Language Barrier

When you work in a technical industry, like home inspection, there is a certain language, a certain vocabulary, that is used between practitioners, allowing them to be able to adequately explain things within that realm. So, if we’re conversing with someone else who also speaks the language (another home inspector, for example), things will easily proceed in a normal manner, as you’re both fluent in “home inspector speak.”

The problems come in when we attempt to communicate those same ideas to someone who doesn’t speak our language. Thing that are easy for us to understand can prove to be difficult for a “regular person” to grasp. (And yes, I’m implying that home inspectors are not regular…)

Just like traveling to a foreign country where your native language is not spoken, it can be difficult to properly spell out your ideas.

The most successful business person, like the successful traveler, figures out a way to paint a picture of what it is they’re trying to say; to properly translate between the two different languages.

And just like a confused waiter at a foreign restaurant, if we can’t figure out how to explain things in a way that they’ll understand, our clients are bound to get confused and we might end up with results that don’t align with our expectations (and a place full of haggis to boot.)


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