Tips to Enhance Communication Skills

Effective Communication Tips: –
For any effective communication following factors must be considered: –
• It is important to make worthwhile contribution to the conversation so have clear purpose and objective of the conversation.
• Develop effective non verbal communication skills. Right smile, eye contact, posture, handshakes do create a positive impact.
• Make appropriate gestures with hands and face.
• While speaking and listening making an appropriate eye contact and looking into the eyes of the person with whom we are conversing can create a significant impact and make the interaction more successful as it coveys interest and courage.
• Being confident is vital.
• Try to break down barriers that exist in the communication process.
• Be clear and concise.
• Be firm about your opinions, views, ideas and suggestions so that it can be confidently conveyed.
• Ensure that your words, gestures, facial expressions and tone match with each.
• Analyse the audience before communication.
• Conveying right message to right person is important because what is critical or worthwhile to one individual may not be to another.
• Develop effective probing skills by asking the right questions.
• Take initiative yourself. Don’t wait for suppliers, customers, buyers etc to call you. Instead call them, take the initiative to start the conversation. It helps to build healthy two way effective communication between both the parties.
• Try to highlight critical points.
• Learn the art of dealing with difficult conversations.
• Ensure that you give and receive appropriate feedback.
• If the message is too lengthy, dis-organised or contains errors it can often be misunderstood, confusing and misinterpreted.
• Practicing good communication skill everyday is important as “Practice makes man perfect.”
In addition to the above attributes a good communicator also focuses on the following factors to enhance his/ her communication skills: –
1. Interpersonal Skills: –
• Such skills are used when engaged in face-to-face conversation with one or more persons. For effective Interpersonal skills not only verbal communication and effective speaking is vital but also our voice, on-verbal signals, gestures, facial expressions, body language, our appearance and active listening skills are significant.
• The advantage of having good Interpersonal skills is that it enables us to contribute effectively in groups and teams and become a ‘team player’.
• It builds a strong relationship with other members of the group and leads to better communication and building better rapport with others.
• Good Interpersonal skills also help to enhance our problem solving and decision making ability.
2. Presentation skills:
o Although we may use this skill infrequently, but for any management student who intends to become future business leader effective Presentation Skill is critical.
o There will be times in your life, when you need to present information to your customers, employees, buyers, trade unions, sellers, government employees, suppliers, agents or even overall community at large.
o They can either be individual or group of people in a formal or informal setting.
o Effective Presentation Skills requires good planning, preparation and practice.