Auto Repair Shop Owners Remember that It's Not Easy for Everyone, At First

It's Easy by Rick White, President 180BIZ

One of the biggest issues I see in communication is what I call a translation issue.  You know what I'm talking about? Have you ever been with someone who is speaking only French, and you only speak English? That's a translation issue.  They're talking perfect. You're listening perfect. But you don't understand each other because there's no common ground. That's what happens a lot of times when you're working with someone and showing them something new. That's why this is called “It's Easy.”

I want you to visualize a curtain and this curtain separates people who have never done what you're talking about and people who have. The problem is the people over here on this side of the curtain have done it a million times.  They're thinking it’s easy. It's a snap. It's no big deal. But you forgot that on the other side of the curtain are the people who have never done it before.  They're scared. Like O.M.G. scared. It looks insurmountable. It's a big deal.

One of the biggest issues you have in communicating when you're teaching someone something new is that translation issue. You're looking at it like you could do this in your sleep and they're looking at and thinking, “Oh my gosh, I could never do this.” And that's where the disconnect comes from. You're coming at them from up here and they're down there which doesn't work. So, what do you do about it?

1. Acknowledge the difficulty. Remember what it was like when you were learning it. I want you to step back in time, even close your eyes if you have to, and think back to a time where you were completely frightened out of your skin at the thought of actually doing this thing. You were seeing everything that could go wrong. You were seeing people laughing at you and falling and failing. I want you to remember that because then you can acknowledge the difficulty that they're having.
2. Find empathy. Remember what it's like and let them know you remember what it was like. Share your story and describe what you went through. Describe the mistakes that you made. That's going to make them feel more comfortable. Remember that when things go crazy, we must remind ourselves we're not carrying the nuclear codes. The stuff that we're afraid of doing is not fatal. It's not final. So, step back and remind them of that. Let them see some of the stuff that you've done in the process of getting to where you are now. Then once you've got them doing it right at the beginning, ask them to describe it from that perspective. Why? Because when you're way over here, trying to talk to someone that's right at the curtain, it doesn't work. But what you are going to find is someone that just made it across the curtain and realized going across that curtain wasn't fatal. That is the time to listen to what they say and how they say it. Then you can use those same words in bringing the next person across that curtain.
   
   Remember to identify the learners and their learning style.  Some people are going to learn by watching it. Others are going to learn by listening and still others are going to be learning from doing it. Figure out their learning style.. That will help them too. When you can connect with the learning style, that makes it feel even better.  You’ll have a better connection.
3. Test your communication regularly. What I mean by that is make sure that it's effective and it's efficient. In other words, you can say it in very few words, keep your communications simple and to the point. That's the efficient part. Effective means someone can listen to it and actually do the work.

Remember the communication breakdown in the learning process and understand that it's a translation issue.

God bless, stay safe, and go make some money.