Turn off the TV, pick up a book: How reading improves communication

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Phones, tablets, televisions, computers, and the internet. Message overload. No doubt about it. Studies show that the average consumer is exposed to up 5,000 brand messages a day. OMD UK's Future of Britain research project found that consumers switch between screens up to 21 times an hour and Microsoft claims that the average attention span is just eight seconds. As of March 2021 there are over 5.1 billion active internet users worldwide 65 percent of the global population. Of this total, 92.6 percent accessed the internet via mobile devices.

Today, our world relies on technology’s fast paced evolution. Information bombards the senses from every conceivable source, every waking moment of the day. Media channels have mushroomed. Not only are there more choices within mediums, but also more mediums to choose from.

The Information Age promises anything we want to know at the click of our keyboards. Screen after screens occupy our hands, desks and even our streets. While the all the information available is a great leap in technology, our attention has detoured away from reading books or reading and thinking skills.

While the vast amount of information available at the click of a mouse is more than ever before in the history of humankind, we are also more distracted. In a 2018 Pew Research study, 47 percent of Americans prefer watching the news, while just 34 percent enjoy reading it and 19 percent prefer listening.

What are the benefits of cracking open a book or reading an article online instead of watching television, the news or Netflix?

Reading expands communication skills.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

-Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

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The more you read, the more you learn language, dialogue, and interpretation. Exposed to a wider vocabulary, readers match words to certain gestures and moods, translating to their everyday communication. Studies show that those who read regularly for pleasure versus those who watch non-educational television have higher reading comprehension and verbal communication skills. Reading adds an extra layer of imagination that television does not. While television puts the image in your head, reading exercises the mind and produces an image on its own. When turning from page to page, anticipating what will happen in the next chapter, the words exercise the neurons in your brain and create images. Brain exercise is lost on television and video by losing the crucial step of processing words to an image.

When reading an article or a book, you force yourself to learn new words. You use context clues to figure out a character’s gestures or the definition of a word. You may need to use a dictionary or the internet to define a new word but it still expands your vocabulary vault. Reading puts more words in your head, gives us more to say and helps us articulate it. It strengthens the brain and teaches us how to portray our thoughts in a clear, concise, and complete manner.

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You may prefer the tactile feel of a book, awaiting what is on the next page, but blogs, online articles, even some hobby-aligned forum posts deliver similar effects. Analyzing and taking away key points from words translates to your own speaking and writing. Taking ideas from many mediums allows you to tailor your communication to each audience. For example, a scholarly article will have a different tone, style and message than a water cooler conversation with coworkers. Reading across many genres and mediums helps differentiate.

This isn't meant to bash visual forms of entertainment. I’m an avid gamer and Netflix binger. However, reading a chapter of a book before bed rather than watching an hour of TV has a longer lasting effect. Studies show that reading before bed can help you relax and sleep. Be warned, because the same studies show an average loss of 20 minutes of sleep on ebooks rather than physical pages. If you usually read articles online, try picking up a book in a fiction genre. If you usually read fiction, try a modern memoir or historical book. Keep your brain on its toes and absorb different types of books and articles.

Reading is critical to a healthy brain. Like any good muscle, exercise your brain to keep it strong. Exercising your brain doesn’t just mean intelligence. Empathy and memory improve while stress and the chance of Alzheimer’s deteriorates. It’s never a bad idea to unplug from social media, the chaos of the news and your screen for a certain amount of time every day. Lead a more mentally healthy lifestyle by picking up a new book today.