Good and clear communication is key to any successful relationship. Be it personal or professional only with effective communication can you translate your thoughts and feelings into clear messages. Developing better communication skills will help your business and personal life incredibly, as it will allow you to express yourself clearly without sending mixed messages. You will have no risk of miscommunication or misunderstanding what others are saying. If you’ve noticed that your communication skills need improvement, we have some tips to help you.
Listen More Carefully
If you want to communicate your thoughts well, you first need to know how to listen to the people you’re communicating with. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is interrupting people while they’re talking. Not only is it wrong, but it’s also rude. Learn to wait for others to finish their thoughts so you can convey yours. If you think you’ll forget the main point, always have a piece of paper with you and write down what you intend to say. Even if you’re only impatient and worried you’ll forget what you wanted to say, the person you’re talking to will perceive your interruption as a lack of interest. You’ll appear as a self-involved individual who needs to have attention to yourself. Also, put your focus on one communication at a time. Don’t try to text and talk to a person next to you at the same time. Emailing and talking on the phone simultaneously is equally inadvisable.
Think About Your Body Language
Body language often conveys much more than words themselves. The way you cross your legs or arms, your facial expressions, the way you look at a person – those all contribute to better or worse communication. If you’re about to have a public speech, practise your posture and gestures in front of the mirror. Have a recording of yourself talking to other people during a lunch meeting or during everyday activities. Many people go through life without realising how powerful body language they have. One of the ways to leave a good first impression with your communication skills is to look the person you’re talking to in the eye, stand up straight, and limit hand gestures.
Consider Speech Therapy
Is the way you speak making you insecure? Are you stuttering a lot when you need to speak about important topics? If you don’t know how to interpret what others tell you or can’t find a good enough way to speak your mind, speech therapy will be your best solution. A professional speech therapist will work with you in a secure environment and teach you all about the best ways to stop stuttering and convey messages in the most effective manner.
Feedback Is Important
Aside from trying to communicate messages well, you also need to know what kind of impression you’re leaving on other people during communication. Have you ever asked someone if they enjoy communicating with you? Has anyone ever complained about the way your conversation goes? Asking for feedback helps you re-evaluate your communication practices and gives you insight into the aspects you need to improve in the future.
Learn To Be Concise
The longer it takes for you to convey a message, the weaker your communication skills are. The key to being a good conversationalist is to be able to tell a story or make a point quickly. Another aspect you can learn from asking for feedback is whether or not you use too many filler words and if it takes too long to make a point. Being concise and specific makes you a good communicator because you will express your thoughts efficiently.
Keep Your Tone In Mind
Do you sound too serious during different types of conversations? Are you loud enough but not too loud? Your tone is equally important as your body language and conciseness. You shouldn’t sound like you’re trying to come off as too smart and always right. On the other hand, you want to come off as a pleasant but not easily manipulated person either. A heart-warming and understanding tone will make everyone around you feel welcome and enjoy communicating with you.
Communication skills take time to develop. So, if you’ve realised your skills need improvement, be patient. It took time to develop your speaking, so you will need more time to modify those skills and learn better ways to speak to others. Take a good look at our suggestions, and your communication skills will become impeccable.
Author Bio
Diana Smith
is a full time mom of two beautiful girls interested in business and marketing related topics.
In her free time she enjoys exercising and preparing healthy meals for her family.