Can’t Communicate?! – Time Out To Relax

By Jenny Ruiz ’19

Text messages, tweets, emails, instagram comments, direct messages and snapchats are pretty much how many of us communicate. Communication nowadays is all through social media and therefore, not all of this communicating is positive and beneficial. Many teens and adults have a hard time having a face to face conversation, whether it is in public, at a party, or even just in casual settings. In fact, displaying one’s emotions has become a challenge due to the fact that we now use emojis to convey out “feelings”. 

Although it may seem impossible to stop these bad habits, it is not. Here are some tips to re-engage in verbal communication with one another.

• If you are with someone put your phone away or turn it off. Talk to that person face to face!
• Looking at someone in the eye can be uncomfortable so shift your vision to their forehead. I know it seems weird, but it has definitely helped me with the awkward moments.
• Try your best to give them all of your attention. Being an attentive listener is a good thing.
• Make sure you smile when in conversation. It would be absurd to show absolutely no emotion while talking to someone. Body language says a lot about your interest in the topic, interest, and engagement in the conversation.
• Listen and Ask Questions!!! This is very important; giving your attention to a person indicates respect.

I hope this helps for the next time that you have trouble communicating face to face!