Communication skills are a pre-requisite for any successful professional in today’s competitive world. Not everybody is blessed with the gift of the gab, and the art of effective verbal communication continues to pose a challenge for many.
The fact that you can reel words off the dictionary or quote Wordsworth from memory does not necessarily make you a good communicator. The messages we send across are influenced in a big way by the tone of our voice, facial expression, body language and even our confidence levels, with words playing only a very rudimentary role in getting the message across.
Here are some tips that will help you communicate more effectively:
What you want to say: Your mind should become engaged with what you have to say before you give voice to your thoughts. Try to take a few seconds to collect your thoughts before you start speaking.
Instead for merely responding to other people, ask yourself if what you want to say is necessary, timely and appropriate for the situation? If not, just sit back and continue to listen.
Keep it simple: Good communication involves conveying your message as succinctly as possible, using no more words than necessary.
Too many words can obscure your ideas and confuse the listener. Always keep your message concise and to the point.
Develop confidence: Confidence lends credibility and conviction to your communication. When you talk with self assurance, others will listen to what you have to say with respect. If you tend to get nervous, practice looking at people in the eye, smile, talk about topics you’re familiar with. With practise, your comfort zone will gradually increase, and you will be able to communicate well on almost any topic without fear or hesitation.
Listen: The art of listening is central to good communication, yet we are often caught up with our own talk that we seldom truly listen to what is being said. By simply sitting back and letting others do the talking, you can learn a lot about what they care about, what motivates them and what they really want and you will be able to communicate better with them.
Get feedback: You can make the process of communication more interesting and participatory by asking questions and inviting feedback.
Asking questions not only helps you ensure that the person you are speaking to is in the same wavelength, but is also a non-threatening way of asking for suggestions or clearing misconceptions.
Some practical ways in which you can improve your communication skills:
Speak slowly and enunciate clearly, drawing out on the vowels. Learn the proper pronunciation of words. Invest in a good phonetics dictionary to help you learn the pronunciation of new words. In conversation, use words that are familiar to ensure that speech flows smoothly. If you are making a speech or presentation, however, you may want to add more colour to your words.
Vary tone and pitch when speaking. An animated voice holds the listener’s attention. You must speak softly to a small group and louder to a large audience. Practise varying your tone and volume in front of the mirror.
Body language plays an important role in how the message is perceived by the receiver. Make sure your gestures and body language are consistent with the message you are expressing. Use gestures to emphasize what you have to communicate.
Pay attention to the body language and style of people who communicate really well. You will get many new communication ideas and tips by observing them.
Practise making eye contact. Some people have difficulty in making eye contact when communicating. A technique to help with this is to imagine a letter ‘T’ across the eyebrows with the vertical line coming down the centre of the nose. Keep your eyes on the ‘T’ zone when you talk.
People often judge us from the way we communicate. An inability to put our ideas across to others may result in our abilities being undervalued. Fortunately, just like any other skill, communication skills are something you can develop with consistent practice. It is an effort worth making, for as we all well know effective communication skills have a crucial role to play in building a person’s confidence, credibility, and professional image.
faqs@cnkonline.com
