how to improve communication skills

how to improve communication skills

Effective Strategies for Improving Communication Skills

1. Introduction to Communication Skills

Introduction Looking for an effective way to improve interpersonal communication skills? Take a look at your feet. Are they pointed at the person you are talking to or away? Studies have shown that 60-70% of communication is nonverbal. With our gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, and tone of voice, we communicate much more than what we say. Developing an awareness of how nonverbal cues, such as spatial behavior and use of touch, can shape or reflect personal communication can help us connect and communicate in classroom, cultural, and interpersonal domains. The research suggests that effective communication is essential in classroom environments enriched by diversity. We respond more positively to and learn better when we feel connected to our instructors and classmates. We feel most connected when the communication is personal and immediate. By using your body and voice more effectively, you’ll be better at managing group discussions, negotiating, and interviewing. These skills can help with decision making, leading others, putting others at ease, and much more. Strategies for success will come a bit easier when you feel competent, connected, and supported. Remember, to put more heart into your communication, put more mind into it. By gaining a better understanding of the factors that influence the messages you send and receive, you can develop a more effective, personal communication style. And by practicing self-reflection and developing an awareness of the needs, perspectives, and emotions of those around you, you can develop the body and voice of a good friend.

2. Understanding the Importance of Communication Skills

Even though the concepts behind the communication process may seem simple, most people find that achieving these outcomes is quite difficult. In fact, communication is something you probably spend at least 40% of your time doing. Yet, you most likely find that the majority of your day is plagued with emotionally triggered communication barriers. Be it miscommunication, misunderstanding, or backlash, external effects can reduce the effectiveness of what you’re trying to convey. Although understanding the process behind these effects may sound challenging, this article outlines the eight communication processes that can cause barriers between sending and receiving parties, putting practice and time into your development – enabling you to refine your communication skills.

Improving communication skills is important for your relationships and your career. Although there are some people who seem to have been born being able to connect with others easily, most people find that they need to work hard at improving their skills. Without practice, many of us find that it’s easy to slip into using communication patterns that reduce the effectiveness of what we’re trying to say. And in some cases, making communication more effective requires doing things that don’t always come naturally. However, by understanding the basic processes that are at work in communication, you can become more aware of when and how to apply strategies to better express your thoughts and ideas. And by just a little bit of patience, you’ll find yourself mastering these essential skills in no time.

3. Practical Techniques for Enhancing Verbal Communication

Gain cooperation. You can influence the behavior of others by being candid and expressing your confidence requesting their cooperation. For example: “John, I really need you to handle the opening call-in on Thursday’s meeting. It’s crucial that you do it well and create a good impression for our district.” Your tone can also make a big difference in building rapport. Instead of saying, “I need a copy of this report by 3:00, April,” you might try a more friendly dialogue like, “April, could you have a copy of this ready for me by 3:00? I’ve been asked to submit it to your staff today.” The most effective technique is to be open and honest. Kill all ideas of deception, pretension, or ulterior motive. If you have to bring bad news, don’t try to sweeten that news right now; it always backfires in the end.

Open yourself up. Once you have opened up about yourself, it becomes much easier to open up about work topics and listen to what the other person has to share as well. Being open means sharing information and listening to the other person’s responses. Using supportive verbal and nonverbal behaviors will help establish and maintain rapport. This support can be expressed through simple phrases: “You’re absolutely right,” “I really understand,” or “You’re making a good point.” When you agree with someone, show that agreement with a smile or a sincere nod of your head. You should also give the same positive support to anything the speaker says that strikes you as a good idea. Make a concentrated effort to understand what the person is truly feeling or trying to say. Are they experiencing confusion when they should be confident? Do they appear angry when there is absolutely no apparent reason? Perhaps it will be too obvious to mention or discuss certain feelings, but remember that some responses should not be ignored. They may signal an area needing attention right now.

4. Developing Active Listening Skills

You must put forth effort and energy to be an active listener. Essentially, listening is a three-step process: Sensing, Interpreting, and Evaluating. Sensing is the act of receiving and perceiving a message. It sets the stage for the next two active processes. Sometimes called attending or receiving, sensing is the process that occurs as light waves are transformed into electrical impulses, sound waves from speech are translated into mental images and the other senses are stimulated. Basic to everything else that is involved; it is simply the cognitive registration of sight, sound, taste, touch and smell.

One of the most important skills a student of communication can learn is how to be an effective listener. We spend more time listening in our lives than doing any other single form of communication. About 55% of our communication time is spent listening, usually not very efficiently. If you’re going to spend that much time doing any one thing, you should try to be as good at it as you can. You will eventually learn as a student of communication that listening is an active, not a passive activity. If all you do is passively attend to words, you’re not much better off than being asleep. It’s just difficult enough to take enough of the words and very nearly impossible to get much out of them.

5. Utilizing Nonverbal Communication to Enhance Your Message

There is a universal principle in tone of voice. Words that are spoken with a happy tone of voice can open closed doors. Focus on eliminating vocal distractors and develop a deeper, richer voice. Quality of sound has power—low, rich tones communicate more power as well as empathy and sincerity. How words are spoken can make and break our relationships. Level pronouncing is something like singing. It can change our enduring personal qualities at work or home—Tongue and speech is the power that will change relationships at work and home. Together they are combined powers that can persuade, influence, and create harmony in our relationships. We speak words like we were creating music, a smile about words spoken can offer real warmth to your communication message.

Eye contact offers great power in helping others to receive the message you have to communicate. Since the eyes really do express our feelings, it helps improve communication. Touch is also a powerful communication strategy. Touch can communicate basic emotions, feelings of affiliation, encouragement, approval, and support. If you are listening and using eye contact, you will want to give visual signs of listening. Nod your head, smile, and give physical cues that you are part of the communication process. Every culture has its own biological rhythms and patterns of behavior. Sociocultural context shapes everything from the volume of our speech to the type of gestures that get used during conversation or while one is speaking.