5 Things To Practice for Effective Communication Skills


Having effective communication skills is imperative for your success. Positive communication will certainly increase the opportunities you find in your career and business. Having good communication skills will enable you to get ahead in certain areas where others who are less assertive may not succeed. A few things to keep your eyes on while practicing the fine art of communication are:

Body Language

Do not shy away from the person with whom you are speaking. Be sure to maintain a relaxed, but not slouching posture, regardless whether you are the one speaking or listening. Other things that ensure your body is communicating your attentiveness to the conversation can include:

  • Making eye contact.
  • Nodding occasionally to acknowledge a strong point in the conversation.
  • Standing with hands clasped in front of you, never crossing your arms.
  • Not displaying nervous ticks such as wringing hands, picking at your nails, or anything that the person communicating with you will view as a distraction from their conversation.

Speech and Attentiveness

When speaking, you need to be clear and concise. Speak on important matters directly and do not waste time with long drawn out stories that will cause your listener’s mind to wander. Make sure you ask whether they understand, and be willing to further explain any of your points. Do not expect someone to just “know” what you are saying, even if it is crystal clear in your own mind.

In addition, one of the most important aspects of verbal communication is the ability to practice active listening. This is not just actively waiting to talk. Always make mental notes of key points when someone is speaking to you. That way once you are given a chance to speak, you can respond to the most vital issues being dealt with. When others are speaking, try to think about the exact words that they are saying. If you practice this, you will comprehend and contain 75 percent more of the information that you hear.

Communication Consistency

Maybe your weakness is in the quality or quantity with which you communicate to your employees. Communication seems to have dwindled to superficial small talk. Great communicators practice the ability of consistent communication by remaining available. Do not be afraid to be the one who voices any concerns or difficulties. However, ensure that you are practicing open and honest communication with those who may depend on you. Be available and bold with tact.

Be sure to leave communication lines open to those who may need to address problems with you. You will find that you prevent the small issues that normally have the habit of becoming large ones by making those in your life aware that you are open to discussing issues at any time.

Patience

During your communications with others always give them time to communicate their issues as well. Remaining focused on what they are trying to communicate will show them that you are indeed open to assisting with their issues. Many of people’s communication lines tend to break down on the side where impatience is in a rush to get out of the conversation. Since you cannot control the other side, do yourself a favor and take a breath. The conversation you’re involved in is important.

If you are confused as to what someone may be requesting, than repeat back to him or her what you think they said and ask if that is correct. Often this will inspire the speaker to be more in-depth about their needs, which will help you to understand them fully.

Practicing Effective Communication Skills

If someone has communicated a need or an issue to you, then your main priority should be to aid him or her in repairing the problem. Following up on an issue is the only way to convince others whom you need to communicate with that you have listened to them and that their problems or issues are important to you as well.

Practicing strong follow-up will also leave the impression that you are involved in the bigger picture. When people see this commitment, they will know you are open to future communications. This creates a loyal and discerning surrounding that cultivates positive movement and communication. This will develop a strong sense of confidence in those with whom you communicate.

Conclusion

Since the world is so incredibly diverse and communications come in such a wide variety of forms, it is important to know many appropriate and helpful interpersonal skills. By practicing the few suggestions found here, you will find yourself understanding more of what people say and repeating yourself less to other people. Your co-workers and friends will have the confidence to come to you when they find themselves in need. Remember, great communication skills take practice. Do not give up on Day One. Your ability to express yourself will grow almost daily as long as you apply yourself in improving communication skills.

 


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Joshua Riddle from www.JoshRiddle.com and www.NorcalTechSolutions.com is a freelance web developer and contributing author. His writing specializes in time management, productivity strategies, technology based tutorials, and work-flow. His development specialties are Web 2.0 style interactive PHP / MySQL database applications.

Discussion

  1. Radu Tyrsina on the 20th January

    Hey! Awesome writing, just the way I like it!

    Connected with you on Twitter and Facebook. Expect some questions about Work Awesome program 🙂

    • kumaresan on the 20th August

      really i enjoyed and i accept the fact of your opinion about the communication.

  2. Eric Hideki on the 20th January

    Good tips to everybody who need to speach with your client.

  3. Rafael Galdêncio on the 20th January

    Thank you very much for this post.

    It was very helpful to me to put things together.

    Effective Communication is truly one of the best investments a person can do in his career.

    Altough I still lack practice with the English language, I can feel very impressive improvements in my home language (Portuguese), wich already gave me some good results.

    Thank you, again.

    Best Regards.

  4. TrafficColeman on the 20th January

    Body language is the one that I notice a lot form people..the way you stand and do your hand gestures let me know you level of nervous. So you must practice on calming down and just letting the words flow..

    “Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”

    • Joshua Riddle on the 20th January

      Sometimes you just have to relax and know you got this. I agree with you completely.

  5. CWebba1 on the 20th January

    The definition of being an Active Listener is:
    “Listening with no agenda.”

    If you are thinking about your reply you are not actively listening.

    – from Essential Skills Training

    • Joshua Riddle on the 24th January

      “Listening with no agenda.” I like that.

  6. Marian Thier on the 20th January

    Hi:

    I write a blog on listening, so I’m constantly thinking and learning about it. I’d add to your points that listening differs according to culture and listening styles. For example, making eye contact is quite western, so telling someone from another culture to look a person in the eye, may be a cultural taboo. Also, when a conceptualizing listener (one of the four modes I’ve uncovered) is really paying attention, he will most probably look beyond the speaker to allow ideas to enter the interaction. Thus, either of the people I’ve cited could be perceived as not listening, when, in fact, they are.

    Thanks

    • Joshua Riddle on the 24th January

      Thanks for your input regarding the cultural differences of positive communication. Your absolutely right.

  7. Miguel Angel on the 20th January

    Thanks! You nailed it.

  8. Angelee on the 21st January

    ‘Attentiveness’ is really important. An active listening skill makes communication better. If we listen seriously, the more we understand what people really need. I believe successful entrepreneurs aren’t just keen observers but also great listeners.

    • TUSHANT on the 22nd January

      WELL SAID IT REALLY TRUE OBSERVING MATTER TO DEAPTH AND LEARNING’S THING MAKE LOT OF DIFFERENCE . WHICH LEAD A PERSON ONE STEP CLOSER TO ACTIVE COMMUNICATOR………… SHORT AND MEANINGFUL SPEECH CONVEY A VERY BEAUTIFUL THOUGHTS MESSAGES

  9. Bryan Thompson on the 21st January

    Joshua, I was going to hone in on one (Body language) but by the time I read them all, they are all crucial to consistent communication. In fact, I would say that the more you build communication with people, the more Patience becomes key. A willingness to understand people’s shortcomings as we are more aware of our own. Thank you for posting!

  10. Tablets on the 8th June

    I’m not sure why but this site is loading very slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.

  11. Amos on the 23rd June

    Hello,

    Thank you so much for this beautiful tips on communications skills
    I know its gonna work for me.

    Cheers
    Amos

  12. shendeng on the 31st July

    Thank you so much for this beautiful tips and top blog

  13. shoesclub on the 31st July

    top blog thank you very much

  14. nonong on the 10th August

    thank you for this tips it help me a lot
    to improve my communication skills.

  15. Hemendra pavar on the 15th August

    Thanks a lot for help

  16. sara on the 10th September

    Thanks for help ,

  17. Steve Obika on the 25th September

    Thanks for the post. I’ve really learnt a lot.

  18. mae on the 25th September

    thank you all for these thing you all said very helpful i know something from them. i am a student looking for these things on the web but i see them here with you ..thank you i learn very much…

  19. ANIAM CHIKE HENRY on the 4th October

    A tremendous work yous have here….it’s really gorgeous I confess. Thanks alot because you had helped thousands of people out there….

  20. Babu on the 4th November

    It’s really nice to read these points on effective communication skill. Hope it should work & i will give a try.

  21. sam on the 30th January

    that wasnt good you ponce

  22. Safirah Jones on the 24th February

    thank u that really helped!!

  23. umair shahid on the 2nd March

    my perspective is that one should perform every aspect of effective presentation skills

  24. aqsa kiran on the 9th March

    ALLAH help me and make me a good communicator!

  25. Christine Yeast on the 23rd March

    awesome article im going to use some of these killer tips in my communication and conflict resolution class
    cheers

  26. Dinesh Bishnoi on the 23rd March

    Showing that speaker is honest and confident in what she is saying, depends a lot on body gesture and language. You shouldn’t look away from Listener whole time and show palms to communicate effectively. BTW, I couldn’t find the five exercises or practices in the topic.

    • Pooja Lohana on the 24th March

      Dinesh,

      The five exercises are: Body Language, Speech and Attentiveness, Communication Consistency, Patience, and Practicing Effective Communication Skills. Thanks for reading!


      Pooja

  27. communication skills on the 9th April

    Pretty! This was a really wonderful post. Many thanks
    for supplying these details.

  28. FuZyNaVeL on the 21st April

    Hey Josh,

    Nice little article u wrote there. I’m currently doing my management course and we are required to explore on companies that practices good internal communication. Could you name me a few and how does these companies practices good communication between managers and their staffs?

    Thanx….

  29. Subhash Bidwai on the 23rd April

    ‘Attentiveness’ is really important. i have developed in me and got good sucess.

  30. Renu manki on the 6th May

    thanks for details……

  31. prerna Zilpe on the 7th May

    I am not a good speaker but after reading all this i will be definitely achieve to my target of speaking english with fluency and smoothly …… Practice out….work out on above all such points will be great impact on me from today onwards………..So practice it because practice makes the man perfect……………….

  32. shreya singh on the 28th May

    thanks for your help through this website

  33. Bekie on the 7th June

    I appreciate your help. be blessed!

  34. Akhilesh Tiwari on the 13th August

    Thanks A lot,,,

    i read effective communication/

  35. Effective Presentation Skills on the 27th August

    Presentation skill is significant for managers. We need to prepare ourselves mentally while presenting. Beside having knowledge, being confident is must.

  36. Onyikiels on the 28th August

    This is nice and educating, is real. thanks . Onyikiels, Nigeria

  37. Michael John on the 28th August

    Excellent article!!!

    I do agree that effective communication cant be achieved in a single day instead it requires a lot of practise.

    I will do that for sure 🙂

    Thx Again

    Cheers,
    Michael

  38. naeemashraf on the 13th September

    communication is self power thank

  39. shail on the 3rd October

    Superb comment! I inspired much to know more about this site and get increase my speaking tongue.
    thanks .

  40. luchya on the 9th October

    hey this site help me a lot thank you so much

  41. priya on the 9th November

    hi

    thank u for the best tips to improve our skills and to know about wat are the basics we required to be a good listener and learner.

  42. Nedube on the 15th November

    Guys thanxs alot it’s really been nice to pick a leaf frm yo work, hop 2 kip empowering @ atha

  43. Dhivya Prabhu on the 16th November

    Hi………
    Thanks for your tips, Definitely it help us to communicate with peoples

  44. devisri moorthy on the 3rd February

    thanks for this post. really i learn and very useful.

  45. Effective communication on the 24th March

    Thank you very much for this post. It was very helpful to me to put things together. Effective Communication is truly one of the best investments a person can do in his career. Altough I still lack practice with the English language, I can feel very impressive improvements in my home language (Portuguese), wich already gave me some good results.

  46. Dani Siregar on the 22nd May

    Let me make this happen.. 😀

    Thanks dude! 🙂

  47. Geremew on the 24th July

    Thank you very much for this post. It was very helpful to me to put things together. Effective Communication is truly one of the best investments a person can do in his career. Altough I still lack practice with the English language, I can feel very impressive improvements in my home language (Portuguese), wich already gave me some good results

  48. Brian Weidling on the 7th September

    Really solid tips. You should check out our movie, also about effective communication skills: http://speakthemovie.com/effective-communication-skills

  49. Kenneth Chigali on the 25th January

    After reading about effective communication skills here I see my self in a different world where I need to behave so smart as I talk and listen for a decent successful life.Smiles….

  50. Dompet Wanita Murah on the 17th September

    Yes, we have 2 ears & 1 mouth.. It’s better for to us to hear rather than speak.. 🙂

  51. Dony on the 22nd June

    Hi,
    Thanks for your tips for communication. I am a shine person, your post inspired me. I real want to practice all your points into my daily work and life. Gool luck to me! 🙂

    Dony

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