The art mastered by the eloquent communicators is an art not known to the average speaker. Though it may not happen overnight, with purpose and practice, it is quite an easy art to master. Everyone loves the idea of entertaining their listeners or readers, but what does it take to hook the reader to your nuggets?
Understand what communication is and how you can communicate effectively. You see, communication is the interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs.
However, effective communication requires understanding the emotions and intention behind the words, rather than mare interchange of words. Here is a set of four communication skills that will elevate you to a level of being spontaneous in all discussions.
4 Skills of Effective Communication
- Active listening
- Nonverbal communication
- Stress control
- Expressing yourself in a respective way
To promote these skills, you ought to input time and effort. However, the result is gradual depending on how much time you input in practicing the skills. It’s also important to take note of the barriers of effective communication, which at times go without noticing and hence render you incompatible to potential connections.
Below are significant killers of effective communication, which you ought to be aware of, not to be misunderstood in your conversations. Self-awareness is essential in matters of effective communication. Hence, you must train yourself to say the right thing at the right time to the right person.
Common Barriers to Effective Communication
- Lack of focus- distractions like checking the phone, planning what to say next or daydreaming, are a few examples that will make you miss out on the nonverbal cues in the conversations.
- Out of control, emotion, and stress– Being under pressure or emotionally overwhelmed can cause you misunderstanding or conflict. Therefore, ensure you calm down before you get into a conversation to avoid negative nonverbal signals.
- Inconsistent body language– Reinforcing what you are saying with your body language is a remarkable boost to a conversation, as it portrays your interest. If you are saying one thing and demonstrating the other, it may make the other person to feel as though you are dishonest.
- Negative body language – To avoid a negative response, beware of negative signals. Tapping your feet or crossing your arms when you are not in agreement with what the other person is putting across is out of order and should be avoided at all cost.
More so, a great conversation does not just happen. You have to make an effort to attain it. Here is a comprehensive guide that will bring you to an understanding of the tips of eloquent communicators.
5 Tips of Eloquent Communicators
Active listening is one of the Tips of Eloquent Communicators
Active listening means you understand the words and the voice tone. Every good listener should understand and connect with the other person fully to make the connection deeper.
Understand the Body Language
Body language includes; facial expressions, gestures, and body movement, posture, eye contact, the tone of your voice, breathing, and muscle tension. Ensure you understand body language as it is a significant tip of eloquent conversationalists.
It helps you to connect with others, express what you mean quickly, tackle tough conversations, and build stronger bonds.
You can improve your communication skills by using open body language such as positioning your arms well, standing in a public stance or sitting on the edge of your seat, and maintaining eye contact. Use body language to enhance or to emphasize your verbal communication to season your conversations.
Be in Control of Your Emotions
You may be overwhelmed while you are talking to a person, especially if it’s a disagreement. In such a moment, you should be in control of your emotions to ensure that you do not say something that you will regret later. Ensure that you can quickly come back to a calm state of mind and communicate effectively, even under pressure.
Be Assertive
To be assertive means to express yourself openly and honestly while standing up for yourself as well as respecting others. Below are a few rules that build assertiveness;
- you value yourself and your opinions
- you are aware of your needs and wants
- you know how to express negative thoughts positively
- you can receive feedback undoubtedly
- you can firmly say no
Asking Questions
Being inquisitive shows you have an interest in what you are talking about as well as the other person. There are different forms of questions that you could ask, depending on the subject of discussion.
If you incorporate the mentioned tips of eloquent communicators in your daily discussions you will certainly place yourself in a better position in your conversations.
Conclusion
I hope you have learned something that will help you on your journey to understand and implement the tips of eloquent communicators. It’s gradual and beneficial if you do your practice often.
Look out for my next article on communication skills at the workplace, which will be an excellent reinforcement to your journey — all the best as you work towards more interesting conversations.