How to Be an Effective Communicator: 7 Tips

What does it take to be called an effective communicator? Is it being fluent in a language? Is it the ability to say many things in a short time? How can you improve your communication skills?

Being fluent in a language, English for instance, does not mean that you are already a good communicator. It takes more than the right grammar or accent to be able to be effective in communicating with others.

Having good communication skills is necessary in everyday life, including in your job. In your workplace, no matter if you are the boss or the employee, you need proper communication in order to be understood and to understand everything that is needed in your work.

For instance, if you are giving instructions to your workers, you need to have a clear mode of giving the details of whatever you want them to do. If you would not be able to do it, you would just end up frustrated by the outcome of their work because it could be far from the output you intended them to produce.

How then can you be an effective communicator, especially in your office? Here are some tips which can help you convey your meaning well:

 

1. Be fluent

Usually in offices, especially at formal gatherings, a certain language is required to be used as a medium of communication. Of course, most of the time it is English that is considered to be the business language. Therefore, it would not hurt if you will practice speaking and writing in that language if you are not that fluent in it. A mastery of one language is important, not only because you can use it with ease, but also so that you can face any person from different levels.

 

2. Be knowledgeable

You need enough and helpful information before you can tell other people what you want them to know. If you want them to grasp something, you need to understand your topic well first. For instance, if you are presenting a business proposal to the board, you must be knowledgeable of what you are trying to convince them of. You must be able to answer their questions and present your ideas even without the guides. Therefore, study and master your topic well so you can present it in any way.

 

3. Be confident

You cannot convince others if you, yourself, do not look convinced of what you are trying to tell them. Therefore, whenever you are speaking before people and you want them to believe you, you should look and sound confident. Self-confidence can give an impression of mastery of the topic and authority as well. You can appear confident through these ways:

Speaking smoothly – you should avoid stammering and dead airs as you speak. These just give a connotation that you are not sure of what you are saying.

Using the language you are comfortable with – speaking in a language which you have not mastered can just make you uncomfortable and very conscious. Instead of focusing on your topic, you would be concentrating on how you can speak in that language fluently.

Speaking with conviction – you should speak as if that topic is part of you or you have experienced it on a first-hand basis. Speak with enthusiasm and belief in it.

 

4. Organize your thoughts

If you want to be confident or convincing with what you have to communicate, you need to gather your ideas before speaking out. In this way, you can deliver it directly and completely. You can say what you want to say in order and with the lesser of chance of forgetting something. To do this, you can create an outline (it can be a mental one if you hate jotting down) and master it through memorizing the sequence or keywords or practicing delivering it.

 

5. Be a good listener

Being a communicator does not mean that you are only a speaker. You need to learn how to listen well to those you are talking with. If you are an employee, this is really essential so that you can understand instructions or carry out properly what your boss wants you to do. If you are an employer or some leader in your workplace, you can understand the situation under you through the reports of your workers. Being a good listener means you are open-minded to whatever the people around you are saying and you do not focus on your own point.

 

6. Tell in a brief and concise manner

Sometimes, too many words can just complicate matters. If you are giving instructions, make sure that you do not include any unnecessary details or give it in a long statement so as not to confuse your receiver. Whether you are speaking or writing, you must learn how to communicate in a brief, specific, and direct to the point way to avoid confusion. This can also help you save more of your time.

 

7. Establish eye contact

As a confident professional speaker, you should practice looking straight into the eyes of the one or people whom you are talking with. Establishing eye contact is considered to be one way of showing that you are telling the truth and there is nothing that you are hiding. It also says that you are serious of what your conversation is all about, that is why you are focused on him or her. Moreover, eye contact also means that your attention is totally in that person and you are interested in what he or she is talking about. On the other hand, it also gets the attention of the person you are having a conversation with.

 

Final notes

Being a good communicator gives a lot of advantages. First of all, it allows your message to be delivered clearly. It is also the basic skill needed if you would have to be in a higher position in your office or organization. Therefore, you should take time to learn and practice being an effective one.