MODULE 4: EFFECTIVE SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS

It's not what you say... it's how you say it!

Let's take a closer look at the dynamics of content/relationship communications:

First Scenario: Charlie Pendergast is sitting at the breakfast table reading the morning paper while his wife, Gloria is cooking up some bacon and eggs, (They take turns cooking). Charlie, suddenly looks up from the paper and asks rather flirtatiously, "Oh dear, when are those eggs going to be done." Gloria is getting positive attention from Charlie and responds casually with, "Here they come now, dear," and brings Charlie a nice plate of bacon and eggs, and gives him a big kiss.

Second Scenario: Charlie Pendergast is sitting at the breakfast table, face buried in the morning paper, while his wife, Gloria is cooking up some bacon and eggs. Charlie, face in paper, obviously irritated, verbally assaults Gloria with, "Oh Dear, WHEN ARE THOSE EGGS GOING TO BE DONE?!" Gloria feels hurt and unappreciated. She slowly turns, fire in her eyes, and says, "Here they come now. ..DEAR!" and dumps a plate full of eggs over his head, and stomps off to the bedroom.

In both cases, the content of Charlie's message was exactly the same. However, The relationship set up between the two in the second scenario differed greatly from that established in scenario number one. Consequently, Gloria gave Charlie a vastly different response in the second scenario. In the first scenario, Charlie sent a positive relationship message. In the second scenario, the relationship message was very negative. To Gloria, how Charlie sent the message had far more impact than what he said.