What is the Signal-to-Noise Ratio?
One underrated formula is the signal-to-noise ratio.
This is a common concept discussed in engineering.
- Signal is the meaningful message.
- Noise is the static.
One real-world example is the radio.
Imagine that you’re driving and listening to a great song.
As you are crossing over states, suddenly, the song becomes staticky.
It’s hard to listen to Taylor Swift anymore.
What gives?
Well, your car has passed the location of the sender signal.
Now, you’re not picking up the radio waves like you once were.
Understanding the signal-to-noise ratio is not only crucial for engineering.
It’s even more crucial with communication skills.
The Purpose of Communication
A great communicator constantly strives to:
- Improve the signal.
- Reduce the noise.
Someone who rambles has lost sight of the signal and falls victim to the noise.
Therefore, a rambler is not a great communicator.
When you have no signal, then it’s hard to determine what the meaningful message is.
‘What is a signal for me, Armani?’
That depends on the context.
For this blog, I assigned myself the signal of:
- Explain the signal-to-noise ratio and how it deals with communication skills.
If I begin talking about dogs, then I may risk falling victim to noise.
Unless…
I take a twist.
Imagine I use a pet owner’s relationship with his dog to give an example of the signal-to-noise ratio.
Johnny is the pet owner.
Bucky is the dog.
Whenever Bucky barks in a certain cadence, Johnny can tell the emotional state of the dog.
- A loud bark means that Bucky is happy.
- A whimpering bark means Bucky is hungry.
Johnny’s friend, Jacob, is unable to spot the emotional states of Bucky based on the cadence of the barks.
Jacob views a loud bark and a whimpering bark as the same.
To Jacob, the barks are noise.
To Johnny, the barks are a signal.
Therefore, the signal is subjective.
How to Improve the Signal and Reduce the Noise
There are 5 levels of communication:
- Communication with yourself – Self-awareness
- One-on-one communication – Conversation
- Many-to-many communication – Group interaction
- One-to-many communication – Public speaking
- Human-to-machine communication – Media
Most people try to maximize 2-5 while undermining 1.
But 1 is the most important.
The more you lack self-awareness, the more difficult it will be to spot the signal from the noise.
Know yourself better, then you will know the signal better in context to your life.
This isn’t sexy advice.
The reason this isn’t sexy advice is because it requires introspection.
But this is the fundamental strategy to becoming a better communicator.
Focus on level 1, and the other levels take care of themselves.
It’s like the check analogy.
Imagine if you have a check with a bunch of 0s.
It’s worthless.
But add a 1 in front of all those 0s, and now the check is worth something.
That 1 is self-awareness.
How to Amplify Self Awareness
There are a variety of ways to improve self-awareness.
Introspection.
Assessing curiosities.
Bouncing back from tough times.
View yourself as data.
All experiences are data.
The goal is to get the right narrative out of the data.
There is a rising field nowadays that merges technical work with creative work:
Data is the object.
Story is the narrative.
Imagine you have a bunch of data of Air BnBs in Chicago.
You have no interest in going to Chicago.
So the data doesn’t mean much.
But let’s say your boss comes into your office and says:
‘Hey, I’m taking my wife to Chicago. My budget is X. I would love to get an Air BnB with restaurants and tourist spots within walking distance.’
Suddenly, you can approach the data in a completely different light.
You have a narrative to process the data with!
Likewise, to build self-awareness, view your life experiences as data.
The narrative is up to you.
To get you warmed up in spotting the narrative in your life experiences, think of the silver lining mindset.
This is when you find beauty in the mundane.
If you can train yourself to spot the silver lining (even in the worst of circumstances) then the signal of the mind increases in the long run.
Added Supplementations
In engineering, the most important acronym is:
- S.T.E.M
Science, technology, engineering & mathematics.
With linguistics, the most important acronym is:
- R.L.S.W
Reading, listening speaking, and writing.
^^All these activities will help you improve the signal.
Reading and listening are consumption activities.
They force the chattering mind to focus and absorb a message.
Speaking and writing are production activities.
They force the mind, breath, and body to align toward producing something of value.
All the R.L.S.W activities are intertwined.
Sort of like the ligaments in your body.
If you work out one, ironically, you are working out the other parts.
So, start off with the letter/s that resonate with you, then build from there.
Over time, the noise will gradually reduce.
Social Skills and Satellites
Earlier, I gave the example of a radio.
Now let’s switch it up to a TV.
Imagine that other humans have a satellite on their foreheads.
What happens to your channel when it rains on the satellite?
‘The channel gets grainy.’
Exactly.
When you use big words and ramble, the channels of the other person’s mind gets grainy.
But when you use clear and concise language, that’s when they convert your words into a beautiful sitcom in their mind.
To help you do this, assume:
- Most humans can’t focus to save their lives.
This assumption allows you to get to the point much faster.
- Improve the signal.
- Reduce the noise.
These are the 2 steps to becoming a brilliant communicator.
For more practical tips on speaking efficiently, be sure to check out my book:
- Speak Easy: How to Be Articulate, Assertive, and Audacious Around People
This book will teach you more about:
- Building self-awareness.
- Speaking in a clear and concise way.
- Cultivating an interesting personality.
- Creating an articulation chamber to take your speaking skills to the gym.
Along with plenty of other topics!
GET SPEAK EASY HERE:
Ebook
Paperback/Kindle
Audiobook
