Effective communication skills are crucial for career success. Assess your strengths and weaknesses, practice body language and eye contact, and develop your voice by varying pitch and volume.
Effective communication skills are key to improving your productivity and helping you advance your career. No matter what your area of expertise, being able to communicate with others will greatly increase your chances of success. Even if you’re naturally shy and prone to nervousness, there are some things you can do to help you achieve good communication skills.
Start by assessing your personality and try to find areas where you excel and areas where you could improve. Maybe you have effective communication skills when it comes to gestures and body language, but you don’t have a strong voice. Or maybe your voice is fine but you tend to get nervous and fidgety when in front of a group of people. Knowing which areas you need to work on will give you the ability to improve effective communication with others around you.
If you need to develop your body language, start by practicing in front of a mirror. As silly as it sounds, you’ll soon find that looking at yourself gives you a chance to examine closely how you really act. Eye contact is the top priority when it comes to establishing effective communication rapport with your listeners, whether you’re talking to your boss or giving a presentation to a room full of people. Eye contact gives the impression of competence and confidence and will make others see you as confident. Body language is also essential for effective communication. Rather than keeping your arms crossed or hands in your lap, let your body do the talking, moving as much or as little as necessary to fit the subject matter and personality of the room.
Another way to gain effective communication skills is to develop your voice. It slows down, which gives the listener the feeling of serenity and confidence, and avoids sounding monotonous. Put emotion in your words. You shouldn’t yell or raise your voice, but you should vary your pitch and make sure the volume you use is appropriate for the size of the room and the topic you’re discussing. Don’t mumble or use inappropriate vocabulary for the environment you’re moving into.
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