is that effective?

Walking through my neighborhood the other morning, I witnessed something that has bugged me to no end. I saw an individual on their back porch calling their cat with a pan and a fork [no kidding here]. They were banging the fork on the pan in an attempt to get the cat's attention. My initial thought was "that's not something that you see every day" and then I asked myself, "Is that the most effective way to communicate with a cat?" As I pondered more on the subject I wondered who is observing me try and communicate with other people and are my methods effective or just a bunch of noise? If I was the cat, I wouldn't have returned home. What are some of the ways that you have found effective when communicating with people or things that you do to make your communication better? I think we always need to be asking if we are being effective with people and especially with the gospel.