Slumps

Many years ago I had dreams of becoming a professional baseball player. Truth be told, I was actually pretty good when I was younger. Unfortunately, to get into the big leagues one has to be better than that. I wasn't. Nevertheless, I always found the "national past time" a joy to play and even now get a kick of watching professionals work their magic. Looking back, however, there were times while playing when I felt as if I could not do anything right. I could not get a hit. I had trouble getting batters out when I pitched. Nor did it seem to matter that I was still hitting the ball and still throwing as hard as I normally did. Thing just did not seem go well.

All players seem to experience these kind of slumps. And it does not matter if the player is a super star or just a so-called regular player. Slumps, much like the common cold, hit everyone from time to time. Nowadays, I work in an office as a press secretary and even though I am not swinging a bat or trying to keep others off balance with sweeping curves and high hard ones, I still occasionally go through stretches when I do not feel as if I am to connect with reporters or my co-workers as well as I would like, or that I am as able to put words together in writing or verbally as I need to.

Whenever I enter into one of these downturns, I find it important not to let discouragement or frustration get the best of me; nor do I automatically assume the problem lies anywhere but with me. In trying to understand what is not working, I start by assessing decisions I made, actions I took and the messages I am trying to communicate. Which of those should be changed or tweaked? Was my timing off? Should that be changed? Did I misread my audience? Perhaps I misjudged how they best like to receive information or be communicated with. Perhaps it would be wise to ask members of the audience what I did that did not work for them? Seeking answers to these and other fundamental questions takes time and is not always fun. But this process is important if one is going to successfully work their way through those inevitable slumps and get back on track as an effective communicator.