Developing Effective Communication Skills
Speaking and Listening Skills, Verbal and Nonverbal Communication
Feb 15, 2009
Consequently, developing good listening and effective speaking skills should be an integral part of everyone’s personal development.
Information cannot be effectively received, transferred or exchanged without using good communication skills.
Verbal and Nonverbal Communication Skills
Individuals' communication skills are a basis for an effective dialogue, and involve both verbal and nonverbal communication skills.
While verbal communication helps to express oneself, nonverbal enhances spoken ideas by means of bodily, voice, and eye behavior, facial expression, etc. It reinforces the effect of spoken words. In addition, nonverbal communication can be viewed as a reliable indicator of real feelings of an interlocutor. Observed and paid attention to, it can help a person to understand another one better.
Effective Listening
Listening is probably the most used skill in everyday communication. It involves hearing and paying attention to the speaker. However, hearing and effective listening are completely different abilities.
Hearing thousands of sounds every day is a normal thing for an individual. Effective listening, on contrast, involves not only hearing, but also comprehending and understanding the message. Sounds simple. However, not everybody is a good listener - some people prefer to talk. But to be a good communicator, what is important for an individual in both the personal sphere and at the workplace is to be an effective listener.
- Pay attention to the speaker, first of all, in order to show you are involved in communication.
- Respond both verbally and nonverbally, showing that the message is being comprehended and followed. Eye contact, gestures, facial expression, short responses or brief expressions of attitude, such as nodding, help the speaker to understand whether a listener follows the conversation.
- Do not interrupt the speaker in the middle of a speech. Wait till the idea is explained completely, think the information over to understand the meaning, and only then provide suggestions, comments, or ask questions.
- Ask questions and confirm your understanding of the message. A brief summary of what the speaker said might be the best idea. It shows that the speaker was listened and paid attention to.
Effective Speaking
As a mean of communication, effective speaking plays a vital role in people’s lives. Though everybody speaks everyday and is able to express ideas, thoughts, or requests, not everybody can do it well. Some people are difficult to follow, some explain their thoughts in a complicated manner, and some are simply boring to listen to. Avoid these mistakes.
- Use plain and simple words unless the audience is specialized in the subject area.
- Use complete simple sentences for the message to be easier to comprehend.
- Do not speak too fast. It is difficult to comprehend information if much of it is presented in a short period of time.
- Make pauses. Pauses between sentences and ideas will give a listener some space to think the words over, to understand the message.
- Structure and connect ideas. Major points should be presented in a logical manner. Otherwise it is difficult to follow the speaker. So, make sure that each next thought expressed expands on the subject and on the previous point.
- Support ideas not only with words, but with intonation and nonverbal means of communication as well. Proper intonation can stress certain ideas you want to draw attention to. Nonverbal means of communication, such as gestures and facial expression, establish a closer connection with the audience, and enhance the message being communicated.
Those, who found this article useful, may also be interested in learning about Effective Communication in the Workplace. For information about reading and writing skills, read Importance of Good Writing and Reading Skills.
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