Five Levels of Communication

There are five levels of communication.** 1. Cliché is surface level conversation e.g., exchanges hellos, talking about the weather, church isle chatter. 2. Sharing facts is a little deeper in that you talk about the details of what has happened or what could happen without evaluating it. 3. Sharing opinions is a little risky because of the potential for conflict. 4. Sharing feelings is even more risky because it requires you to be vulnerable and open about your emotion. 5. Transparency is open unguarded communication and requires trust. These levels move from the surface to deep meaningful conversation. We should be able to move in and out of every level naturally, depending on the circumstance and who we are talking to. Can you do this? Some people get stuck at level three and rarely share their feelings. Where do you tend to stay? Is there someone with whom you can be totally honest and transparent? ____________________________________________________ NOTE: The five levels of communication are from John Powell. I cannot remember the name of his book. I either loaned it or lost it but I remember it well because I’ve been using it for years in counseling.