Building Stronger Connections Through Effective Communication Skills
Larry Easto
I Help Self-Employed Professionals Market & Grow Their Service Businesses | Marketing Coach | Author of 30+ Books & Online Video Courses | Sharing Practical Strategies for Authentic Business Growth |
In today's fast-paced world, effective communication skills
Whether it's in the workplace, personal relationships, or even on social media, the ability to connect and communicate with others is the foundation for building strong and lasting connections.
This article will delve into various strategies and techniques that can improve our ability to listen, empathize, and express ourselves clearly.
From active listening
We'll also discuss the role of emotional intelligence
By sharpening our communication skills, we can enhance our relationships, resolve conflicts more effectively, and become better leaders.
Join us as we dive into the world of effective communication and discover how it can transform our connections and ultimately, our lives.
Active Listening
From my experience, listening is the weakest of all communication skills.
Instead of listening to understand what someone else is telling us, to many of us allow our minds to wander elsewhere.? Some of us already have our minds made up and are waiting for the other person to stop talking so that we can share our opinion.? Others might be distracted by other thoughts—good, bad or indifferent.??
Whatever the explanation for distracted listening, invariably it weakens the effectiveness of communication in all aspects of our lives.
On the other hand, active listening is one thing each of us can do in order improve our communications.
Active listening is about?listening attentively to a speaker, focused on understanding ?what they are telling us. This includes responding and reflecting appropriately.? As a result, the speaker and listeners are more actively engaged in the communication process.
Non-Verbal Cues
These are the signals that we use to communicate with others without using spoken words.
Body language often, such as gestures that mean particular words like "yes" and "no" often take the place of actual words.
Other examples of body language include:
In many cases our body language is out of sync with our words.
I recall a short flight homeward on which one of the flight attendants spoke all the right words, but her body language screamed that she was very angry.nbsp; The smile on her lips didn’t reach her eyes, which glared the message: get the !@#%amp; out of my way. nbsp;
Not only was I happy to be home, I was relieved to escape her negative energy.
Emotional Intelligence
If listening is the weakest communication skill, Emotional Intelligence (EI) is?probably the most powerful.
This form of intelligence refers to our ability to not only manage our own emotions, but also understand the emotions of the people with whom we communicate.
Here are four key characteristics of Emotional Intelligence.
According to Oxford Language.
“Self-awareness is defined as "conscious knowledge of one's own character, feelings, motives, and desires".
People who are highly self-aware, can objectively evaluate themselves, manage their emotions and align their behavior with their personal values.
Among other benefits self-awareness helps us understand the perspective of other people, which in turn increases the effectiveness of our inter-personal communication.
2. Self-Regulation
This characteristic represents the ability to understand and manage our behavior as well as our reactions to things happening around us.
This ability to self-regulate includes managing our reactions to our own and also other peoples’ strong emotions like frustration, excitement, anger and embarrassment.
It’s that magic element that allows us to calm down and remain focused on our priorities in response to exciting or upsetting communications and events.
3. Motivation
In the simplest of terms, motivation is the reason that we take action and do things.
As the driving force behind our actions it’s the process that initiates, guides, and maintains our goal-oriented behaviors.
Understanding our own as well as other people’s motivation also help us better understand what’s behind our own and other people’s communications.
4. Empathy
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It goes beyond mere sympathy and requires you to put yourself in someone else's shoes, truly feeling and experiencing the world from their perspective.
By practicing empathy, you can build stronger relationships, whether it be with your partner, friends, or colleagues.
When you genuinely listen and understand others, you create a safe space for them to open up and be vulnerable. This helps to foster trust, respect, and deeper connections.
To learn more about empathy check out Empathy: The Key to Building Stronger Business Relationships
5. Evaluating Your Communications Skills
Based on the above comments, let’s do a quick evaluation of your communication skills.
Using SWOT analysis methodology, do your listening skills represent a personal strength or a personal weakness.??? What facts support this evaluation.
Similarly, evaluate your personal strengths and weakness in the area of Emotional Intelligence.
Which of the four represent? a personal strength?
Which represent a personal weakness?
How can you apply your personal strengths to improve or otherwise offset any personal weaknesses in the area of emotional intelligence?