Nice point. I remember in a class, long, long ago, the prof. put all of us in a circle; wrote a statement on a piece of paper and explained that he was going to whisper what he wrote to the first person and then that person was to whisper to the next and so on until it whispered around the entire circle. The last person was to say what he/she heard out loud and then compare it to what was written. Needless to say it was no where near what was written. In another instance, a class that is taught where my husband works on advanced communication; the instructor asks two questions- Where are you from and why are you here. He then instructs the class that before they write their answers to make certain they understand what is being asked of them and feel to ask any questions before responding. He gives a very brief explanation as what effective communication is and why it is important. He asks if everyone understands and if anyone has any questions and no one raises their hand. So he says to go ahead and write their answers. Some finish in a matter of a few minutes and some go on for several minutes and almost fill an entire page. The answers range from I am from thus and such agency or I come from so and city and state. I am here because my agency sent me or I am here for a long drawn out dreams and goals answer. He reads the varying ones out loud and then ask the class which answer is correct. A debate always erupts about which is correct and it inevitably leads to someone saying "well I assumed he was asking us this..." Wherein he stops them and asks "Why did you assume and not take the opportunity to clarify and ask questions when I gave you the opportunity." Hence driving home the point of the exercise.
