You may realize when you speak without thinking twice, and miscommunication is the result that you will get. This is obvious because communicating needs more than two people and simple utterances. You need several elements that can be enhanced the way you speak so you can send the message to the listener effectively. In order to achieve it, you need communication skills that can effectively help you in delivering your message. This article will be your guide to be a good communicator. We shared several subjects like essential skills needed for effective communication, the listener’s point of view about effective communication, and how you can practice and develop these communication skills. Without further ado, let us dive into the explanations beneath.
Essential Skills for Effective Communication
In general, there are several essential skills that you should master or at least know to conduct effective communication. All of these skills play a significant role if you want your message received by the audience clearly. The most significant thing about knowing effective communication skills is to avoid any miscommunication that can harm the whole system. Now, let us take a look at the essential skills for effective communication below:
The first and foremost is to be a good listener. Listening is the focal point for effective communication. You are probably hesitant to talk with a person that has no regard for your opinions. You do have the room to speak, but you will immediately get dominated, and it is frustrating. Being a good listener allows others to share their thoughts in an equal stand. Besides, in a formal setting where you give replies or ask a question about what speakers have said, you show that you are a good listener.
Nonverbal cues are that you should pay attention when you speak to someone. Besides, nonverbal communication has more contribution to delivered clear messages to your audience. We are talking about facial expression, gesture, eye contact, and any other elements aside from your utterance. If you can master this one, then you only need to work on your word choices.
Delivering a brief message in a long sentence will bias the message in it. Therefore it would be best for you to express yourself in short statements. Your audience needs to understand your message first, and it will be hard to convey it in a wordy utterance. Another thing that can enhance it is politeness. You should wrap your message concisely to others. By doing it, you will leave a good impression on your audience.
Utilizing a friendly tone will helps you a lot in communication with others. You do not need to stress your word frequently. Besides, you can mix it with a personalized question like asking about their condition or last weekend’s activity. It will lead to open communication that is honest and equal for everyone.
A confident speaker is always preferable to hear because it boosts your statement credit to your listener. You may include eye contact with a friendly tone as a cherry on top. Furthermore, you must give room for others to reply as well.
What listeners say about Effective Communication Skills
Understanding your audience’s perspective is needed, so you know what they see and feel from you as a speaker. This aspect will give you feedback where you can learn and practice your skill to be a better communicator. Most of the time, the listener notes that effective communication is when the message is received clearly and able to impact the audience right away. Providing a decent nonverbal cue will top the performance in any shape or form.
How can I practice communication skills?
Effective communication skills that we have covered above are available for practice. Besides, you can just read it and do it immediately in a big discussion. Of course, you still need a learning curve to hone these effective communication skills.
You can start by looking for several speaking simulations on the internet. The simulations will use video where you are able to perform your communication skill with a set of facial expressions that you should mirror. At the end of the simulations, you will receive feedback from the systems, and you can assess your performance. You can find several categories of these speaking simulations. For instance, you can have a simulation for a job interview or simply a practice to improve your daily communications.
You can also search for a professional speaking coach or lesson to improve your communication skills. The type of coaching or lesson that you can have from this training is leadership communication. This one may help you to become an assertive speaker that will be useful at your workplace. Another lesson that you can have is public speaking, and the coach will show you what you need to do when you need to face several audiences on a single occasion, how to deliver your message clearly, leave a good impact, and so forth.
There is not a good teacher aside from an honest review coming from your friends. You can ask your friends to be your audience and tell them to give an honest review of your performance. It will provide more impact to you because it is a direct comment, and you could learn a lot from it. It would be best if you can work on the comments immediately.
The last way to hone your communication skill is to do it by yourself. We would say that talking in front of a mirror is still a thing these days. However, you can do it much better by recording your voice or video so you can see your entire performance and work on your nonverbal communication. Above all, it is your decision to choose one of the speaking practices that you are comfortable with. The point is there are many platforms that can help you in practicing your communication, and it will help you later on if you do this practice as soon as possible.
