Tips to Help You Become an Effective Communicator

Whether you are a professional, entrepreneur, employer or employee you will find yourself talking to a person or group of people.

Effective communication is one of the most important life skills that a person can have.

Lack of good communication skill can make your conversation with a person or group of people very unnatural, forced and less effective.

In this post, we will look at what is communication, 5 communication skills and tips to help you improve your communication skill.?

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What is communication?

Communication is a two-way process of conveying information, ideas, feeling, opinions between two or more persons either verbally or non-verbally.

Being a good communicator is crucial in all spheres of life. Having strong communication skill will boost your chances of building healthy relationships with your co-workers, employers, business partners and so on.?

5 communication skills you should develop

1. Interpersonal Skill

Interpersonal skills are the skills we use when engaging in face-to-face communication with one or more people. At work, we interact one-on-one with our colleagues, supervisor and subordinate. Every day, we are faced with tasks related to communication, for example, dealing with facts, spreadsheets, figures and many more.?

2.?Listening Skill

This is one of the most overlooked communication skills. Listening is essential to receiving information.?

When we communicate we spend 45% of our time listening. A lot of people take listening for granted, it is not the same as just hearing. It involves removing distractions and preparing yourself to absorb what the other person is saying.?

3. Empathy

Empathy is the ability to put yourself in the other person shoe. It involves feeling what they might be feeling.?

Empathy helps you understand where people are coming from and it helps you gain the trust of the other person.?

When you care and keep other people’s interests in mind, it helps to create a more helpful outcome.

4. Non-verbal Communication Skill

You communicate more information using non-verbal communication than you can think of. Examples of non-verbal communication include gestures, facial expression, body language as well as appearance.

For example, maybe you see me wearing a dinner gown going out in the evening, I don’t necessarily need to tell you where I am going to, you can figure that out from my outfit and the timing. But imagine I am corporately dressed and leaving home as early as 7 am, you would probably guess I am either going to work or meeting up with a client.?

This is how powerful non-verbal communication can be, most of the time we misuse non-verbal communication because we fail to master it. This can result in sending the wrong expression to others.

5. Written Skill

The ability to write clearly and effectively is vital to communication. Poor written communication skills can be frustrating to the reader and can as well lead to miscommunication. Would you shop from a website full of grammatical and spelling errors or unclear sentences? I don’t think so. And this is because the errors speak of incompetence.

Your written skills can be seen in your emails, reports, proposals and so on.?people would give you credit for your good writing skill.

4 Tips to Help You Become an Effective Communicator

1. Listen Intently

Most people believe that communication is just about talking. We often assume that improving our communication skills is just about our ability to speak. Communication is about our ability to speak and also listen.

People want to know that they are being heard, so instead of focusing your attention on formulating a response try to listen attentively to what the other person is saying.

When you listen intently to the other person you are going to be able to have more value to add to the conversation.?

Listening intently doesn’t just mean using your ears to hear what the other person is saying. It is the ability to sense what the person is feeling, it means listening beyond just the words.

When you listen and pay attention to what the other person is saying, they can feel it and they feel you are interested in what they have to say and they are more likely to share and talk to you because they feel comfortable around you.

2. Ask Questions and Use Phrases that Relate to What the Person is Talking About

Asking questions will not only help you understand what the other person is saying but also indicates that you are interested in what they have to say.

You can also use phrases like “ that’s true because” or “that’s interesting because”. Using such words shows that you are interested in what the other person is saying. It also helps the other person feel that you can relate to what they are saying and also connected.

If you also want them to feel that you understand what they are saying try to paraphrase. You can repeat back what they said earlier before making your comment.?

3. Make Eye Contact

Eye contact is vital when having a meaningful conversation with others. Looking at the window, the floor or around you while the other person is talking may give the person the notion that you don’t care, you are bored or you are not interested in what they have to say.

When you look at the other person in the eye, you are indirectly telling them that you are interested in what they have to say. This can help you stay focused and be less distracted.?

4. Pay Attention to Body Language?

Do you know it is possible for you to be communicating without uttering a word? Your non-verbal and non-written cues often reveal more than you can imagine.?

It is very important to have an open body language when interacting with others. Face the other person, pay close attention to your gestures and avoid crossing your arms.

Communication is a skill that is needed in every sphere of life and developing good communication skills is vital to a healthy relationship. Being able to communicate effectively is a skill that can be learned with constant practice. Taking these steps to develop your communication skill would set you up for success.