There is no single way to develop great communication skills or become a great leader.
The methodology you’re going to pick will depend on you the objectives you want to achieve and your personality as well (we don’t need to develop the same communication skills).
To help you get started with thought leadership, we share below 4 of the most productive ways to quickly and efficiently improve your communication skills:
1. Listen with empathy
Empathy is the ability to understand the feelings, thoughts, and beliefs of another person. Exactly this is the reason why organizations have started developing empathy in the workplace.
Emotional acceptance, closely related to empathy, means that, after empathizing and understanding how other person feels, we can accept the reasons why somebody feels or thinks the way they do, regardless of whether we agree with it or not.
Try to see things from others’ perspectives by accepting what you hear instead of trying to „fix things and solve the problem“.
2. Speak up
Communication begins with you. Take responsibility and start communication, do not wait and expect another person to do so and don’t hide behind various forms of online communication.
Good communication, especially on important topics, requires far more than what we can express in a written message.
We often misunderstand this kind of communication because we do not see the person’s face, its nonverbal communication, and in what circumstances communication starts.
3. Prepare what you’re going to say
Think before you speak. Most of us work best when we have time to process our own thoughts before we share them.
If the conversation or meeting is worth your precious time, take a few minutes to prepare the speech draft.
For a very important conversation, try a mock-up conversation with a trusted person so you can get rid of any potential mistakes.
4. Be ready for different answers
As you formulate a speech strategy, put yourself in the position of a person who will listen to you.
This will ensure balanced approach and you will be prepared to learn and defend potential disagreements and it will be easier for you to defend your standpoint.
No one can predict with certainty how other people will react.
Improve chances of a successful conversation by expecting negative answers and queries. So it is harder for your listeners to catch you unprepared.
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