Communication skill is an essential skill in life. These skills help us to express our thoughts, ideas, emotions in the right way. When we learn to articulate our feelings, thoughts, and ideas accurately, it opens the door of many opportunities for us. Therefore, you should always improve communication skill.
All you need to do to improve your communication skill is to learn and practice as much as possible. It is rightly said that ‘practice makes a man perfect‘.
We all have learned many technical skills from our school life until now. Of course, these skills are important to grow in a professional career. However, many of us have skipped a crucial skill which is known as decent communication skills.
So, the lack of good communication skills may show you many failures in life. These failures may include failures at job interviews, promotions at the workplace, personal life, etc. However, you can improve these skills at any stage in your life.
Also, you will get nicer results once you start implementing these skills in your life.
So, Let’s learn below how you can improve your communication skills:
- First, learn the basics of communication skill
- Increase your vocabulary knowledge
- Observe people to improve communication skill
- Initiate the conversation first
- Remember the key points and use them
- Practice communication daily
- Ask for feedback
In this article, we will learn from basics to strengthen your communication skill. Just you need to do is understand the key points, apply it, and see the results.
1. First, Learn the basics of communication skill
Firstly, It is very important to strengthen the basics for excellent conversational skills.
Basic of Verbal & Non-verbal communication
Whenever you are going to learn a new skill, you need to focus on basics to master that skill. You have to do the same to improve communication skill as well. You should focus on the words you use, tone & pitch of your voice, and body language while communicating orally.
Moreover, the use of little non-verbal cues makes the conversation interesting. Also, its use helps the listener to decode the message properly.
Basics of written communication
In the case of written communication, you should always try to deliver a complete and clear message to avoid any misunderstandings or miscommunications.
Also, your message is conveyed accurately when you keep in mind the prior knowledge of the receiver while writing. This means that you should keep in mind the current knowledge of the receiver while writing. So that, it will help the receiver to link with your writing.
2. Increase your vocabulary knowledge
The use of a variety of words makes the conversation interesting while communicating. Also, it helps you to speak precisely. You can just read something to learn new words every day. You can also read blogs on the internet if you like.
Also, you can watch the movies so that you will be exposed to new words. Whenever you will find a new word, search the meaning of that word in the dictionary or thesaurus. You can use power thesaurus for that matter. Also, find the synonyms for that word.
Gradually, this activity will increase your vocabulary knowledge. In the end, you will be able to speak fluently than before.
You can also read our ‘Exclusive Guide to sharpen vocabulary‘ to get more knowledge about vocabulary. You will get a few tips & tricks to improve vocabulary.
3. Observe people to improve communication skill
Furthermore, you can learn a lot from your surroundings every time. If you want to improve communication skill, then you can observe people with good conversational skillsets. Moreover, it is the easiest and fast way to develop your communication style.
Also, you can observe how they express themselves. You should always try to notice their speaking style, gestures, tone, proxemics, haptics, and the words they use while conversating. It will give you practical experience in communication styles.
So, you can learn a little from everyone, develop your own style, and implement it in your life.
4. Initiate the conversation first
When you will initiate a conversation, it will develop confidence within you. Besides this, you should always try to keep the conversation going to avoid silent pauses.
For instance, you can ask common questions related to weather, present, or future for that matter. This gives a nice start to the conversation.
In addition, you should always remember that you should never ask ‘yes or no’ type questions if you want the conversation going.
Instead, you can ask questions starting from ‘what’ or ‘how.’ Generally, these type of questions allows the other person to speak more.
Also, it makes the conversation interesting and informative.
5. Remember key points and use them
Moreover, there are always some key points which will help you to communicate efficiently. You should try to organize your thoughts to avoid any miscommunication. If the beginning of any conversation is good, then the whole conversation goes well.
Therefore, speak with confidence at first. Consequently, you will catch the flow and communicate effectively.
Furthermore, listening is also considered to be one of good communication skills. When you listen to others carefully, it also gives you time to think and you can speak well. This way, you will improve communication skill.
6. Practice communication daily
In conclusion, everything you learned above is nothing without practice. Firstly, you can practice these things with the person you are comfortable in the starting phase.
Secondly, you should observe your flaws and improvise them every time. This is how you will get better and better in conversational skills.
Thirdly and last, you should start speaking in public.
7. Ask for feedback
In the end, you cannot observe all your flaws every time as you are a beginner. So, try to get feedback from the person who already possesses nice conversational skills. These people can guide you better. Moreover, you will get to learn useful things from them.
Also, you should apply new things while communicating. If someone criticizes your skills, then take that criticism constructively and improve yourself. This can further enhance your overall conversational skills.
Communication skills are also crucial in personality development. You can refer to our blog on ‘Crucial Role of soft skills in Personality development‘. It will provide you tips & tricks of effective communication.
Sometimes, even when we read & learn everything, we fail at implementations. You can refer our guide to overcome laziness for that matter.
Conclusion:
So to conclude, good communication skillsets build trustworthiness and openness between two persons. It develops rapport between two people. Also, they are important in your workplace.
Eventually, you can achieve greater heights in your career when you have nice communication skill sets.
Besides this, you should always remember that ‘how you say it’ is more important than ‘what you say’. You should know the sentiments of another person and speak respectfully. When you do that, you gain respect from the other person as well.
FAQ
Answer: The qualities of effective communication includes listening, empathy, open-mindedness, clarity of speech, and the ability to understand the emotions of others. Also, it is recommended to think before you speak.
This way, you will not hurt other people unknowingly. These skills are imperative in leadership, teamwork, selling, call centers, lawyers, financial advisors, etc. Good communication skills also improve problem-solving and decision-making skills.
2) What is the importance of communication skills in sales?
Answer: You should be very attentive to be successful in sales. You have to pay attention to the words and body language of your customers. It is imperative to understand the need of the customer.
You should speak only relevant things while you are making sales. Also, you need to be polite while communicating with customers. Everyone likes a polite person and people tend to listen to such people.
3) What is the importance of verbal and non-verbal cues in communication?
Answer: The use of non-verbal cues while speaking helps the other person to understand you better. It makes the conversation interesting.
Your body language speaks a lot while you are talking. Other people can ascertain your state of mind, emotions, feelings, etc by observing body language.
4) What is the role of proxemics while communicating?
Answer: Proxemics is the distance which you should maintain from other people while communicating. There are four zones of personal space namely intimate zone, personal space, social space, and public space.
5) What are the four zones of proxemics? How much distance is necessary to maintain while communicating?
Answer: The intimate zone involves the space of 6 to 18 inches. Only close ones are permitted in this zone. A personal zone is the space of 18 inches to 48 inches.
This is the distance which we maintain from our colleagues, casual friends, and relatives. The social zone comes between 4 feet to 12 feet. This is the distance that we maintain from maids, shopkeepers, plumbers, or electricians.
The public zone covers the distance over and above 12 feet. We maintain such distance from a large number of audiences in public speaking.
6) What is haptics in non-verbal communication?
Answer: The various forms of haptics includes handshakes, a pat on the back, or a high five. We express our feelings and emotions by using haptics.
Haptics helps the other person to decode the message effectively. It also makes the conversation alive.
7) What is the need for oral communication?
Answer: Oral communication helps us to convey our feelings, emotions, and ideas. This communication helps us to motivate, inspire, and grow others. It helps to build relations. We can get real and immediate feedbacks from others in case of oral communication. Overall, conversations help us to connect better with others.
8) Why visual communication is considered to be powerful?
Answer: Visual communication involves the use of boards, infographics, sign language, etc. It enables the reader to understand the message quickly. Visual aids grab the attention of the audience quickly.
They are useful in advertisements, car parking signals, road signals, etc. These signs help the reader to make quick decisions.
