What are communication skills?
Communication skills is a form of receiving and giving certain information. Communicating about anything requires a way of communication. Communication skills involve listening, speaking, observing and empathizing. Communication is verbal and non-verbal. We can have conversations and discussion through talking, writing, explaining, face-to-face conversations, interaction on phone, typings on social media. You see so many forms of communication.
Examples of Good corporate or professional communication:
1.Active listening- Active listening is the practice of preparing to listen, observing what verbal and non-verbal messages are being sent, and then providing appropriate feedback for the sake of showing attentiveness to the message being presented. This form of listening conveys a mutual understanding between speaker and listener.
- Friendliness- Friendliness is an important communication skill and helps others receive your message more readily. An example of practicing friendliness in the workplace is including personalized messages, such as wishing someone a good evening, when communicating.
3.Respect- We must show that we care for others, even if we don’t agree with them. Regardless of their opinion, everyone deserves respect. Even when we are passionate about our opinion and bold in sharing our thoughts, if we are open to the fact that we could be wrong, it will keep the conversation safe.
4.Confidence- Speak at a steady and comprehensible pace. Practice breathing rhythmically and in time with your speech. Don’t undersell what you are saying by using maybe words such as ‘just’, ‘like’ and ‘perhaps’ Maintain eye contact at all times, and remember to smile.
5.Giving and receiving feedback- Giving and receiving feedback in the workplace is important to change behaviors, improve productivity and evaluate performance. Employees and their managers need to know what they are doing well and areas in which they could do better so they know what to keep doing or what to change.
6.Volume and clarity– When you’re speaking, it’s important to be clear and audible. Adjusting your speaking voice so you can be heard in a variety of settings is a skill and it’s critical to communicating effectively. Speaking too loudly may be disrespectful or awkward in certain settings.
7.Empathy- Empathic communication involves both accepting and allowing different perspectives and emotions in other people, and also sharing it with them to enable encouragement and support. It’s also the practice of actively listening, in an effort to understand the emotions of who you’re communicating with
