By Felix Concepcion Veroya
One of the most important skills you can develop is the ability to communicate effectively. Communication is a skill that you use in every aspect of your life – from debating with friends over who would win in a zombie apocalypse to collaborating with colleagues on how to deal with an uncooperative client. The quality of your interactions impacts nearly every aspect of your life, and so it is important for both personal and professional success that you develop strong communication skills.
Here are some important communication skills you can use to become a better communicator.
1. Active Listening
The first step in good communication is active listening. Active listening means more than just listening to what someone else has to say; it requires you to listen actively, paying close attention to how the speaker is communicating with you. The more closely you listen, the better your communication will be in any interaction and the stronger your relationships will be with others.
2. Active Words
The second step to better communication is to use active words instead of passive words. When you make yourself understood through using active words – for example, “here are the contest rules” instead of “the rules to the contest are here”- when you will understand and be more likely to follow through on what the other person is saying by using these active words. Active listening and using active words can be difficult in a social situation, but they can have a dramatic effect on your ability to communicate with others.
3. Quality over Quantity
Many people think that simply using more words will make them better communicators, but this is not the case. In fact, many people use more words because they believe that using more words will improve their communication skills. The idea behind this belief is that a person’s vocabulary reflects their intelligence; when you are truly intelligent, you have a large vocabulary. However, being able to use a large vocabulary does little to improve your ability to communicate effectively; it is the quality of your words rather than the quantity that matters in good communication.
4. Be Trustworthy
Being trustworthy in your communications means being truthful and accurate in what you say and how you say it. When you communicate inaccurately, it can create misunderstandings between you and others, and can make others distrust you as being untrustworthy. This lack of trust can be a barrier to communication that will cause problems for both your professional and social life.
5. Be Helpful
Becoming a helpful communicator means communicating in a way that is helpful to the person you are speaking with or the person who is sending or receiving the communication. It does not mean being over helpful but trying to communicate in a way that makes things easier for those around you by sharing information or ideas whenever possible. This does not necessarily mean that you will have to be perfect at every idea you share or that it will always make things better, but it does mean that you should know what you say reflects on your ability to interact with others.
Either in face – to – face or virtual set up, communication has been and always be one of the most essential skills of today and the future. Paying time to develop this skill will give you return on all the resources you have invested to it. Just continue practicing and applying these tips so you can be a #significantlybetter communicator.
For questions, concerns, advises and speaking engagements, please send an email to fcveroya@asklexph.com or visit asklexph.com/courses for free e-learning courses for professional development.