Communication!
Isn’t it the most important skill in your workplace?
From meeting rooms to cafeterias, from initial interview to final exits, from brainstorming to putting minutes of meeting together, communication happens everywhere.
Needless to say, communication is ubiquitous.
But do you connect to everyone who communicates around? Aren’t you just wowed by the way some people speak whereas some are just blah for you!
Effective communication is the key skill in business whether it’s one on one or in front of a group.
But, the bigger question here is how to communicate effectively?
- Confidence: That’s right. Being a confident speaker doesn’t mean that you don’t use fillers or take pauses in between. A confident speaker sounds and looks like he /she means what they are talking about.
- Non-Verbal Communication: A good communicator uses a combination of voice, visuals, and words. But what do you think is more important?
If you go by Professor Albert Mehabrian’s 7-38-55 rule of personal communication, the results are as follows:
Non Verbal communication which comprises your tone, body language (gestures, eye contact, posture, eye contact) and voice modulation, holds much more importance in effective communication vs words.
It basically conveys your feelings, emotions, and attitude while speaking.
- Personal touch: Use of analogies or familiar examples, your own life story or challenges would always help your audience relate with you.
- Humour is good: How about some jokes in between or some funny past experiences? All that contributes to a perfect recipe for engaging communication.
- Structure: Having an exciting start and fulfilling closure is crucial. It is very important to set the context right before you get deep into the topic. You could follow a simple sequence of Introduction, Important points, and closure/action items.
- Readiness for impromptu speaking: Not for all of us, the stage is our best friend. Some of us need our own to prepare and rehearse before performing. But what about ambiguity? Most of the professionals are asked to speak on the fly, impromptu.
Some tips for impromptu speaking:
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- Always expect that you would be called.
- Borrow time if you are completely clueless.
- Put a quick structure to your thought.
- Keep it conversational: Engagement is always high when both listener and speaker are actively communicating. Q&A here is the way to go.
- Listen: It is very important to pay attention to what your audience has to say. Listening would help you to respond wisely.
- You don’t know it all: Remember! A confident speaker is the one who is grounded and appreciates new ideas and suggestions.
- You got to be competent: You got to have ideas and enough content to talk about, in order to be an influencer. It makes you persuasive and people are more willing to listen to you.
All of this would really help you to be a memorable speaker.
