Communication skills are the right way of conveying your thoughts, feelings, emotions, and ideas to another person. The major types of communication skills are divided into 4 types. These types include verbal, non-verbal, visual, and written communication.
Once in a lifetime, every one of us has felt difficulties in conveying our thoughts or ideas to others correctly. It may be at school gatherings, college fests, in interviews, or team meetings at the workplace.
When our soft skills are not that good, we feel shy while speaking and it somehow affects our confidence. Also, most of us have lost many best opportunities knowingly or unknowingly in our lives because of it.
So, what’s here for me?
1. Verbal Communication
It is a two-way process and therefore it involves both speaking and listening. A perfect recipe for good conversations involves the correct words, tone, language, & similar things.
In addition, your flow of communication is different on different occasions. For example, when you are talking with close friends, communication flow will be different.
On the contrary, communication flow will be different if you are communicating with colleagues. Similarly, it will be different when you are delivering a presentation at the office.
Besides this, many times, introverts find it difficult to communicate comfortably as they feel shy. Well, you can refer our guide on improving conversation skills being an introvert for that matter.
Remember key things
Furthermore, you can improve these types of communication skills by remembering a few important things. You should focus on the words you use while speaking. Also, you should listen carefully, respect the speaker, and avoid making any judgments about the speaker. This helps in understanding the message in a better way.
Besides this, you have to keep in mind the main objective of the conversation. This will help you to stay connected while you speak and you will say only relevant things. Applying all these simple techniques will help you improve your current capabilities to the next level.
Someone has rightly said that ‘listening is more important than speaking‘. We see that many people just speak to reply. True conversation involves carefully listening to another party, understanding what they mean, and then presenting your opinions on that.
2. Non-verbal Cues
It is said that ‘how we say’ is more important than ‘what we say’. This implies that our tone, pitch, body language speaks more than our words. Your simple smile or frown communicates a lot in seconds. Even staying silent communicates something.
These types of communication skills include several non-verbal cues such as gestures, body language, postures, facial expressions, eye contact, etc. Also, your appearance also says a lot about you.
Therefore, it is always recommended for you to carry the right attire for the right occasion. This is because it conveys a lot about you.
Similarly, gestures like waving hand, pointing, nodding head, shaking hands make the conversation more meaningful. You should use the right gestures at the right moments. This will enhance the understanding and effectiveness of the conversation.
In conclusion, when you use the gestures, it keeps the discussion lively and interesting.
Also, you have to maintain comfortable eye contact while communicating with another person. This shows your interest in the discussion and keeps the conversation engaging.
Your facial expressions convey your feelings to another person. Also, you should always maintain a definite space, carry a correct posture, and be aware of the sound and tones you use.
Nonetheless, It is said that one rude word can spoil the entire discussion and can ruin your relationships as well. So to conclude, you can improve these types of communication skills when you will follow these tips.
3. Visual aids
Furthermore, these types of communication skills include the use of signs, pictures, charts, graphs, clip arts, etc. This helps you to deliver a particular message in the short descriptions. So, examples of visual aids include public signs, hoardings, maps, graphics, etc.
Moreover, a meaningful picture helps you to deliver a message more accurately and fast. Also, whenever you use graphs or charts for presentation, it seeks the attention of the listeners.
Besides this, these visuals are easy to understand and provides a broad sense of actual facts as well. Especially, they are useful in comparison of two or more aspects.
Now a days, people love watching videos more than reading books. This is because videos are the form of visual communication. Also, visual ways provide a lot of information in a short span. It is also helpful to create brand awareness among people.
Furthermore, you can use the particular color-combinations of the company logo more in marketing tasks. This helps people to remember things nicely. Also, it is helpful to build yourself as a brand.
Besides this, you should improve such types of communication skills if you want to pursue a career in domains like graphic designing. In this domain, you have to make graphics using photoshop, illustrator, corelDRAW, etc.
4. Written presentations
Furthermore, writing skills mean conveying your message effectively through writing. It includes the letter, email or report writing, etc. Moreover, good writing creates a good impression of yourself on the reader.
Also, the language you have used in writing should be easy to read, grammatically correct, and well-explained. Everything you have written should make sense for the reader. If the reader has to go back and re-read the sentences, then probably you may need to polish your skills more.
Also, you should remember that a good piece of writing is always well organized. Therefore, you should try to create a picture of what’s written in the minds of the readers.
Furthermore, good writing skills are essential in almost every field. Firstly, If you run any business, it creates your impression in front of your clients. Secondly, If you go for college interviews, then the employer selects the candidates based on resume and written tests. So, you have to improve these skills as early as possible.
Also, these skill sets show your sincerity towards the job. This is because a well-written resume will help you to stand different among other candidates. Moreover, If you have good writing skills, then it will always grab the attention of your audience.
Even if your job does not require a lot of writing, you will come across drafting an email or document once in a lifetime. At that time, you are supposed to be known the basics of writing skills. Therefore, you should learn the basics of this type of communication skill set.
In the following table, I have made comparisons between the two types. This will provide you a better understanding in fewer minutes.
| Verbal Communication | Non-verbal Communication | |
| Meaning | Conversation through words, tone, sounds, etc | Conversation through signs, gestures, body language, etc |
| Type | Formal and informal | Informal |
| Understandability | Most of the time clear understanding of the message | Complicated and sometimes confusing |
| Benefits | Clear understanding & feedback is possible | Helps to understand feelings, emotions, mental status, etc of the speaker |
| Delivered through | Delivered through letters, reports, phone calls, etc | Conveyed through body language, facial expressions, eye contacts, etc |
Conclusion:
So, as we can see, there is a lot more you can learn about the communication skill set. Also, these skills will help you to build trust, good relations, and resolve conflicts at personal levels.
Also, it will help you to maintain lifelong good relations and flourish your professional life.
Besides this, when you have effective communication skillsets, it prevents misunderstandings between teams. Moreover, this will enhance creativity and innovations among employees of your team as it also develops a sense of unity between people.
In conclusion, we can say that these skills are essential in every segment of life. A person with a good communication skill set always stands different from others and so you will.
On a brighter note, If you master this art, then you will get countless benefits. So, you should learn it as soon as possible. The more early you learn it, the more it benefits you. Also, It will provide you the life long benefits.
FAQ
Answer: The barriers are the ones that block your message due to disturbances. These barriers include physical, psychological, emotional, language, cultural barriers, etc. All of these barriers can hamper your smooth communication flow.
Answer: You can find a partner with whom you can practice in the beginning. If you stuck anywhere while communicating, then find the solution to that problem.
Also, you should improve your English vocabulary as well. This will help you to speak fluently.
3) What is formal communication? What are the characteristics of it?
Answer: It is the one that has a definite flow and passes through particulars channels. Some of the examples of formal communication may include reports, lawsuits, agreements, etc.
It follows a definite rule of communication. The message passed through these channels is clear. You can use it for planning and organizing of company activities.
4) What is grapevine?
Answer: Grapevine is an informal way of conversation. Do you know that grapevine spreads faster than a wildfire? Well, the answer is Yes. When you get information through the grapevine, it may not always be relevant. Many times, it is just gossips or rumors within the organization.
Many a time, the grapevine is harmful for your organization. But it is good for your employees as it creates a sense of friendliness among them. It fulfills their urge to speak.
5) What is active listening?
Answer: Active listening does not mean mere hearing. It is more than that. When you listen to others with full concentration, it improves your understanding. So, you understand the message properly and then reply to other person.
6) What are the benefits of active listening?
Answer: Active listening has many benefits. It avoids misunderstandings and confusion. This also increases your productivity as it reduces the chances of missing any critical information. Active listening helps to identify the problem and fix it. Also, it builds good relations in the workplace.
7) What is critical thinking?
Answer: Critical thinking involves observation, analysis, drawing conclusions, and solving the problem. These skills are important in personal as well as professional life.
