How do you keep your communication skills sharp?

Keeping communication skills sharp is an inside job. In order to keep getting better and more effective at communication one must hone in on the outcome vs the desired outcome. If things didn’t go as well as you would have liked think of ways that it could have been improved and commit to incorporating that next time around. Also, be aware of your emotions as you’re communicating. If you’re not at peace during the dialogue be aware of that and control your emotions by convincing yourself that it’s best for everyone involved, especially you.. I do my best to make sure I self-audit my words and emotions especially during difficult conversations. Pausing before speaking is a great way to accomplish this.

Dive into communication theories and texts. Also, consider reading books by Robert Greene, Sun Tzu, and other greats to become more adept in different topics and better communicate in different contexts (settings).

I can give you 3 tips to consider: 1. Read extensively. Reading a wide range of materials exposes you to different writing styles, vocabulary, and ideas. This can enhance your language skills, expand your knowledge, and improve your ability to articulate thoughts effectively. 2. Engage in meaningful conversations with people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. This helps you understand different viewpoints, express your ideas clearly, and adapt your communication style to different audiences. 3. There's no other way but to: Practice. Practice. Practice.

To keep my communication skills sharp, here are what I practice daily; engaging in active listening, maintaining eye contact during conversations, and focus on a giving clear and concise feedbacks. Also, reading diverse materials, listen to podcasts, and engage in discussions, seek criticism, learn from others, and tailor my communication style to diverse audiences. Remember, Practice breeds proficiency!

We live in a remarkable time. We have access to some of the greatest thought leadership and content creators - every day. Pick a few people whose writing, speaking, and presentation style you admire. Watch them and read their work, not to copy them but to be inspired by them. We can learn a great deal from the people we admire, but we always need to also need to be our authentic selves.

This is great advice, Toastmasters in particular is a great way to improve your public speaking. However don't forget your written communication skills. You can work on those daily and a platform such as LinkedIn is a great place to do that, you gain instant feedback on what resonates, what is and isn't clear and you can rapidly iterate as you learn from that feedback.

Practice makes perfect. The only way to get better at something is to keep working at it. If you’re struggling, you will become good at it through practice. If you’re good at it, you’ll become great. There are many opportunities out there to practice our communication skills; it’s up to us to take advantage of them.

I keep my communication skills sharp by regularly interacting with total strangers, I do it all the time at Starbucks, at the grocery store, at the gym etc. I’ve come to find everybody has different communication styles and the better you are at adapting to each one, it really can make you a Jeck of All Trades when it comes to communication. It takes you to really step outside of your comfort zone and speak to people you otherwise wouldn’t to REALLY see how well your communication skills are. I can strike up a fun conversation with anyone nowadays

A certain level of vulnerability is required when receiving feedback. You have to be willing to listen and internalize it from trustworthy individuals that have your best interests at heart.

In my experience, practicing different ways to get a message across can be helpful to identify the many ways the message can get lost in translation. Having an open mind, a willingness to learn and taking a humble demeanor when approaching a different audience can help smooth out many wrinkles in your communication, all while respectfully tailoring your message.

One of my previous managers (Kevin Simon, now VP at NewsBreak) used to say that there's 3 Es to learning any skill: Experience, Education, and Exposure. Experience is about learning by doing, education is about learning by reading things (like this article!) or watching courses, and exposure is about learning by observing others who are good at it. Whenever there's something I want to improve on, I've found that investing in *all three* is what gives me the fastest path to improvement. People often say that experience is the best way to learn — but I've found it's usually the *slowest* way to learn. Coupling it with investment in education + exposure is what helps me learn the right things, and learn them fast.