Communication is essential in all walks of life. To learn the art of developing communication skills, one must have certain characteristics in order to make his presence felt. Here are some important points in this regard.
Being a good communicator is a great personality skill that can make a world of difference in the prospects of successful life of an individual. Be it resolving a conflict with your colleagues regarding official work or instances of difference in opinion with your spouse, communication skills are the key to open doors of happiness and peaceful life.
The present era is an age of dynamism and speed. Developing an imposing personality equipped with excellent written and oral communication skills is a great gift that an individual can give to himself.
Key Points on How to Develop Good Communication Skills
The much revered art of communication is a skill that comes naturally to few people. For most of us, it has to be polished through training and persistence. We all are aware of the nitty gritty of communication but the problem is we fail to ingrain those minute details in our personality due to lack of their applicability.
Hence, to develop communication skills, we have got to firstly believe in the age-old saying that practice makes a man perfect. Keep working on your strengths in communication and gradually, you'll see the drastic change in your personality.
Be Positive...
"To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others". ~ Anthony Robbins
As an orator or a communicator, realize a fact that we all are uniquely different in every aspect. No two people are same on this planet. Therefore, everyone can perceive things as per their own thinking and maturity. As speakers or managers, you can best try to bring everyone under the same roof, discuss issues and take the best possible decisions.
Since positive attitude is contagious, you can make your clients, audience relaxed by sharing positive insights. Great leaders had this ability to keep hope and faith alive even in the toughest situations.
Their speeches never conveyed cowardice and hesitation. They fully realized grave problems but also managed them well. So the key is not to be judgmental while communicating with others but to respect all views.
Decipher the Body Language...
"Body language is a very powerful tool. We had body language before we had speech, and apparently, 80% of what you understand in a conversation is read through the body, not the words." ~ Deborah Bull
As Bull rightly puts it, body language and non-verbal communications play a major role in sending positive or negative vibes to the communicator. If you're not feeling involved in communication, it will automatically reflect on your face and through your body language. Direct eye contact with the speaker leaves an impression of confidence and attention.
Listen Deeply...
"Deep listening is miraculous for both listener and speaker. When someone receives us with open-hearted, non-judging, intensely interested listening, our spirits expand." ~ Sue Patton Thoele
To communicate well, you must learn to listen deeply. This skill is absolutely vital for doctors and lawyers who have to patiently listen to their clients. Even if you're communicating with your loved ones, you have to pay close attention to understand what is being said and the meanings hidden in their sayings.
A callous attitude in listening to the person you're talking with is an example of poor communication skills. Attentive listening forms the core of effective business communication skills.
Exude Confidence...
"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." ~ Winston Churchill
One of the main factors in developing communication skills is to learn to speak with courage and confidence. As an orator himself, Sir Winston Churchill was always bold, decisive and magnificently confident in what he said. It is the hallmark of effective communication that the speaker expresses himself in confident tone and with staunch belief in his words.
Smiles Matter...
"Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is." ~ Francis Bacon
Humor is an integral and healthy part of life. When clubbed in your communication style in daily life, it lightens the atmosphere, makes it more jovial and eases the tension. A good sense of humor is one of the best weapons to handle criticisms and resolve conflicts in interpersonal relationships.
Broaden Your Horizon...
"Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man." ~ Francis Bacon
In your efforts to develop your communication skills, you've got to expand your horizon. Enrich your vocabulary by reading good books and know more about the world. That will help you think about several aspects of life so that you can develop your own perspective.
Even watching documentaries, traveling, learning new languages, understanding different cultures - everything helps to broaden our minds and indirectly help our communication skills to evolve to a decent level.
Logic, analysis and critical thinking are some other dimensions of reasoning that you can sharpen to strengthen your communication skills. Using these tools, you can learn to assimilate information and then break them into smaller parts to express your opinions. Such efforts will help students who wish to appear for group discussions in competitive exams.
Lastly, the best way to develop communication skills is to learn it from them who are already masters at it. The visual and hearing faculties of our brain are highly developed to grasp things faster.
By reading books about communication, applying them in daily life, correcting one's mistake and observing people in the same field who're excellent at communicating, we can get deep insights about the art of communication.