your words. By standing with arms easily at your side, you tell others that you are approachable and open to hearing what they have to say. Make sure you speak in a cooperative, non-adversarial tone. Be non-judgmental.
Listen
Communication is a two way street. After you've said what you have to say, stop, listen, and look for feedback and clues of comprehension.
While the person is responding avoid any impulses to cut them off or listen only for the end of the sentence so that you can blurt out more ideas or thoughts that come to your mind. Respectfully give them your full attention. When they are finished, to ensure that your message has been clearly and correctly understood, ask open questions and encourage discussion. Fine-tune your message if necessary.
Reach understanding, agreement or consensus.
Once you have had to opportunity to discuss your message and the feedback to it, re-visit the purpose of the interchange.
To communicate well is to understand and be understood. Make sure that your message has been received as intended and that any questions or concerns have been alleviated.
When you take the time to acquire and hone good communication skills, you open yourself up to better relationships, more career opportunities, and increased self-confidence.
Moreover, you reach higher levels of mutual understanding and cooperation while successfully attaining your goals.
All new skills take time to refine, however, with effort and practice you can develop good, even exceptional, communication skills.
Diahann, author of the e-book “Training the Prism: My Spectracular Journey” and has over 7 years of training experience in both India and the UAE. This ranges from Customer Service, Soft Skills, Speech Enhancement, Voice & Accent, Behavioural and Leadership training.
Soft Skills