Communicating is not as easy as it seems. It is an extremely important skill which needs to be learnt to make both our personal and professional lives better. All of us can talk, but only few can communicate effectively to get through to people. We do not put any thought to it.
Here’re a few tips for learning to communicate effectively:
- Listen- This is extremely important. One needs to listen to the other or they will lose interest in the whole conversation. Do not be rude. Listen to them first and only then put forward your opinion. If you expect to be listened to, you need to do the same.
- Take care of your body language- Your body conveys more than spoken words. If you speak but do not look at the person you’re talking to, or you cross your arms or look at your phone, you won’t be able to get through to that person.
- Know what you are talking about- Do not talk about what you do not know. Also, evade using terms others might not understand. One needs to frame sentences based on who they are talking to.
- Make sure they understand- People can only communicate successfully when they associate the same meaning to the symbols used in the conversation. Often, people misunderstand, and that causes complications.
- Small talk- Most of us do not like small talk. But we need to accept that it does save us from those awkward silences. Small talk can also lead to proper conversations.
- Get rid of distractions- Yes, I’m talking about your phone. Our generation totally evades the fact that it is extremely rude to stare at their phones while talking to someone else. Try not to do that.
- Do not interrupt- Let the person speak first. I get it, we all want others to know what our ideas are because they are obviously the best. But then, it doesn’t really hurt to listen to others and see how that affects our thinking.
- Ask questions- Asking questions can help in making one understand things better. It also shows that one is listening and is interested.
- Practice- Talk to your mirror. Practice talking to yourself. Talk to your pet dog, your best friends. Practice never hurts.
- Do not use unnecessary conversation fillers- Using ‘um’, ‘like’, ‘ah’, etc only show others that you are not sure about what you are saying. Try not to do that.
