It's hard to get by these days without good communication skills. You now live and work in a knowledge economy that requires the ability to exchange ideas and concepts. Good communication skills may not come naturally to everyone, but this does not necessarily need to be an issue, as there are ways to develop these skills.
The continued advancements in technologies also allow for more creative ways for communication to take place.
The following 6 strategies are ways in which you can improve your Communication Skills :
Watch your body language
Body language is quite a simple way to improve how you communicate. You may not realise you are presenting with poor body language, such as fiddling. By changing the way you stand and hold yourself, you can immediately change how you come across and help improve your confidence.
Don't interrupt
It can be tempting when you are engaged in a conversation with someone to rush ahead and interrupt. Especially poignant, if you feel you have an important point to make. However, interrupting can make the conversation stilted and create a bad impression of your communication abilities. It is much better to allow the person you are addressing to finish what they are saying before beginning to speak.
Be genuine
People often feel they need to adopt a fake persona to be a good communicator. This strategy can often be counterproductive. As people may place less value in what you are saying if they do not feel you are genuine. It is possible to come across as more genuine simply by adding some of your personality into the conversation.
Address the audience
Excellent communicators learn how to change their approach and tone depending on the audience they are addressing. For example, addressing a room full of potential customers or clients will be different than addressing colleagues. If the audience feels you are either talking down to them or using overly complex terminology or jargon, they will soon tune out.
Improve your communication skills by Practicing active listening
Another easy mistake is to think only of what you wish to get across. This can lead to one-sided conversations that are very off-putting. Active listening is not just about taking in what the person is saying. It's also about being able to read between the lines to make the person or audience feel understood.
Take your time
When you feel nervous, whether during a work presentation or while talking over the phone, there is the temptation to rush through what you want to say just to get it finished. However, this often leads to an unsatisfactory experience for both parties. It is hard to get across your message if you rush. Being confident enough to slow down and take your time will not only allow for greater engagement but will also help alleviate your nervousness.
If you want to improve your communication skills, Oxbridge's Effective Communication Level 2 distance learning course would be very beneficial. This course will teach you the essentials of communication for business, which will, of course, also be transferable to other areas of your life.