Dear Reader:

In writing and posting these articles, together forming a guide for communications, I thought long and hard about the appropriate place to start talking about communications.

Hardly being the first person to write on this topic, I wondered if where I started was really important at all.  After all, I could simply pick a common or particularly useful point of communications practice and let it stand alone.

That would be a simple way to contribute value to the reader quickly and efficiently.

But it would also mean that each article would stand apart from the body of work as a whole; loosely connected by topic, and yet completely self-contained and independent of any other part of that body.

And that seems to fly in the face of communications as a field and practice.  Many parts of communications are interlinked and operate in relation to one another so closely that it is impossible to call them separate at all.  To even try and do so is misleading, perhaps even dishonest.

It is also contrary to my larger goal of creating a comprehensive guide to the hows and whys of communications concepts and methods and how to practically apply them in the real world.

So, where does that leave me?

Well, it leaves me starting at the beginning, with the seemingly simple two-part question:

“What is communications and why should I care?”

And, that, my dear reader, is where I will begin.

I hope that you will find these articles interesting, insightful and practical!

Thank you for reading!

-Micah McLaughlin