5 Stellar Communication Skills

No matter what our goals in life--from career success to small business marketing to loving relationships to great parenting to stress management--one of the most important tools to help us get there is communication skills.

I coach people on how to improve their business communication, and have been thinking about the top 5 keys to stellar speaking. Here's what I think:

#1: Use great nonverbal communication - This is about your body language including eye contact, posture, and facial expression. It's also about your tone, speed, and pitch of voice. I rank this number one because numerous studies have shown that what you say is not nearly as important as how you say it.

#2: Ask powerful questions - This is so important that I think I'll write an entirely separate post on it. For now, know that questions help you learn and succeed and show others that you are listening and interested.

#3: Be clear - Good communication often goes bad because of a lack of clarity. We often base our conversational skills on a number of assumptions about ourselves, the situation, and the other person. Do not assume and do not leave room for interpretation. This is particularly true with email communication which is very easily interpreted.

#4: Be authentic - When we feel uncomfortable in work or social situations, we tend to overcompensate. There are many problems with this, the biggest of which is that we are no longer genuine. As a rule, people prefer a conversationalist or presenter who is natural over one who is slick. The best thing you can do is to be true to who you are.

#5: Be empathic - When people feel that you really get where they are coming from, you have instant credibility and likeability. Empathy must be real so don't try to make an empathic statement such as, "Wow, that must really be hard," unless you understand where the other person is coming from. If not, use key #2 and ask questions.

There are so many characteristics and qualities of excellent communication... These are 5 of the most important ones, yet there are dozens of other key components. What have you found to lead to your best success (or lack of) in communicating?

Comments

[Mike Shippey]

This is great stuff! Communication is absolutely the key to success in business and in life.

I have found that the more open and honest the lines of communication - the more efficient and successful the task, project, or even relationship become.

Also - you mention being authentic - and this is HUGE! You have so much more freedom in communicating when you are being yourself.