Today we’ll be sharing with you tips and tricks that’ll help you master communication. For this article, we’ll be drawing on philosopher Paul Grice’s famous 4 conversational maxims.
League of Legends is a team-based game, so it should come as no surprise that effective team communication gives you the best chance at success. If you and your allies are on the same page, team fighting, picking up kills, and securing objectives can all be done effortlessly.
Sadly, as every avid LoL player will know from first-hand experience, team communication in League usually boils down to three things: toxicity, miscommunication, and ineffective pings. That’s why today we’ll be sharing with you the tips and tricks that’ll help you master communication. If you’re communicating positively and effectively, it will undoubtedly encourage good communication among your teammates too. As the saying goes, lead by example!
For this article, we’ll be drawing on philosopher Paul Grice’s famous 4 conversational maxims: quantity, quality, relation, and manner. We’ll be going over what these are in more detail below, but in brief they’re the principles of effective communication. Following them means you’ll always get your point across clearly and concisely.
Don’t communicate information you have no evidence for.
In League, communicating information without sufficient evidence can have dire consequences for your teammates, since they’ll likely assume what you’re saying is 100% true, and change how they’re playing based on that information.
For example, imagine you’re playing ADC. You have a hunch the enemy jungler is bot side, so you tell your team “jngl bot.” As a result, your top laner feels safe to overextend and pressure their opponent under turret.
However, your “hunch” is pretty off the mark. In fact, the enemy jungler is actually top side, and within seconds they gank your top laner – who is now overextended. Unsurprisingly, your top laner can’t escape and gets killed, handing over the advantage they had gained throughout laning phase.
A good technique to ensure you’re communicating truthfully – and not relying on a hunch – is to always ask yourself why you think this. If you can’t come up with a good reason other than a “hunch,” it’s best to keep this information to yourself.
Only communicate the necessary information, no more no less.
It’s a given that being concise will improve your communication in League by tenfold. The more concise you are, the quicker you can relay game-changing information to your teammates, and the faster they can process it and react to it.
However, as the maxim points out, being concise doesn’t simply mean giving your teammates the briefest message possible – it actually means just giving them the information they need to understand exactly what you’re trying to say.
Put simply, there is no point in sacrificing clarity for brevity. Even if you get your message across quicker to your team, they’re not going to be able to fully understand it, nor react to it properly. It will only bring about misunderstandings, which will inevitably give them a one-way ticket to tilt-land!
Speak only that which is relevant to the discussion.
It should go without saying that the more on topic the chat is, the better. If the chat is filled to the brim with unrelated information, vital pings, messages and timestamps will get lost in all the chaos.
Irrelevant conversations will also distract you from the game itself, and can even hinder your teammates’ mentality; if you’re having a conversation with a premade about unrelated things, it will seem like you’re both not focused whatsoever, and care little about the game’s outcome.
Even if your teammates are enjoying the conversation and join in, you’re ultimately distracting them as well.
Keep your words unambiguous and easy to understand.
Imagine this. You’re playing jungle and your mid laner is overextended, trying to land the killing blow on their opposing laner. You know full well the enemy jungler is right around the corner, so you type “wait” in chat.
In response, your mid laner spam pings you for assistance, extends forward even more and inevitably makes themselves an easy target. Within a matter of seconds, the enemy jungler ganks them, kills them, and smugly walks off with first blood bounty.
Now, your mid laner was obviously caught out, but you’re not totally faultless in this situation: the message “wait” was vague and didn’t properly communicate your intentions and reasoning. It’s not unfair to say that they could have interpreted your message to mean you’re going to gank their lane, and to wait it out until you arrive.
To prevent miscommunication, always ensure that you’re clear and not ambiguous; instead of typing “wait,” ping “danger” and “fall back.” If you have time to, you should also send them a message explaining why, such as “back off, enemy jungler mid.”
Plus, clear communication doesn’t just prevent misunderstandings. It also encourages your allies to follow your shotcalling. After all, they’ll be more inclined to heed your advice if they know the reasoning behind it.
Here are a few more quick tips that’ll up your communication skills even further.
Praise, Praise, Praise
Praise your teammates when they make good plays. A positive chat will encourage positive interaction.
Avoid Calling Out Teammates Personally
If an ally makes a game-changing mistake, avoid directly calling them out for it. Instead, use “we.” For example, “we need to focus the ADC in fights.”
Positive Criticism
If it’s virtually impossible to not call them out directly, stick to positive criticism. Positive criticism entails highlighting what they did wrong and how they can improve, while also praising what they did right. For example, “good engage, but next time focus Vayne first, it’ll be a clean ace.”
Be Open to Constructive Criticism
Communication isn’t just about what you’re saying to others – it’s also how you receive what others are telling you. While it’s always wise to turn a blind eye to full-out flame and toxicity, be open to constructive criticism. Don’t just treat every “negative” thing said toward you in the chat as an unsubstantiated insult.
Don’t Add Fuel to the Fire
Once one teammate gets tilted and starts hurling insults, it can easily trigger a flame war, where every ally ends up spending more time clacking at their keys than moving their mouse.
If an ally begins to act toxic, try to nip it in the bud before it becomes a bigger problem.
The easiest way to do this is to address the underlying reason behind their tilt; if they’re mad that they’re being camped, remind them that the enemy jungler is giving up pressure elsewhere on the map by camping them.
Use Your Smart Pings Effectively
Use your smart pings effectively – never EVER use them to flame your teammates! We go over how to use pings to their full potential in this guide.
If All Else Fails, /Mute
Let’s be real: there will be moments where players are so toxic, they’re impossible to reason with. Perhaps they got tilted from their previous game, or perhaps they’re having an off-day in general. Whatever the reason, if they’re spamming “FF15,” “jung diff,” and “open mid,” it’s best to just ignore them and tell your teammates to mute their messages and pings.
Communication is critical in League of Legends; the team that better communicates is virtually always guaranteed the victory. If you become a pro communicator, you’ll definitely see those wins piling up.
While all the tips we’ve talked about above will help you master the art of communication, remember to maintain a positive attitude, no matter what. If you take your frustration out on your teammates, the likelihood is that they’ll become frustrated too (and simply mute you).
And of course, don’t forget to listen to your teammates and the information they relay – communication is a two-way street, after all!
