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In this three part article we are going to review the guidelines to becoming a master communicator in your company. It is one of the best business soft skills you can learn. It will be broken into both verbal communications and written communications. Part one will cover verbal communications, part two will review how to write business emails and part three will discuss writing reports. The first step in this part is how to listen. Here are the key points to listening properly: * Listening demands concentration and commitment on your part. You must work at listening * Make sure that you can hear AND see the person who is talking. Both the visual and audible input will help you listen better. * Remove all distractions when listening, don’t try to text while you are listening or do any multi-tasking. * Do not start talking or interrupt the other person UNTIL they are finished and you understand what was said. * If you do not understand something ask for a definition, it is important never to have a misunderstanding. * Do not mentally rehearse what you are going to say while listening; if you do you will miss something that was said. Whenever you are talking to management, peers or customers you should think of them as an audience and yourself as a speaker. According to a Gallup poll, audiences found the following speaker behaviors most annoying: * Cursing ~ 84% * Mumbling, talking too softly ~ 80% * Talking too loudly ~ 73% * Monotonous or boring voice ~ 73% * Filler words like “um,” “you know,” and “like” ~ 69% * A nasal whine ~ 67% * Talking too fast ~ 66% * Poor grammar, mispronouncing words ~ 63% * A high-pitched voice ~ 61% When speaking to an audience or just to another person it is also important to always use powerful but simple words. And always speak with intent, direct your words properly and don’t forget to use positive body language. Another powerful action is to focus on using the persons name during the discussion. People have a tendency to listen better when they here their name. So use names often. Remember when speaking you are in real time and whatever you say you cannot take back, so you must take your time and concentrate on what you are saying. Speak slowly and have a positive attitude. Be yourself and do not be pretentious. If you try to hard to impress people you will come across as insincere. In the second part of this two part article, we will discuss written communications. End Part One Of Three Jim Stedt is a partner at The Business SoftSkills Company (GetSoftSkillsNow.Com) located in Santa Ana, California. They provide job readiness and workforce success videos for education, business, prisons and individual use. Training is available online, on DVD, or through an affiliate program. These products are the most complete and concise soft skills training packages now available for the price of an average college textbook.
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Master communicator, communications, verbal, soft skills,
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