EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION UNDER STRESS


It may sound simple, just say what you mean. But often true meaning gets lost in translation, despite your best efforts. You say one thing, while your fellow crewmember hears something completely different! This is especially true while communicating under high stress.


Communication is more than just exchanging information. Effective communication is a two-way street. It’s not just conveying a message, it is making sure it is understood the way you intended, so the recipient gains a full understanding of what was said. The key is to build trust and respect.


Communication is even different between flight deck and cabin crew and cabin crew and passengers. There is a known hierarchy between crewmembers, but not necessarily between cabin crew and passengers. How do you command the necessary authority during an emergency, when the last thing you said was “Do you want sugar in your coffee?” Moving from a service role to an authority role takes the aforementioned building of trust and respect. Practicing a leadership role during an emergency is an important part of emergency training.


It is important to use more than just words. Good emergency communication includes a set of skills including non-verbal communication (body language) engaged listening, managing your stress and the ability to communicate assertively.


Screaming in the cabin, “WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY”, will not get you the results you seek. Use a calm, assertive and authoritative voice to say, “The captain has informed me we have an emergency onboard the aircraft, here is what we are going to do,” will be far more effective.


Communication skills are the glue that helps you improve your connections to others and improve teamwork, decision making, and problem solving. It enables you to communicate even negative or difficult messages without creating conflict or destroying trust.


While effective communication is a learned skill, it is more effective when it’s spontaneous rather than formulaic. A speech that is read, for example, rarely has the same impact as a speech that’s delivered (or appears to be delivered) spontaneously. Did you really listen to the passenger safety briefing, read off a script by the FA on your last commercial flight? Of course, it takes time and effort to develop these skills and become an effective communicator. The more effort and practice you put in, the more instinctive and spontaneous your communication skills will become.


Barriers to effective communication


• Stress and out-of-control emotion. When you’re stressed or emotionally overwhelmed, you’re more likely to misread other people, send confusing or off-putting nonverbal signals, and lapse into unhealthy knee-jerk patterns of behavior. Take a moment to calm down before continuing a conversation.


• Lack of focus. You can’t communicate effectively when you’re multitasking. If you’re planning what you’re going to say next, daydreaming, checking text messages, or thinking about something else, you’re almost certain to miss nonverbal cues in the conversation. You need to stay focused on the moment-to-moment experience.


• Inconsistent body language. Nonverbal communication should reinforce what is being said, not contradict it. If you say one thing, but your body language says something else, your listener will likely feel you’re being dishonest. For example, you can’t say “yes” while shaking your head no.


• Negative body language. If you disagree with or dislike what’s being said, you may use negative body language to rebuff the other person’s message, such as crossing your arms, avoiding eye contact, or tapping your feet. You don’t have to agree, or even like what’s being said, but to communicate effectively without making the other person defensive, it’s important to avoid sending negative signals.


Become an engaged listener


People often focus on what they should say, but effective communication is less about talking and more about listening. Listening well means not just understanding the words or the information being communicated, but also understanding the emotions the speaker is trying to communicate.


There’s a big difference between engaged listening and simply hearing. When you really listen—when you’re engaged with what’s being said—you’ll hear the subtle intonations in someone’s voice that tell you how


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