One of the biggest communication mistakes I see isn't poor listening.

It's assuming both people are experiencing the same reality.

They usually aren't.

Each person's mind is filtering the same event through different expectations, memories, assumptions, and momentary thinking. From the inside, each perspective feels completely accurate.

That's why facts alone rarely resolve conflict.

The breakthrough comes when we stop trying to prove our reality and become curious about the one the other person is living.

Better communication begins with understanding that experience is created before words are ever exchanged.