Tips For Male/Female Communication

Male/Female Communication

Understand Conversation Styles

Men:   

1) Practice listening to a woman and refraining from offering a solution before she’s done saying everything she wants to get out.

2) Learn to offer at least a few words in explanation of why you’re doing something meant to express caring or love, whether it’s cleaning her car or a sexual overture.

3) Keep in mind that when a woman says she has experienced something similar to you, she’s not putting your experience down. She’s sharing.

Women:

1) Learn to let men finish their sentences without finishing them for them.  

2) Learn to accept physical acts as a man’s way of communicating.

3) Instead of sharing your experiences regarding a subject he has brought up, which men will hear as a comparison in a contest to one-up him, object by saying, “I don’t think so” or “Let me tell you what (insert name of someone he admires or respects) says about that.” You can also keep your response simple, such as “really” or “wow.”

Communication Exercise

Once a week, set aside one hour together. Each will listen to the other discuss how they felt about their experiences over the last week for half an hour without interrupting, even if one runs out of things to say (usually the guy) and you sit in silence for the rest of the half hour. Neither of you gets to mention what was said till three weeks later, which lessens the desire to criticize.

The objective is not to understand the subject talked about but to get a feel for each other’s conversational style and emotional state and to understand and accept how we verbally and nonverbally communicate. Neither should be made to feel pressured to change their style. Men and women will never fully understand each other, but we can lessen friction and heighten our appreciation for one another.