Effective Ways to Improve Communication Skills

 

Most successful leaders have one thing in common – they are great at communication. A great leader is often times great at communication because communication is the base of making any relation successful.

 

Communication is an art and a lot of people struggle to turn a communication in their favor and make it successful.

 

Be Warm and Approachable – You must have heard about this one a lot, but it is important as when you are perceived as someone who is friendly and amicable, building positive relations becomes all the easier. Just take a moment and think about someone you despise; they probably are the opposite of friendly and appear bored and hence seem unapproachable. Keep in mind that simple things are key to improving communication, like improving your body language, or ensuring that you make small talk with people around you. Something as small as asking about your co-worker’s day will make you come off as empathetic and compassionate.

Also, try to not look stressed before meeting someone as someone stressed can come off as disinterested, bored or simply intimidating. It is always to keep this in mind, as one might be stressed before meeting someone new. But keep in mind to not let the stress show on your face or in your body language.

 

Be an Active Listener & Be Observant – Fully focus on the speaker and be mindful of approaching the situation as a learning experience. When one is quite and observant, you will absorb in the details better pushing you to be attentive and present and reciprocate by asking relevant questions out of curiosity rather than just going over in your head about what to ask just out of courtesy. Once you succeed in making such a type of dialogue, you will be able to connect to the speaker on a new level and feel empathy toward them. Learning to be empathetic is essential because empathy is the base of active listening.

 

Being an active listener is important, but also make sure that others are able to hear and perceive you well when you communicate. If you know you’re a fast talker, make it a point to talk slower and in a more articulate way and the conversation will immediately improve.

 

Recognize non-verbal communication – You can collect a ton of information from the people around you without having to speak a single word. Expressions, tone of voice, body language all come under non-verbal communication. These will help you learn about the opposite person even better than them having to speak out. Being able to link the facial expressions and body language with your message is an effective and essential communication tool.

 

Communicating clearly is the one of the most effective skills you can acquire as a leader or even as an individual. Make sure to communicate through both, your verbal and non-verbal cues well.

 

Always listen carefully to what the next person has to say and use the tips above to make communication better. We hope these tips help you, and do let us know in the comments below if they do! Come back for more such content!