[swombat]

I don't know... I'm frequently very clear about what I'm trying to communicate and yet fail to comunicate it. Clarity certainly helps, but communication skills are another thing altogether.

Another part of the problem that he doesn't go into is that in programming, you have to "say" everything you want to say, and what you don't say is irrelevant. In communication, leaving out certain bits can be paramount - and the bits that you do leave out often say as much as the bits you leave in, to an astute interlocutor.

[mixmax]

Commmunication is a layered cake, the first layer is being clear about exactly what it is what you want to say. The second layer is knowing how to say it. The third layer is knowing your audience, and how to communicate to that particular brand of people.

Communication is an extremely hard discipline because it requires you to both be knnowledgeable about whatever it is you have to say, being linguistically proficient, and having a good knowledge of people and psychology.

[crux_]

I don't know if the layering is all that clear.

If you're a believer in the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (or just agree with Orwell's Politics & The English Language), then it follows that your ability to think clearly is somewhat mutually dependent upon your ability to communicate clearly.