Parasailing – a lesson in clear communications? 🧐

Hey there,

Hope you’re having a fab start to the day 🙂

A couple of weeks ago, my dad and I decided to give parasailing a go while on our holiday in Tunisia, and like most Sweeney days out, it ended up making for another whacky family story. Let’s take a look at what happened…

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

If you haven’t heard of Parasailing before, it’s where you’re strapped into a harness, hooked to a parachute, and towed behind a speedboat, at around 300 feet in the air. Here’s a photo of me in my equipment 🪂

Before we went up, the guide asked if I wanted to go solo or tandem. I said solo. He then gave us a quick briefing on how to descend: “When you hear my whistle, pull the four ropes tied to the red ribbon.”

I know what you’re thinking – sounds simple, right?

It was only when I was in the air, I realised there were eight ropes, not four (he didn’t make this clear in the briefing – big yikes), and I ended up pulling the wrong ones the first time around (oops).

The jet ski had to circle back so I could try again – maybe my subconscious just wanted a second go for free?

I got it right the second time, though. The guide wasn’t too impressed (to say the least), but his colleagues were laughing their heads off and were super chill about it all. My dad had to go tandem after, which was a shame, although he still really enjoyed it, which is all that matters 🙏

The instructions made sense to the instructor; however, they weren’t clear to someone experiencing it for the first time. Which just so happened to be me this time around – typical, hey!

We sometimes assume that the person we’re talking to knows more than they do. Clarity isn’t about overexplaining; it’s about putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. What’s obvious to you might be overwhelming, or overlooked at first, to someone else.

This made for a good story, though, so life goes on, I guess 😂

That’s all for today’s blog. What do you think? Have you ever had a moment where unclear instructions caused confusion? What did it teach you?

I’d love to hear your thoughts ⤵️

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a lovely day!