3 Ways to Improve Communication Skills at Work:
By Cham Posted Date: August 29, 2016
No matter how good you may be at speaking, getting nervous can make one behave in odd ways. The worst part about the nervousness is that it appears at the wrong time, during job interviews or important sales pitches. So if you are a person who suffers from nervousness or a lack of confidence, try looking at the following 3 ways of regaining control, connect with and communicate with others effectively.
Make people feel valued: How often have you been to a networking event where someone has made you feel valued? if at all it’ll be a very rare occurrence. Most people feel the need to talk themselves up so they look at feel important, the result is that they have ruined any chance of establishing a rapport with another person and ruined any chance of networking. So how do you make people feel valued? Instead of talking about yourself, ask questions and listen to their replies carefully, show interest in what they have to say. Charisma is all about making other people feel special; this will in turn help establish a connection.
Make it relevant: If you want people to take what you say seriously then you have to add value. You have to give them a reason to listen the message you have, in other words tell them what’s in it for them. There are four classic ways to start a speech, and the same four ways can be used to start a conversation:
- Tell them the benefit – what they will gain from it)
- The question – to make them think.
- The shock – their call to action (eg: if you don’t get more customers you will close down)
- The story – to keep them engaged. Stories are a good way to illustrate and example or make a point.
Make people feel human: People often talk to their colleagues but not to their clients (except in a professional manner and in relation to business). They forget that the clients are human too, and we must speak to everyone in the same way. To do this you can start by using casual non-formal words, this helps you sound more authentic. With electronic communication taking over, the most important thing to remember is that as humans we still respond best to each other.
The way to getting communication right is make others feel valued, make whatever you say useful and relevant and make whomever you say it to feel like a person.
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