Come through
Today’s expression is, “Come through.” What does it mean for something to “come through” in a conversation or in a discussion? Now I know we’ve done this one before, back in Lesson 195. In that lesson, we said that when someone “comes through” for you, they’ve done something you hoped they would do. But that’s now how I mean it today.
Today we’re going to talk about a different way of using it. We were talking about nonverbal cues and the different ways we communicate in in-person encounters. And I said, not all of those nonverbal cues come through in a video call. That means, not all of them are communicated correctly or completely. We say, come through, when we’re talking about receiving a message.
Picture this. You’re on a Zoom call. You’re looking at the gallery view of 10 other people. Some people are bored; some are interested; some agree with what you’re saying; others don’t. How much of that are you getting just from their little screens? Some, maybe. But a lot of their nonverbal messaging doesn’t reach you. One person might turn off his video. Other person might be giving you a skeptical look, but you can’t really tell. Another one is leaning forward, but again, you just see their face. One person is spreading her hands as if to say, “Really? I don’t believe that!” But guess what? You don’t receive the vast majority of those signals. It’s not possible on a video call. Why don’t you receive them? Because those nonverbal signals don’t come through on a video call.
Those nonverbal signals don’t come through; they don’t get communicated to you effectively. In this case, they get lost.
Apart from video calls, when a signal or a message doesn’t come through, it’s often because of a misunderstanding or an error in judgment. Let’s say you and your co-workers are concerned there will be layoffs at your company. You’re concerned people will lose their jobs because of this coronavirus. Your boss decides she wants to put you all at ease. She sends a memo to the whole company and she says, “Hey, don’t worry. Nobody’s going to lose their job between now and the end of May.”
Then, everyone panics: you all think you’re all getting fired at the end of May. Your boss wanted to put people at ease by saying, don’t worry about your jobs for now. But that message didn’t come through. Instead, what came through was: at the end of May, people might get fired, so we need to worry. In this case, the thing that “comes through,” is the message or signal you receive. Your boss may have wanted to send one message, but the message the came through to you—the message you received—was something different.
Both of these examples have been when messages don’t come through. But you can also use “come through” when you do receive a message correctly. Let’s say you are in the audience at a big presentation. After the meeting, the speaker approaches you individually. He says, “I’m not sure whether I was clear about my main point. I was trying to convey optimism about the future.” That’s just an example. If you agree that this is how you interpreted his words, you can say, “Yes, that definitely came through.” That means, “Yes, I definitely received that message” during the presentation. Or, “Yes, the message you intended to send was the message we received.”
Now let’s pretend you’re interviewing someone for a job at your company. The person you’re interviewing has a lot of energy in her voice. She is knowledgeable. She can hold her own in a complex conversation. She asks good questions. She has clearly researched the job and your company. After the interview, you might say, “Her enthusiasm for this job definitely came through.” That means you clearly received that message—she wants the job and is enthusiastic for it. Her enthusiasm came through.
Quote of the Week
Here’s the quote, quickly, since we’re already pretty long today. “Everything that happens to you is a form of instruction if you pay attention.” That is by the author Robert Greene, in a book called Mastery, about people who had mastered their crafts—Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, and others. “Everything that happens to you is a form of instruction if you pay attention.”
See you next time!
That is all today. Remember, if you are interested in getting a sneak preview of the new web site, all the new features, the new colors, logo, tagline, all that stuff—just go to PlainEnglish.com/new and we’ll keep you up to date. But remember—one thing that’s not changing is these audio lessons every Monday and Thursday. So we’ll be back here on Thursday with another lesson—don’t worry!
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