What are the best ways to use verbal communication to your advantage?

Our audience is our dining table where we have to elegantly serve our content, knowledge and message. Similar to how we host our guests at a dining table, knowing what the eating preferences are is extremely essential. Similarly, knowing what are the requirements of your audience is extremely important. What do they want to learn, how, when and what are their expectations from you. Try to cater to their needs in order to have an interactive, engaging and knowledgeable session.

People prefer information in a clear & concise format. They tend to attract those who could share their experiences, knowledge and wisdom in a concise manner. Try to use the power of words and remain to the point. Speak and engage as per their questions and avoid sharing extra or out of topic information as it can be kept for some other occasion. Clear and concise information doesn't mean that you will omit the vital part of your information. Clear and concise means that you will present the information in a coherent and simplistic manner which is not very time consuming or tedious. Something which doesn't become monotonous after a while.

A wise, careful and correct use of nonverbal cues is extremely important in verbal communication. People tend to focus on your face, actions and body posture. Your movements tend to add the extra weight to your words which sometimes isn't possible even with the use of complex and flamboyant vocabulary. Your facial expressions can really make your speech more empathetic and touching for the crowd to relate to. In the end we are interacting with humans and we ought to behave like one.

Ensure that your nonverbal cues align with your spoken words for effective communication. Maintain eye contact, use appropriate facial expressions and gestures, adopt an open posture, adjust proximity, match your tone and pitch, and be mindful of cultural norms. Consistency between verbal and nonverbal cues enhances credibility and fosters positive connections.

The power of being listened is amazing. Its a skill that most leaders should have. It needs an open mind and heart to actually hold our words and speak last after all of our team speak their idea.

There can be occasions where you have to listen to your crowd. This is the most important aspect of your communication methodology. Careful and active listening will lead to good and informative answers which carefully articulate the issues and provide meaningful answers to the crowd. Don't dodge questions and don't deviate from the topic. Try to be more empathetic as it can really elevate the experience for them.

Listening, understanding and adapting yourself as per the feedback is the right approach to improve and upgrade your communication skills. Try to be a diligent observer of the crowd. See how people respond to your words, idioms, speech and actions. If you see anything negative about the crowd or you feel like the people aren't really engaging, there might be an urgent need to change your approach. Maybe, you might need to inculcate questions or trivia. You can try to share personal experiences or ask people to contribute. You can add a little humour to the occasion and the list goes on and on. So try to adjust accordingly.

People are not always courteous. You can increase the effectiveness of your communications by being polite and showing your audience that you respect them. Your messages should be friendly, professional, considerate, respectful, open and honest.