- Rahul Khandelwal
How to improve communication skills in 10 easy steps
Introduction
Communication skills are one of the best, most sought after and important skills in today`s world. No matter what field or profession you belong to, having amazing communication skills is a requirement nowadays. Having good communication skills always helps you have an edge over the others. Today if you want to be successful in any field you need to know how to communicate your ideas and thoughts properly. You need to know how to put forward the thoughts and ideas in your mind in front of the other person in the most effective way possible. Knowing how to communicate well will always take you a long way and it will help you grow not only in your professional life but in your personal life as well.
According to studies conducted by various experts communication skills are the skills of the future and everyone should be focusing on improving it in order to reach new heights of success again regardless of what work you do. We all know how important it is to communicate clearly, failing to do so generally leads to arguments, misunderstandings and fallouts in all kinds of relationships. Relationship building is one very important things that everyone should instil in themselves it really helps you grow in your professional life and as a person.
Unfortunately, these important soft skills are not taught to us in schools, in fact, many of us don't get to learn a lot about communication skills and we are not even aware of how important it is to have good communication skills until we grow up and actually start working and interacting with more and more different people every day. Communication skills should be taught to everyone in the schools itself so that everyone grows up being confident will end up having some amazing communication skills.
We have recently launched our communication skills classes for kids between the ages of 5-13 wherein we first assess their skills and then accordingly train them and help them master the art of communication. Tuitions are boring, just learning grammar rules is neither fun nor effective. We have re-imagined learning English through a more practical approach with activities and role-playing. Students take on roles of a Story Teller, a Puppeteer, a Debater and a United Nations Delegate to learn the essential skills of effective communication. So if you want your child to develop some amazing communication skills we would definitely recommend you all to enrol your child at NotchUp. Click here to know more!
Communication skills are something that you have to learn and master on your own to an extent, some people have amazing communication skills because it comes naturally to them, while some people struggle to communicate well, but don't worry we've got your back. Here are some tips and ways to improve your communication skills -
Table of Contents
1. Be willing to learn and improve.
Firstly, you should be willing to learn and improve yourself. You should be willing to invest time in learning and bettering your communication skills. You should evaluate what your weaknesses are, maybe you get nervous quickly, maybe you try to please others too much and end up not speaking what's on your mind, maybe you are afraid of addressing a huge gathering of people or maybe you just don't know how to put your thoughts into words. You need to read books, blogs, articles etc . It really helps you improve your grammar, ability to frame good sentences and other skills. You can also take the help of someone in your family, a colleague or a friend who possesses great communication skills, you can seek their guidance. Finally, you can also enrol yourself with a good institute which will teach you how to improve your communication skills.
2. Kiss - Keep it simple and silly
Use simple language. Avoid using fancy and complicated words, frame your sentences clearly and in a way that is easy to understand. Always get straight to the point, avoid running around the bush it just complicates things. Just be straightforward but always be polite.
3. 2 way interaction is important
Always remember that communication is a two-way process so always get the other person/people involved in the conversation, ask them questions, ask them about their thoughts and opinions regarding the topic your conversation is based around. Take feedback from them about your ideas, this will help you improve and grow.
4. Take your time to think and respond
Take your time to listen to what the other person is saying, think and comprehend properly and then reply. Do not cut the other person off while they are speaking always listen to them carefully and with a keen interest do not be distracted. While you are listening to the other person listen carefully and prepare what you want to say in your mind and only speak when the other person is done speaking.
5. Make sure you are understood
Make sure that you express yourself properly. Do not force your ideas or opinions upon the other person instead try to convince them by either rephrasing your sentences or using other words to get your ideas and feelings through. Avoid getting into arguments and misunderstandings.
6. Listen carefully
Be a good listener. Always listen to others carefully and don`t make it obvious that you are not invested in the conversation even if you aren`t. As mentioned earlier be polite and humble at all times, listen to the other person carefully and then put forth your point of view. Listening is key when it comes to having a good conversation.
7. Read the body language
Studies show that 65% of all communications is actually non-verbal which means the other person usually shows through his/her body language whether they agree with what you’re saying or no. You should learn to read their body language by closely monitoring their hand gestures, facial expressions, etc. Likewise, you should also use non-verbal communication in order to let the other person know how you feel about what they are saying. Again, do not be rude, get your feelings across in a polite manner.
8. Always maintain eye contact
Whether you are speaking to a crowd or having a one-on-one conversation always maintain eye contact. Don`t look the other way, be distracted or look around while you are talking to someone. It makes them feel insulted and uninterested. When you maintain eye contact it shows that you are listening attentively to what the other person is saying and it shows that you are invested in the conversation.
9. Respect everyone
ALWAYS be respectful and treat everyone equally. Don`t be rude or mean to people even if you disagree with them instead, try to get your point across politely. Do not get into arguments with people instead try to resolve the problems calmly without being biased. Consider the other person`s opinions, point of view, needs and requirements and see if y`all can reach a mutual agreement. Be considerate towards everyone. Always wear a charming smile and greet everyone with kindness and enthusiasm. This will help others trust you and it creates a lot of positive vibes around you. People will absolutely love having conversations with you.
10. Break the ice
Using a little humour here and there while communicating really helps you break the ice and make the other person feel comfortable. The person you are talking to feels like you are really interested in the conversation it helps them be at ease and leads to some really hearty and wholesome conversations. It helps you build a good relationship with that person, one that will last for a long time. Do not make the conversation too humorous also, especially if it`s related to your job or business, we all hate boring conversations, don`t we? So a little bit of humour to lighten u everybody’s mood and create a friendly and positive environment is always welcome. But always make sure you are not overdoing it and getting the serious work done too.
Conclusion
We all know that man is a social animal and communicating with people is really important for us in order to help us build relationships in both our personal and professional lives. As we mentioned at the start having good communication skills is such a necessity nowadays, we have to communicate with so many different people with different cultures and backgrounds every day both in our personal as well as professional life, mostly the latter but the bottom line is that having excellent communication skills holds a lot of value today especially in our professional life.
You might have a brilliant and innovative idea which might have the potential to change the world but if you do not know how to express your ideas and convince people that it can really change the world then most likely people won`t be interested in knowing what you have to say.
It's a shame that teaching kids how to develop communication skills is not given so much importance. 90% language skills, when learnt by the age of 10, improves fluency. Good communication skills also, helps us build strong relations and improves our social IQ.
In fact, having communication skills are so important that the absence of such skills leads to mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, etc in people who struggle to socialize or communicate with others openly. That is a very serious issue nowadays, so many youngsters are committing suicide due to mental illness and that needs to stop! So the importance of developing communication skills cannot be neglected.
If we start training our kids from the beginning we will then have a really amazing generation of smart and confident individuals would develop expertise in communication skills by the time they turn into adults.
We here at NotchUp have started Communication Skills development classes for kids between the ages of 5-13 we would really recommend enrolling your child with us so that your child develops some amazing communication skills at a very young age and grows up to be an extremely smart and confident person with a charming personality.
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