Have you ever received an email that’s made you stop in your tracks? You’ve read it and thought, wow, that’s a bit abrupt. After asking the Eximia team the same question, it was clear that we’ve all received an email like this at some point.
If you’ve ever completed a personality test such as DISC or Myers-Briggs, you’ll understand that there are various ways your personality can impact how you communicate with others.
Sometimes your personality can positively affect your communication skills, and other times, it can cause misunderstandings and confusion. The good news is, you can refine your skills and improve – having awareness of this is the first step.
We all learn the basics like spelling, grammar, writing and forming arguments at school, yet we aren’t taught how to apply basic communication skills to real-life.
Here are our top five essential tips to mastering the art of communication.
1. Listening
Listening is at the top of this list for a reason. It’s one of the most essential skills to develop if you want to become a better communicator.
Listening to a person helps us to understand how best to communicate with them.
Have you heard of active listening?
Active listening means fully concentrating on what is being said rather than just passively ‘hearing’ the speaker’s message.
Being an active listener requires you to:
- Approach each dialogue with the goal to learn something
- Stop talking, suppress the urge to let your mind wander and focus closely on the speaker
- Listen for total meaning as the real message may be non-verbal (eg. in body language)
Active listening is a skill that takes practise to perfect. Get it right, though, and it will serve you well when communicating with others.
2. Openness
Openness is all about being aware of your body language. To appear warm and approachable, uncross your arms, sit up straight and smile when someone is talking to you. It will give the speaker the confidence to carry on with their conversation.
3. Clarity
When speaking and writing, clarity is vital. It prevents your audience from saying, “so what?” Sometimes things sound perfectly acceptable in our heads, yet when we communicate it, it isn’t received well because the audience won’t have any context.
Let’s use business jargon as an example.
There may be a few words or phrases your team regularly uses, but anyone from outside would have no understanding of them. Have you sat in a meeting or watched a presentation where these words are used but hold no meaning, and you lose attention – or worse, feel stupid or isolated?
Being clear when you communicate will improve connection and engagement because it increases trust and transparency.
4. Energy
‘Stay close to people who feel like sunshine’? Can you think of someone who epitomises this phrase? Odds are they’re full of life and vibrancy. We gravitate towards people who lift our moods. So, next time you’re having a conversation, try being a little more energetic. Show enthusiasm for the subject by being engaged, listening and elevating the conversation.
5. Empathy
People often get confused with the difference between empathy and sympathy. Empathy is the ability to understand the feelings of another person without having those feelings yourself. Sympathy is the feeling of pity or sorrow for someone else.
Having empathy for others is essential to good communication. Being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and imagine what they’re experiencing helps you make better connections.
Empathy helps us communicate our ideas in a way that makes sense to others, and it helps us understand others when they communicate with us.
Feeling ready to put these communication tips into practice?
We hope these tips help you challenge the way you currently communicate – a few small and simple changes can make all the difference.
Please get in touch if you’d like more focused help when communicating internally to colleagues. We love to help, inspire conversations and drive greater engagement for you and your business.
