Learn communication skills

1. Communication Skills in 5 Minutes
By Abid Hussain
Research Scholar
abidmardan@gmail.com

2. What are communication skills, and why are they important?
• We're communicating any time we transfer information from one place to
another via voice, written words, visuals, or non-verbal gestures. And we
use our communication skills in a variety of ways in our personal and
professional lives, in conversations, emails and written documents,
presentations, and visuals like graphics or charts.

3. How to Improve your Communication Skills?
• The ability to communicate information accurately, clearly and as
intended, is a vital life skill and something that should not be overlooked.
It’s never too late to work on your communication skills and by doing so,
you may well find that you improve your quality of life.
• The question arises how to Improve and learn communication skills, few
tips are given below, please stay with us.

4. Tips to Improve your Communication Skills
• 1. Prepare what you’re going to say: If you’re presenting an idea or having a
meaningful talk with your supervisor, take some time to prepare what you’ll
say. By organizing your thoughts, your conversation should be clearer and
lead to a more productive interaction.
• 2. Simplify and stay on message: Proofread and eliminate anything that
strays from your message as you prepare your thoughts. One of the best ways
to improve communication is to work on creating concise and clear
conversations, emails, and presentations.
• 3. Record yourself communicating: Use your smartphone to record yourself
giving a presentation or practicing a tough conversation you need to have
with a teammate about their lack of participation. Review the recording and
look for places to improve.

5. Tips to Improve your Communication Skills
• 4. Engage your listeners: Keep your listeners engaged in the
conversation. Effective communicators ask questions and encourage
participation. An interactive conversation is an ideal way to keep
everyone’s attention.
• 5. Take time to respond: Take time to create a thoughtful response.
Often, you feel obligated to respond quickly, but it’s important to take
a moment to compose your thoughts so you can have a meaningful
conversation.
• 6. Make sure you understand: Before ending a conversation, take a
moment to ask a few follow-up questions and then recap the
conversation. You can finish by explaining the next actionable steps.

6. Tips to Improve your Communication Skills
• 7. Work on your body language: Keep a straight posture, avoid slouching,
and use natural hand gestures when you speak. Make eye contact with
everyone who’s listening to you. It can be helpful to move around the
room, too, when space allows. It can help listeners feel more included.
• 8. Maintain eye contact: During a conversation or presentation, try to
hold a person’s gaze in four- to five-second intervals before looking at
another person. You can also use natural hand gestures while you speak,
which can help you feel more confident and look people in the eye.
• 9. Be respectful: When you finish communicating, you want your
audience to feel you've respected their needs, and they, in turn, will more
likely form respect for you. To earn that respect, thank them for their
time, keep your presentation within its set timeframe, and keep your
jokes appropriate and to a minimum.

7. Tips to Improve your Communication Skills
• 10. Make communication a priority: Elevating your communication skills is
something to work on every day. Consider making a communication to-do list with
a few things you’d like to work on for the day, like recognizing body language,
asking follow-up questions, or practicing active listening.
• 11. Learn to manage your emotions: When you’re in a professional setting, it’s
necessary to keep your emotions in check. If you have trouble managing your
emotions, take a moment for a few deep breaths before speaking or writing an
email. Take a moment alone at your desk or a break outside when possible.
• 12. Prioritize workplace skills: Improving additional workplace skills like problem-
solving, collaboration, and time management can also enhance your
communication efforts. These skills require listening, patience, and organization,
which all play a role in sound communication.

8. Tips to Improve your Communication Skills
• 13. Get rid of conversation fillers: To aid in your conversational improvement, work to
eliminate fillers like “um,” and “ah.” Start listening for these fillers so you can use them
less and convey more confidence when you speak. Often these phrases are used to fill
the silence, which is a natural part of conversation, so try to embrace the silence rather
than fill it.
• 14. Have a plan for small talk: Small talk is its own conversation challenge. To provide
inspiration, focus on topics included in the FORD method: family, occupation,
recreation, and dreams.
• 15. Tell a story: When you can, include stories in your communication. A story helps
keep your audience engaged and makes it easier for people to relate to the topic.
• 16. Ask questions and summarize the other person's main points: Part of being an
active listener is asking relevant questions and repeating pieces of the conversation to
show that you understand a point. Listening makes communication a two-way street.

9. Tips to Improve your Communication Skills
• 17. Be receptive to feedback: As you’re working to improve your communication
skills, ask for feedback and be receptive to it. Asking your colleagues for feedback
can help you pinpoint challenges and demonstrate a commitment to your job. Try
incorporating the feedback into your next chat, brainstorming session, or video
conference.
• 18. Be ready for different answers: Listen without judgment. That’s the goal of
every conversation, but especially if you hear responses that are unexpected or
different than you anticipate. Listen to the person openly, be mindful of your body
language, and don’t interrupt.
• 19. Put away distractions: Communicating well means being fully present. Put
away anything that can distract you, like your phone or tablet. It shows others that
you’re respectfully listening and helps you respond thoughtfully to the
conversation.

10. Tips to Improve your Communication Skills
• 20. Tailor your message to your audience: Your communication should
change based on your audience. Just as you personalize an email,
personalize all of your communications. Your message, tone, and body
language, for example, should be authentic yet adapted if you’re talking
with your manager as opposed to talking with an intern.
• 21. Be brief yet specific: Use the acronym BRIEF (background, reason,
information, end, follow-up) to help guide your conversation. Think of it
as a conversation outline meant to keep you on track.
• 22. Up your empathy: Consider the feelings of others as you speak with
them. Part of having a meaningful conversation is being empathetic to
others. If you try to put yourself in their shoes, you can better understand
how to help.

11. Thank you for your time and patience
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