The most effective leaders and managers tend to have excellent verbal communication skills, and can converse confidently in almost any situation. These top tips provide some useful suggestions on how to develop your own skills in this key area.
Relax. Your communication will always feel less forced if you are calm. If you get nervous when you speak in public, take some deep breaths before you start.
Think carefully about what you are going to say before you say it. Try to use clear, positive straightforward language to avoid any misunderstandings.
Moderate your voice so that it is calm and soothing. Practise speaking without raising or (if you have a tendency to mumble) lowering your voice.
Ask a trusted colleague or friend for feedback on your communication skills, and use this constructive criticism as a basis for improving your skills. Alternatively, ask someone to record you speaking in a given situation (e.g. at a meeting, presentation or team briefing) and analyse what you do well/less well.
Take a class in public speaking or visit a vocal coach to learn voice control techniques and exercises.
Practise. Volunteer to make a presentation or speech, and go to networking events to perfect your conversational skills strangers.
Always respond when someone communicates with you, even if it is just to say ‘thank you’. By reciprocating, you automatically appear more approachable.
Instead of emailing your colleagues, and only when it is practical to do so, get into the habit of leaving your desk to speak to them face-to-face.
Connect personally with colleagues. Spend a little time talking about non-work topics, even if it is just a couple of minutes to ask how their commute was or to chat about the weather. By showing an interest in their lives and opinions, people will respond positively to you.
Pay careful attention to what other people have said and respond accordingly. Help conversation flow by answering questions with a comment and a return question.
It's a good idea to familiarise yourself with current events by watching the news so that you are never stuck for a topic of conversation. It’s also a good idea to keep up to date with what is happening in your industry, so sign up to newsletters and blogs, and read relevant business texts and journals.
Develop a repertoire of stories that you can draw on in any situation. Make sure that the people you are telling the story to have not heard it from you before!
Use people’s names in conversation where possible, to help build rapport (but not so much that it sounds false).
Don’t monopolise conversations. Give others a chance to speak and let the conversation flow naturally. Also avoid bringing a conversation back to your original topic if it has naturally progressed onto another subject.
Speak assertively – avoid using vague words such as ‘maybe’, ‘try’, ‘might’ and ‘perhaps’, replacing these with definite statements. For example, ‘I will get that report to you by the end of the week’ sounds much more positive than ‘I’ll try to get that report to you by the end of the week’. These words don’t instil the listener with much faith in your abilities: using confident language will help to ensure that others perceive you as someone who gets results.
Don’t waffle. Everyone’s time is precious, so get straight to the point by ensuring that your communication has a purpose, speaking decisively, using as few words as possible.
Avoid using ‘filler’ words such as ‘uh’, ‘um’, ‘er’ and ‘like’. Don’t be afraid of silence – it is better to pause and think about what you are going to say than to use these words, which can give the impression that you lack confidence and conviction in your message.
Offer to coach others with their verbal skills – you never know, you may learn something new.
Make sure your body language reflects rather than contradicts what you are saying. For example, if you are trying to motivate people into accepting an organisational change, telling them it is a good thing while sitting with your arms crossed and frowning will send out mixed signals and will dilute the effectiveness of your message.
If you’re speaking to someone you can’t see (e.g. on the telephone), it is vitally important that you pay attention to your tone of voice and the words you use, as you won’t have the non-verbal signals that help to ensure understanding.
Eliminate slang, jargon and vernacular speech from your business language. Even though this may be widely used within your organisation or industry, it may not be accepted by people on the outside.
Smile. A smile will come across in your voice and make you sound interesting and enthusiastic, even when the person listening can’t see you. As a result, people will respond to you in a more positive way.
Reference: https://app.goodpractice.net/
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