Concrete rules, techniques and tools for Relational Communication®
Relational Communication® proposes a set of concrete tools, rules and techniques for verbal and non-verbal communication meant to:
- Develop effective communication with others
- Avoid conflicts in dialogue
- Stimulate understanding and cooperation
- Help the person to thrive, both personally and professionally
Instruments
The tools proposed by the Relational Communication® are meant to stimulate both the dialogue, the relations with the others and with the person. One of the tools we chose to talk about is the Wish Box. This box is a physically chosen object, which we can decorate and arrange at your own pleasure. In this personal box, we submit every wish we have. The stages are those of awareness of the desire, of its symbolization, of keeping it in this precious place (any wish deserves a precious place, isn’t it?) And, eventually, transforming it into a project that will lead to its realization. Attention: not all desires are meant to be fulfilled (if we knew that any wish can be fulfilled, what would be the joy of life?). Some desires will take wings, others will diminish or even disappear. The purpose of this tool we use is to help the person to grow its self-esteem and its own relational potential.
Rules
Relational Communication® proposes basic rules in verbal and non-verbal language, in order to maintain dialogue. Regarding verbal language, a fundamental rule is to talk about myself, with one personalized self and not the other. This involves using the verbs in the first person, expressing myself in how I feel, think and do. It is the most important exercise of accountability, it goes through an individual awareness process. This seemingly trivial exercise is often difficult to put into practice because, most of the times, we were taught to talk about the "neighbor's greener grass" or if not, about the one in front of us: "You didn't take the garbage" , «Why didn't you do your homework? «,« You never arrive on time ». This are the examples of the daily that maintains an anti-relational communication. In order to create healthy relationships, we need to change this way of communicating through an assertive and responsible dialogue, with clear rules in place. At the courses of the Institute the participants discover over one hundred rules that can be followed by anyone, from children to adults and grandparents.
Techniques
One of the techniques we propose to maintain the dialogue is Confirmation. When the other person presents a different point of view than ours, it is essential to separate the person who speaks to us about his message. Mentally, we can visualize the two distinct entities, more precisely we can represent the message mentally, as the person is visible with the physical eye, in front of us. Moreover, we can even physically represent that message, through a symbolic object. Confirmation involves listening to and understanding the message of the other, but not necessarily accepting it. So we can answer: "Yes, I hear your message, I have a different opinion", or "Yes, I see that your ideas are important to you, I think differently about this situation". These examples help us understand that, by confirmation, we can keep the dialogue open, so the interlocutor has the guarantee that it has been heard and we have the opportunity to position ourselves in relation to our own ideas, values, actions, in a given context.