Why invest in communication (Part 5)

“Know thyself”, Socrates said. In this last section, we look at "triggers" which cause us to behave in certain ways, and how to address them.

Triggers in communication

Mrs. Ciervo walked into the clinic and asked: “No one’s here?” Christina, the veterinary nurse who was behind the counter, looked her in the eyes and very seriously asked her: “What, I’m not somebody?!”.

 “Girl, I was only asking if any veterinarians were available. What’s gotten into you?” asked Mrs. Ciervo, raising her voice.

 “I’m not a girl, I’m a married woman and a mother of two. And good morning, if you hadn’t noticed that you didn’t even say hello when you entered”, Christina said.

From there the conflict gradually escalated until Mrs. Ciervo left feeling angry and Christina was brought to tears of rage and frustration. She knew that she had been wrong to overreact, but she hadn’t been able to control herself (Figure 1).

There are a series of external and internal stimuli that strongly influence how we communicate. The quality of our communication depends on the bridge we create between those stimuli and our response.

What are these stimuli or triggers that we need to pay attention to? [...]