How can I prevent mis-communication?

Ruth said:

Does anyone have any tips on how to communicate like a human?

What sort of situation are you talking about here?

Person to person, group social chat, group formal chat, professional presentation, verbal or written etc? There are a range of options with different approaches.

Just checking you are not a bot before writing a detailed reply.

I’m definitely a human, although I feel like a robot sometimes  I always take things so literally and therefore struggle to understand what people really mean. It’s hard and it’s not until after that I might think “ohhh they were trying to say xyz”. It can happen in professional situations where there are rules and processes.

I’m definitely a human, although I feel like a robot sometimes  I always take things so literally and therefore struggle to understand what people really mean. It’s hard and it’s not until after that I might think “ohhh they were trying to say xyz”. It can happen in professional situations where there are rules and processes.

Thank you. I’m so grateful for this, I feel so much better after posting here and I am absolutely a reader so this helps loads.

I've just bought the first book myself. I have some wisdom of age, but I can be as clueless as anyone here too. Thanks Iain.

Ruth said:

I always take things so literally and therefore struggle to understand what people really mean

If you are a reader then I would suggest this book to explain a lot of stuff about social interactions so you can initially see what is being said to you beyond just the words:

The Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships - Decoding Social Mysteries Through the Unique Perspectives of Autism - Temple Grandin, Sean Barron (2005)
ISBN: 9781941765388

With an understanding of what is really going on here, you will slowly get used to applying it in real time and can eventually pick it up on autopilot and engage in conversations more or less like them.

I imagine your work involves a lot of social interactions that would be helped with the skills of small talk to put people at ease. The following book can give you some good ideas on how to do this more or less fluently:

How to Talk to Anyone About Anything - Improve Your Social Skills, Master Small Talk, Connect Effortlessly, and Make Real Friends - W. Williams, James (2021)
ISBN‎ 195303635X

I would suggest maybe reading a chapter a week and working on that to start with just so you can see progress being made and have plenty of time to practice.

Once you have beed doing this for a month or two you should start to feel you are gaining more control over this weakness and it will work towards greater confience and self esteem.