Communicating with others is something we're born doing. We emerge from the womb with limited skills, of course. Our skills grow in time, from wails to words and eventually to full sentences and fully nuanced, complex ideas. But that's not all it takes to communicate well. We can use all the skills at our disposal—verbal and nonverbal—and still experience a breakdown in communication with others. In the past few years, these breakdowns have become seemingly more common. We wonder what has changed and why we are unable to connect well with others as we once did.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices