Hold on! You are missing something significant. You aim to win in the workplace, but you are not aware of how to do so? You know that you need to enhance your communication skills, but you don’t see the road-map of it. Don’t stress yourself out. We are here to clear your confusion. Communication is a necessary skill that most people lack. Be it your professional life or your personal life, the importance of communication can’t be ignored.
According to the research done by the Conference Board of Canada, communication is one of the skills that are necessary enough if one is willing to succeed in the workplace. One should know how to communicate formally to win at the workplace. If you have a glance at the renowned leaders, you will see that their ability to deliver has helped them a lot.
1. Make your listening game stronger
You can’t expect to build a healthy relationship with your customers unless your way of communication is right. You have to be an excellent listener. Listening is quite essential, not only it is a way of showing respect for one person but it also develops the level of patience in you.
Just visualize for a few minutes, you are talking to someone and that person is listening to you with the full scale of concentration, how would you feel? Of course, you will feel so good, and the bond between you and that person will get stronger. It proves one thing here, to build the trust it is necessary to listen to others.
There are individuals who are quite fond of listening to their voices. When you talk to them they don’t concentrate on what you are saying to them. How do you feel about their company? Of course, you feel devalued. When you start listening to what the other person has to say, you will think that you are being understood and valued.
There are some things that are of help if you want to improve the communication skills.
2. Listen to avoid misinterpreting
People want to feel that another person is listening with concentration. The consequences of not listening to the other person can be really bad. You may assume things. You may misunderstand what is being told. When you are talking to someone, make sure that you don’t do other work at that time. Like, don’t divert the topic, don’t reply to an email at that particular time. One expects to receive your undivided attention from you. If he is not going to get it from you, he will feel devalued.
3. Message Tone
The person you are communicating with matters a lot. There is no problem if you are using informal language while talking to your best buddy but yes don’t make it a habit. You first have to see the person you are talking to. However, if you are talking to your boss, you can’t use languages like “Heya!” or “Lol.”
Another thing is that not everyone is aware of the acronym you use in the communication. Still, if you are using an abbreviation, just make sure that the person doesn’t misunderstand it. Maybe the meanings of that particular acronym are different for that person.
The real key to effective communication is that you should structure your message according to the person you are talking to.
4. Improve your body language
When you are doing a one-to-one meeting with someone, your body language gets noticed. If you make a poker face, it won’t impress the other person. Extensive use of anything is harmful while talking to people it’s good to have a functional body language. However, do not try to cross the defined limits.
Do not give a wrong impression of yourself, use body language within the limits. Moreover, it is indispensable that you maintain pretty good eye contact with the person you are talking to. If you roll your eyes, here and there, that person will build a perception that you are not listening to him.
5. Proofread your message
If you are talking to someone via text, make sure that you proofread your message before hitting the send button. Though spell checker is a lifesaver, you can’t depend on it entirely. You have to check your message all by yourself.
Structure your message correctly. Make sure that the words you have chosen to convey your message are appropriate and cannot be misinterpreted. Since you are not talking face-to-face, the tone of the message should be clear enough and should speak for your intention.
6. Follow the KISS rule
KISS rule says “keep it short and simple”. This means that you have to be precise while writing a message. You can’t expect the other person to read those long paragraphs. What’s the point of dragging something when it is explainable in a line or two? When you receive a long email, you don’t feel like reading it and you try to avoid that mail. Similar is the case here. The receiver doesn’t want to hear your long tale, keep your message short and easy to understand. Do not include jargons that one needs to open a dictionary to decode your message.
Once you have crafted your message, do read it twice and make sure that you are not missing any important thing. The rule is to convey your message efficiently, in a precise way.
7. Take notes
Written things are of help. Though you have a sharp memory, you can’t expect your brain to remember every single thing. During a meeting, don’t forget to take notes because sometimes we feel that we will remember something but we fail to recall it afterward. Notes will help you in reiterating what you have missed.
8. Take help of pauses
Don’t start talking like a bullet train. Breaks are essential for you. While speaking to people, make sure that you give pauses. This will save you from embarrassment, big time. When you just keep talking and talking without giving any break, the other person doesn’t listen to you and you eventually get embarrassed. You need to have pretty good attention to how you speak and what do you speak. This will help you a lot in knowing what you need to improve.
Bottom Line
In today’s world, one can’t expect to succeed if the communication skills are not up-to-the-mark. Whether you talk about your personal life or you talk about your professional life, you have to make your communication game stronger. The perks of improved communication skills are beyond your thinking. Clear communication leads you to the smooth workflow, your productivity increases. Moreover, your professional image gets better. The above tips are of much help. Follow them and you will experience the change soon.
Author’s Bio
Zoe Lucas is a freelance blogger who loves to write in different niches. Currently working as a freelance blogger at Cassandra Worthy.
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Positive Words Research – 8 Ways To Exceptionally Improve Your Communication Skills
