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Posts Tagged ‘Skill’

www.warwickjohnfahy.com Some tips on how to prepare for public speaking. Recorded in Shanghai at the British Chamber of Commerce “Presenting with Pizazz” workshop

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The ability to communicate effectively – to transmit understanding and motivation from one person to another – is vitally important to program and functional managers and to others. In the present socio-politico-industrial economy, old management attitudes and communication techniques are no longer adequate. Modern managers are challenged to find new ways to meet today’s conditions. A new kind of manager must evolve who can work with a group and consider himself, or… More >>

Skill in Communication: A Vital Element in Effective Management

For anyone serious about success and self improvement the ability to communicate effectively is one of the most essential skills to develop.

What is communication? One dictionary describes communication as “the imparting or exchange of information, ideas, or feelings”.

Some people envy those who have the ‘gift of the gab’ and always seem to be the centre of attention. However, this does not mean that good talkers are good communicators; in fact they are often just the opposite.

Good communication is much more than having the ability to talk eloquently. It’s also much more than being able to convince people to your point of view. These are certainly useful qualities, particularly if you work in sales, and most of us have to sell in one way or another, whether we realise it or not, even if it’s only selling ourselves.

But there’s a lot more to it to it than that. One essential part of communication is the ability to make yourself understood. But if there is one single thing that that will make you a better communicator, it’s to make more of an effort to really listen and understand others first, rather than to make yourself heard and understood.

Despite what many people may think, good communication is not all about concentrating on getting across our own points of view and opinions. It has been said that we were given two ears and one mouth for good reason and that we should spend at least twice as much time listening as talking when communicating.

When engaged in conversation, it is very easy to pay little attention to what the other person is actually saying. We can become easily distracted by countless other thoughts and things happening around us, or thinking about what we are going to say next. Our brains are able to process information much more quickly than the speed of even the fastest talker, so it’s easy for other things to fill the spaces and detract from what the other person is saying.

The most basic – and important – of all communication skills is the ability to listen impartially, to try to absorb the essence of what the other person is saying, and to really understand their point of view. We must be non-judgemental and really work at appreciating what the other person is feeling and thinking. This can also be different to what they are actually saying, often unintentionally. Spoken words can make up less than 20% of what anyone is really expressing, so paying attention to overall body language and working on forming a full picture is vital to good communication.

If you’re unsure exactly what the other person means, ask for clarification. Don’t be afraid to repeat what has been said. This is almost a prerequisite in business meetings and negotiations, but it can also work in many different situations. This also shows that we have been listening and want to understand.

One of the greatest compliments we can give anyone is to really listen and make the effort to understand and appreciate their viewpoint and feelings.

If you think about the people that you have most enjoyed spending time with in your life, it’s likely that they will have been people who you felt you could easily be yourself and relax with. They were almost certainly good listeners. You may not even remember a great deal about your conversations, but you will remember how they made you feel.

Like most skills, we can learn to communicate and listen better if we really want to. Just being aware of the importance of effective listening, and how easy it is to be a poor listener is a start. There are also many communication specialists who can offer much more detailed guidance and help.

Most people aren’t good listeners, and working on more effective listening and communication can make a great difference to our lives. These are the skills that will help immeasurably in our professional lives, make us better friends and partners, and enhance our overall success, growth and happiness.

Quote of the Day:

“The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.” – Ralph Nichols

Do you gather attention of the listeners when you speak? How effective are you in your dialogue? Do you have the communication skills in you?

These are the questions that are needed to be answered if you want yourself to be heard and appreciated among the crowd. Communication skills lets you gather attention of the listeners whenever you speak. Communication skills affect your interpersonal relationships with others and the response you get from them.

Here are 6 skills that groom your personality and make you impressive whenever you speak.

Communication skill 1: SOUND MORE INTELLIGENT

Speak just a bit slower to allow yourself to select your most appropriate vocabulary and to give the impression of thoughtfulness. Deliberately pause at key points – this has the effect of emphasizing the importance of a particular point you are making.

Communication skill 2: SOUND MORE POWERFUL

Speak clearly. Do not shout or whisper. Use short, simple declarative sentences. You say what you mean and you mean what you say. Cut out any useless connectors, adjectives and adverbs, especially superlatives.

Communication skill 3: SOUND MORE POLISHED

Never answer a question with a blunt ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Append a short phrase of clarification. For example, “No, I did not see it.” “Yes, I know sir.”

Communication skill 4: SOUND MORE ARTICULATE

Make a special effort to pronounce the final sound in a word and use its energy to carry over to the following word. People will judge your competency through your vocabulary. If you are not sure how to say a word, do not use it, which will pull down your communication skill instead of boosting it up.

Communication skill 5: SOUND MORE CONFIDENT

Carry your body up. Hold your head as if you had a crown on it. Do not let your arms and legs have side-to-side motion when you move. Keep your elbows and knees close to the midline of your body. Your body movements express what your attitudes and thoughts really are, controlling them adds to your communication skill.

Communication skill 6: SOUND MORE POLITE

Always remember to greet the listener before starting a conversation or making an oral presentation. Tell the audience what you are going to tell them.

At the end, summarize what you have told them.

Communication skill 7: SOUND MORE TOUCHY

Try to judge how your listeners are more comfortable taking information from you and make sure you feed them in the same way as the want. Many people are best at absorbing information they get through their eyes, others need hands on experience to set the message in their heads most effectively.

As with most personal skills, communication skills cannot be taught. One can only point the way. So as always, practice is essential, to improve your skills generally and make it your best each time you speak. Let your personality shine!

When you think about ways to improve your life, presentation skill training should come to mind. Regardless of how great the ideas and information you have may be, you will be unable to put them to use unless you understand how to present them. Sadly, there are likely innumerable wonderful ideas that never see the light of day because people are simply unaware of how to present them to the right people. Likewise, there are a great number of people who invest countless hours into developing ideas and cultivating information but never focus on their presentation methods. So while these people may have a vast body of knowledge, they lack the skills to share it with others. Presentation skill training assists people in taking the information from their minds and sharing it with others.

Conveying information to others is best learned with presentation skill training. Such training covers a wide range of techniques and methods, all of which are applicable in many arenas of life. Just think how your life could be improved with presentation skill training. Perhaps most obviously, you can improve your professional life by working on presentation skills. Despite the tightening job market, there continues to be many opportunities available to those who can sell themselves. However, for most people, articulating why they are best fit for such opportunities will not come intuitively. Presentation skill training will help you understand how to best convey why you are the most suitable person for the opportunities that arise.

Presentation skill training will help you in more than just your professional life. The skills learned in such a course will help improve your communication at every level. Even something as simple as teaching your children a lesson will come easier after participating in presentation skill training. You can implement the strategies you learn through presentation skill training to make your life better at every level.

Learn more at http://presentationstoryboarding.com/wp.

To be able to communicate verbally, even if that “verbal” is with sign language for people who are hearing impaired, is vitally important. Without good verbal communication skill, getting by in life would be virtually impossible. Every day, in so many ways, we use those skills.

When you go into work, verbal skills are really needed. To talk on the phone with clients, to give orders to your subordinates, or to deal with your boss; you have to speak to them. And, just talking is not enough. If you are trying to get a raise from your boss, or to explain a mistake, you need to speak eloquently and convincingly. When dealing with your staff, sometime you have to give encouragement, and other times you have to give them a verbal kick to motivate them.

If you are trying to win a new client for the firm, you have to be able to show them what your company has to offer. Now, sometimes visual aids help, but what if you are on the phone? Then, it can be merely the strength of your voice and the power of your arguments that wins them over. Conversely, if you speak with a current client who is unhappy, then your voice, your tone, and your words are all that stands between them going or staying. Your verbal communication skill will really need to be at peak performance then.

In a crisis, often our words are all we have. If you should (perish the thought) find yourself on a wrecked train or plane, and people are screaming and upset; your words may be the only thing that can calm them enough for you all to escape. There is that old saying: “Freedom of speech does not mean you are free to scream ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater”. Well, think about it, even if the building really is on fire, should you scream that out? Carefully chosen words can help people to stay calm and get out safely.

Along those same lines, there are legal matters. Still today we have the tradition, coming down to us from the Middle Ages, of going to court for a hearing. We swear to tell the truth, and give testimony. If you should find yourself in court on a legal matter, whether it be a civil suit or a criminal trial, the power of your words alone will be all you have. Trying to convince a jury that you are innocent by merely screaming: “I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it!” over and over is not going to carry much weight. You must speak clearly and succinctly, and guide them to see the truth of your words. It was with good reason that public speaking and rhetoric were part of the classic education system.

In our personal lives, verbal communication skill is a vital means of sustaining relationships. You have to be able to talk to those you love and care about. Without that, your relationships will wither and die. How many times have you seen couple who seem to argue about everything: politics, religion, movies, you name it? Yet, they stay together. Agreeing on things is not the key to a strong relationship.

It is mutual respect and communication. So long as you can talk, so long as the lines of communication stay open, your relationship has a chance of staying alive. The same goes for family members. How many brothers / sisters / cousins etc. are you on good relations with? Odds are, it is the ones you talk to the most. Again, even if you do not agree on things, if you at least talk, the relationship will be all the stronger for it. You need good verbal communication skill for that.

In our everyday lives, we communicate all the time with the people we encounter. We talk to co-workers, we interact with our bosses and the people who hire us. We talk to our spouse and loved ones. So, it’s no wonder that verbal communication skill is important to us.