Tips and Reasons

Have you ever come across a person who has got great ideas, knowledge, expertise, but no communication skills? I have come across hundreds of such people, from Engineers to Accountants who have in depth knowledge in their field but almost zero communication skills. They either lack the basic understanding of the language they wish to use or don’t really know how to express their ideas or thoughts. Here are a few tips that will help such people overcome this barrier and improve their oral (verbal) communication skills.

1.) Know the Language

This is the most important aspect and a prerequisite to good communications skills. Be it English, Chinese or Arabic, knowing the basics of the language and understanding how sentences are structured is vital to oral communication success. For many, the languages they need to use may not be their mother tongue (native language). This makes learning and communicating in that language difficult. Therefore, learning the language and becoming thorough in its basics is all that is required. You don’t need a vast vocabulary for this. Watching TV programs in that language helps a lot. My formal English education started when I was 4 years old, at least a year after I started watching English cartoons on TV.

2.) Get Exposure and Good Company

Start mixing with people who have the communication skills you wish to acquire. The best learning is through experience and observation. This is precisely how infants learn languages and reflect their parents’ speaking styles. Did you know that infants can learn up to 7 languages, just based on listening and observing? You also might have observed how children have a communication style influenced by their parents’. We tend to mimic the communication style of those we admire and look up to. Since you are not an infant anymore, you can now choose who you want to be with. Being with the right people will help you develop the skills you want to.

Now lets move on to the actual talking part.

3.) Think Before you Speak and Know What you are Saying

You should always know what you want to say before you say it. Trust me, this does not make you slower, as some people might think. Its only a habit you need to develop which becomes subconscious. I come across many people in my corporate career who talk just for the heck of it. They aim for the ‘visibility’ this behavior will give them. I don’t find anyone more annoying. This habit makes them ask questions that are either irrelevant or obvious. Sometimes, even asking about something that has already been addressed!

Talk only if you have something positive to contribute. Blabbering will get you nowhere.

4.) Speak Clearly

Make sure the words that come out of your mouth are clear and understandable. Most of the time, we tend to continue speaking without thinking if the person who we are talking to understands us or not. Generally speaking, your pronunciation should be correct (and not influenced by a different language). To test yourself, read out a paragraph from a newspaper or magazine and record your voice. Listen to it yourself and see where you can improve. It is even better to have someone else listen to it and give you feedback.

5.) Modulate your voice

During oral communication, especially when you are speaking in public, voice modulation gives life your words. Modulation is changing the pitch and tone of your voice to suit and match the words being spoken. Many people present and speak in a monotonous tone. They fail to grasp the audience’s attention, let alone mesmerizing them. The tone and pitch adds emotion to your words. Voice actors are a good example to illustrate how important this is to speech. Remember the scene where Woody (Tom Hanks) yells at Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) saying, “You are a toy! You’re not the real Buzz Lightyear! You’re – you are an action figure! You are a child’s play thing” Now read that out plainly. Catch my drift?

6.) Vary your Speed

Speed matters when it comes to speech. Going too fast or too slow can get your message or idea lost during the communication process. I know someone who has difficulty communicating the words “Want a Pepsi?” just because they go too fast. It can really be embarrassing repeating yourself over and over again. I also remember a guy addressing the audience at a religious event. His speed was ‘a word every five seconds.’ Ironically, it was a religious public speaking training event. So whats the right speed? Just enough to have your words connected and the idea put through.

7.) Adjust and Vary your Volume

This is closely related to voice modulation, but I have included it as a separate point because this applies to every kind of oral communication and not just public. At work, there are people who are as loud as a loudspeaker or as soft as a baby bird chirping. It is generally seen that people living in bigger houses tend to speak loudly, to have their voices reach every corner. Of course, this can be controlled if the ‘loudspeakers’ are given feedback. The soft ones will almost go unnoticed as their voice can hardly reach the other end of the meeting room. If you ever get feedback on your volume, make sure you start working on it immediately. Its completely in your control and not genetic.

8.) Body Language

Apart from the words you use, you send out non-verbal signals while you communicate. These include eye contact, hand gestures, posture, facial expressions, clothing etc. It is important that these are in sync with the message or idea you wish to express. For example: maintaining eye contact with someone you are talking to expresses confidence. A smile indicates warmth and friendliness. A lot can be said about body language and how it affects oral communication. I will deal with this in detail in other posts.

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To conclude, these tips can help you in situations like interviews, public speaking, presentations, negotiations, etc. If you keep these tips in mind while communicating, you should improve your skills and make them second nature over time.

YHK