have mulled over what I consider the appalling rate at which our ability to communicate has deteriorated, as easily illustrated in our public speaking, but more excruciatingly, in our writing.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Although the point below is not about writer’s block, it is the truest sentence that I know as a communications coach and advocate, about our ability to communicate professionally:<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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Nigerians suffer from a crisis of poor communication skills.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/b><\/span>

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Specifically, we struggle with two of the three types of communication: the oral and the written. Nonetheless, we could become communicators who are more competent in our fields if<\/span>  <\/span>we acknowledge the problems below and strive for change.<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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Problem #1: Much a-speak about nothing<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n
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<\/span><\/span><\/span>Nigerians love to talk.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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<\/span><\/span>Or rather, we love to hear the sounds of our own voices.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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<\/span><\/span>So we waffle on.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Politicians, industry leaders, youth representatives, team players, religious personalities, etc. – we do it in small gatherings, in public arenas and on television. We rarely get to the point on time. We also use big, redundant words\/phrases to impress. Let’s also not forget the Nigerian way of reeling off our titles as our identities when introduced in public: ‘Barrister A B’, ‘Engineer C D’, or ‘Architect X Y’. Non-Nigerians would have a good laugh at our expense every time this happens.<\/span> <\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span>

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In the business setting, we love to use jargon and other annoying examples of corporate-speak<\/i> such as ‘leverage’, ‘paradigm shift’ and ‘striking while the iron is hot’. I’m sure we’ll identify many of our faux pas mentioned in the video<\/span><\/a> below.<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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