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What Are Communication Skills And How Can You Improve Them?


What Are Communication Skills And How Can You Improve Them?



Communication Skills are the capabilities you use when providing or receiving various types of information such as communicating thoughts and feelings to other parties, or expressing what's happening around you. 


The communication process varies depending on the method used, and face-to-face communication is often more difficult than communicating over the phone or email, and each method has its own advantages and skills that must be acquired to master the process of effective communication. 


In today's article, we will learn about these different types of communication skills, and how to develop and improve them to make the most of this process.


What Are Communication Skills And How Can You Improve Them?
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The most famous communication skills 


The skills of effective communication under its umbrella include several skills that work together in different contexts and situations, including: 


1. Effective listening skills 


This means paying full attention to the person who speaks to you. People with the skill of effective listening have a good reputation among their classmates and work, given the attention and respect, they give to others. 


The ability to adapt the style of communication with the public, we mean choosing the appropriate method and method of communication-based on the person or persons you communicate with. For example, if you're a college student and want to contact a teacher at your college who you don't know personally, in this case, it'll be the best way to send an email instead of a message on social media apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, or even a phone message. This is measured by the various situations in which you need to communicate with others. 


2. Kindness 


Kindness here expresses all the positive behaviors - no matter how simple - you do while communicating with others, such as asking your colleague about his condition, smiling at him when he talks to you or praising the behavior he has done. 


3. Trust 


People often tend to communicate and get to know people who have high self-confidence and are even attracted to ideas that are expressed with confidence even if they are not creative ideas, while they may ignore genius ideas, only because those who gave them did not have enough confidence in themselves and their idea. 


4. Receiving and providing feedback 


Successful people with internal communication skills can accept the criticism and feedback they are given. They also do not hesitate to provide advice and constructive criticism to others.



5. Clarity and choice of the right tone of the sound 


It's important to have your voice clear and audible when you speak, as being able to choose the right tone and tone of sound depending on different contexts is a necessary skill for effective communication training. In some situations, loud voices may express rudeness and lack of respect, while in others low voices indicate weakness and lack of self-confidence. You must therefore improve the general atmosphere of the place where you are and choose the appropriate tone of voice accordingly.



6. Empathy


You won't be able to achieve effective communication skills training if you can't understand and sympathize with other people's feelings. You need to understand the feelings of others so you can choose the right words to respond to them. Sympathy for someone sad and frustrated will contribute to informing them of improvement, and the realization that someone is happy and positive will help you put forward your thoughts in time to receive the support you need. 



7. Respect 


One of the most important respects is knowing when to start talking or responding, whether it's communicating with one person or a group of people, where giving others space to talk without interrupting them is one of the most important corporate communication skills associated with respect. 



8. Understanding body language 


A large proportion of the communication process occurs through body language. Reading non-verbal signals is, therefore, an essential communication skill. Here you should be able to understand what the person in front of you says in his words and what the signals he makes to his body, and you should also be fully aware of your body language and make sure you use it appropriately consistent with what you say. 



Practical tips for developing your communication skills 


Have you ever heard of KISS vs KILL? It's one of the most important effective sales communication strategies, and you can apply this strategy in all other aspects of your life to achieve effective communication training


KISS in this context is an abbreviation of "Keep it short and simple", meaning brevity and abbreviation. KILL is an abbreviation for "Keep it long and lengthy" and means lengthening and lengthening. 


To achieve effective communication training and develop your skills in this field, always be brief and concise in your words or writing, and here are several practical tips to help you:


1- Be effective in your words 


Effective communication focuses on type rather than quantity. Get rid of the over-fillers in your words, and avoid using words like Frankly, I mean, for example. Or acoustic fillers like mm, huh, hmmm, oh... etc. 


You can recognize other padding words by monitoring your conversation, a word you feel you repeat a lot while you're talking, it's an over-filler that needs to be disposed of. 


Here's this example, let's say your colleague asked you what you did during your summer vacation, look at the following two answers and notice the difference between them: 


  • "Mm, it wasn't bad, I mean....mmmm, we went, I mean me and my friends to the beach, and we swam, but I found out swimming was hard, I mean, it was harder than I imagined." 
  • "My holiday was good. My friends went to the beach and swam, but I found out swimming was harder than I imagined." 


You see both sentences perform the same meaning, but the first sentence contains a lot of padding, unnecessary sounds, and even a loss of idea and weakening the communication process


2- Replace fillers with verbal intervals


Feel free to use breaks and breaks instead of padding. Being silent for several seconds while talking makes your idea stronger, and gives your listener more time to understand what you're saying. 


3- Use your words intelligently 


Use what's known as conversational threading, i.e. conversational branches, every sentence you say can branch into side topics that contribute to continuing dialogue and achieving effective communication training.

 To better understand this idea, take a look at the following sentence: 


  • "I live in the capital, but I have always wanted to move to the suburbs, I love nature and I don't like being in densely populated areas." 


This sentence can branch out on several other topics, for example: 


  • Talk about your point of view about living in the suburbs. 
  • Talk about how much you love nature and enjoy it. 
  • Talk about being an antisocial person who prefers calm and quiet. 


Always think of sentences that allow you to branch out to talk about side topics, allowing communication to continue and thus make it more effective. 


4- Avoid entering the position of interview 


This means continuing to ask questions, without allowing the opposite person to ask you questions as well, in which case you are requesting information from the other party without sharing any details about you. It may be reversed, just answering your speaker's questions without bothering to ask him questions, so don't let him talk about himself. 


Always make sure that others are allowed to express themselves, and every time you answer someone's question, you also ask about it so that the dialogue is balanced between the two parties, and ensures effective communication training


5. Use installed sentences instead of asking questions 


Asking questions may indeed be the easiest way to communicate, but using installed sentences leads to better quality communication. You can tell someone, for example: 


  • "You look like a positive person to me, I think there are a lot of points we have in common." 


The person in front of you can respond with several answers that lead to the development of the dialogue, one of which may say: 


  • "You're wrong, I'm a very negative person, and I often have frustrating and bad ideas." 
  • "You're wrong, but what made you think I was a positive person?" 
  • "You're absolutely right, I love positivity and optimism, and I'm trying to spread it around me too, how did you know I was?" 


Note that the previous different answers have become a prelude to a deeper and longer dialogue with this person, while if you asked a question instead, you might get one brief answer that ends the conversation immediately. 


6. Be a good listener 


You can develop this skill by focusing on the speaking person, and keeping away all distractions such as a phone or computer while talking to others. Enhance your listening using appropriate body language, such as looking into your eye and shaking your head to show him that you understand what he says, and sympathize with his feelings. 







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