Communication Skills

1. Effective Communication to
Improve Relationships
Social Wellness

2. Benefits of Effective Communication
• Will help lessen conflict
• Improve relationships
• Make your
conversations more
genuine

3. Tips to Improve Communication
• Face the speaker
• Maintain good eye contact
• Minimize external distractions
– Turn off the TV or put down your
magazine

4. Tips to Improve
Communication
• Even if the speaker is launching a
complaint against you, wait until
they’ve finished to defend yourself
– You will know their whole argument
before you respond
– The speaker won’t need to repeat
things they’ve said before
• Engage yourself
– Ask for clarification, but wait until the
speaker is finished

5. Tips for Improving Communication
• Minimize internal
distractions
– If ideas float into your
mind, simply let them go so
that you can focus your
attention on the speaker
• Keep an open mind
– Are you formulating your
response while they are
talking?

6. Communication isn’t
just about talking
• How quickly do you
respond to a friend?
– A thoughtful pause
shows genuine
listening.
• Conversations are 2-
way
– While one person
speaks the other
should be listening.

7. Open-
Ended
Questions
• These phrases will help improve
the quality of conversation
– “Tell me more about what you’ve
been doing lately.”
– “How have you been?”
– “Tell me more about how you
made that decision.”