How To Communicate With Clarity

Note: This post was originally published on  BrianTracy.com

Much of your success in life is going to come from your ability to communicate well with other people. Successful people know how to communicate and have taken a lot of time to improve communication skills.

Social intelligence, which is the ability to interact well with others, is one of the highest paid and most respected intelligences in our society.

So, how do you communicate more effectively with others?

How To Communicate With Clarity

My favorite word in communication is clarity.

Almost all our problems in life come because of lack of clarity. We say things but they don’t come out clearly. To be clear, stop and think, and then proceed slowly.

Another great way is to rephrase or repeat something if it’s clear that they didn’t get the message.

I speak French, German, and Spanish, and I’m busy working on learning Russian and Chinese. One of the things I’ve learned is if you say something in your limited language and someone doesn’t seem to understand it, rephrase it and say it again.

If they still don’t understand, rephrase it and say it again until that person says, “Ha! Now I understand."

Having A Conversation

Effective communication starts with being clear in your own mind about what you want to say. Then be clear when you deliver the message, saying it slowly and patiently. Finally, make sure that the other person hears the message that you sent.

When you communicate with another person, this is what happens:

1. You send a message into the air in the form of words.
2. The words are then received by the other person who interprets them in their own mind based on their own thoughts, feelings, and so on.
3. The other person formulates a response and sends the response back.
4. You then receive the response, translate that into meaning and significance.
5. You send back your response.

Noise In Communication

Between these two responses there is noise. Noise can be physical noise like trucks, a TV, people talking, mechanics, etc., but it can also be internal noise.

The person could be hungry or distracted. It can be emotional noise. The person could be unhappy or excited. The person could have other noise influencing them that causes them to interpret what you say in a different way.

If you think about this, communication requires sending the message and having it received. The message is checked, and sent back. The message is received, and then checked. It’s better to be sure at every stage of the transaction that people are sending and receiving with tremendous clarity.

The Best Question To Get Clarity

Here is my favorite question of all…

When somebody says something that you’re not sure about say, “How do you mean, or how do you mean exactly?”

They will always expand on what they just said and make it clearer and easier for you to understand and respond to. Try asking this question when you’re not sure of something to get all the clarity you need. If you want to learn more effective communication skills, click the button below to read my report, Getting Your Ideas Across