(Originally published at Medium.com/@jealford) Today’s conversation has been stunted and, in some cases, stalled. What can we do to alleviate? Believe it or not, breathe. There’s a real problem in U.S. discourse. But then, who am I to complain? I’m a communications professional, that’s who. I have noted a troubling trend that has been exacerbated more so in politics, lately, than any other arena. I’m sure you won’t be surprised when I say we’ve...

We live in a crazy world. We fill every waking moment with some kind of stimuli – bright colors, loud sounds and lots of activity in this 24/7 world. Between ambient noise, visual noise and the constant barrage of more and more information, we can easily become distracted listeners. In many cases, we get caught up in thinking about what we want to say—for whatever reason—that we often misread a conversation or situation. Thus the kernel of...