Improve Your Verbal Communication With These Nine Tips

Your life results are strongly influenced by how well you communicate.

• If you communicate well, then people will listen to you and will follow your lead.
• If you don't communicate well, then people will not listen to you and you will be ignored.

If you study the most influential people, you will find that most of them are excellent communicators in both the written and the spoken form. They know how to effectively express their ideas.

If you want to improve your life, then improve your ability to communicate your meaning.

Here's how.

1. Read more

The easiest way to improve your communication is to read. Invest at least half an hour a day to reading, preferably out-loud.
We don't mean reading newspapers or gossip, we mean read books that contain high quality, or expert content.
Reading aloud from such books will introduce you to a new world of vocabulary and ideas. To be a good communicator, your first challenge is to have something worth saying.
There are an infinite number of good ideas, and the best way to get them is by reading.

More is not necessarily better

2. Less is more - think about how many words you're using

Your listener has a limited attention span. Therefore, be brief.
Imagine the other person's brain as a half pint mug, which will hold only a half-pint of fluid. Any more is NOT retained and is wasted.
More is not necessarily better.

3. Prepare

More is not better. Only better is better.
To make your communication better, prepare it in advance.
The athlete does not win the gold medal on the day of the event.
The athlete wins in the days and weeks before the event.
The quality of the performance is dependent on the quality of the preparation.
So, prepare your message in advance.

4. Listen and be interested

We said that reading was your primary way to gain new ideas.
Your secondary method is by attentive listening.

Attentive listening is listening with a keen interest; with a desire to understand and to memorise what you hear.
The best way to listen is to imagine that you have to teach the other person's content at a later date.

Pay attention and visualise what the other person is saying and try to remember the images.
Be inquisitive. Ask questions. Ask for more details. Try to get a real picture of what the other person has in mind.
Other people are the source of great ideas, that you can use to your advantage.

5. Non-verbal communication traps

As you talk, be aware of your non-verbal communication.
There are some common traps that are easy to fall into.
Pointing is one. Never point at anyone; it is antagonistic.
Standing too close is another. Keep a respectful distance. If you are too close to another person, for no good reason, then you will be perceived as aggressive, sexually suggestive or just plain creepy.

Your reputation for honest should be your primary concern

6. Honesty is the best policy

When we communicate, we should be communicating our honest view of the world and how it works.
Dishonest may seem to benefit some people, but that is only in the short term.
Over the longer term, dishonesty destroys reputations and lives.
Your greatest asset (or your greatest liability) is your character.
Your reputation for honesty should be your primary concern.

7. Seek understanding from your audience

Make the distinction between two similar words, understanding and agreement.
You should not expect everyone to agree with everything you say.
But you should at least be able to make yourself understood.
And don't worry that you do not agree with others: that's normal. But you should strive to understand others.

Strive to understand and be understood.

8. Be aware of context

Every word you use, operates within a specific context, and the context changes the meaning of the word.
If you use the word, "power", to a group of electrical engineers, it means something specific. (ie the rate of electrical energy being used, measured in Watts).
But if you used the word power to Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin, do you think they may interpret the meaning differently?
So be sensitive to your audience and recognise that the context created by your audience will change the meaning of your words.

9. Develop your skills - attend our course

The benefits of improving your communication skills are so profound, it is worth investing your time into improving them.
Improved communication skills will improve your home life and your professional career. So, come on our excellent Communication Skills Course. You will learn lots and at the same time, have fun.