1. Examine the true purpose of each communication. Always ask yourself what you really want to accomplish with your message.

2. Be mindful, while you communicate, of the overtones as well as the basic content of your message.

3. When it comes to content, bear in mind the enduring value of truth in any human communication. As one Ethiopian proverb says: ‘Over truth there is light.’

4. Consider the total physical and human setting whenever you communicate. Check your sense of timing against the situation. There is a time and a place for everything.

5. Take the opportunity, when it arises, to convey something of help or value to the receiver.

6. Be sure that your actions support your communication. Words should interpret what is done and action should accompany words. Eventually our words should become acts and our acts our truest words.

7. Seek not only to be understood but also to understand – be a good listener.