Tim Bulkeley of SansBlogue has recently started a series of posts about communication (HERE, HERE, and HERE) that is worth checking out. And, as I read the first couple of posts a lot of this information reminded me of Grice’s “Maxims of Conversation,” which I first encountered in some introductory books on linguistics, such as Cognitive Exploration of Language and Linguistics by Dirven and Verspoor and An Introduction to Language by Fromkin and Rodman.
When I first read Grice’s maxims, I thought to myself that this was something that every, and I mean every, preacher or pastor needed to hear. But, I never really acted on that thought. So, here I am now doing my part. If you are a preacher, pastor, or communicator of any kind, do yourself a favor and check out Grice’s maxims. If you are looking for a helpful exposition of them, I would recommend that of Dirven and Verspoor if you can afford it, not to mention the fact that it is an excellent little introduction to cognitive linguistics appropriate to university level.