Communication

I've been thinking about the power of communication lately. Probably because I spend a lot of time saying things like, "Do you ever get what you want when you whine like that?!" and "How do you ask for something?" There are a ton of books out there designed to improve communication skills (I just looked on Amazon.com under "effective communication" and there were 42,644 results) and I've always meant to read one or two, but haven't made the time.
More importantly there are many scriptures which teach the importance of communication, such as:

1 Corinthians 15:33 "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners."

Colossians 4:6 "Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." (Delbert L. Stapley said, "Salt symbolized to the Hebrews purity and fidelity, also an unbreakable league of friendship.") 

Proverbs 15:1 "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger."

2 Nephi 32:3 "...feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do."

This quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley is one of my favorites: "You mothers, are you the kind to scream at your children, shout with shrill voices? Please don’t. Be quiet in your talk. Soft words. ‘A soft answer taketh away wrath’ (Prov. 15:1). It does. Bless your children with the love that you carry in your hearts. ‘All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children,’ said Isaiah (Isa. 54:13). How true it is. Be teachers to your children” (meeting, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, 5 Aug. 1998).

Elder David E. Sorensen said, "In much the same way that parents tutor their children in communication and courtesy, I believe that our Heavenly Father teaches us to pray because the very act of praying will improve us. We worship our Father in Heaven as all-knowing and all-powerful. Surely, as our Creator, He knows our cares, our worries, our joys, our struggles without our informing Him. The reason our Heavenly Father asks us to pray cannot be that we are able to tell Him something He does not already know. Rather, the reason He asks us to pray is that the process of learning to communicate effectively with Him will shape and change our lives as much as we are changed by learning to communicate as children".

So teaching a child to effectively communicate (or learning how to do so yourself) has endless spiritual, physical, and social implications.  Customer service is so much more successful when the associate has good communication skills.  A shy girl can open up a whole new vista of socializing if she can learn how to small talk.  A mother can be empowered by her Heavenly Father with the skills she needs to lovingly communicate to her children and teach them correct principals.