Effective communication for careers - Part 2

Ranjan K Baruah *

In last edition we have mentioned about the importance of effective communication and how we can enhance our communications skills. Effective communication is more than mere writing or speaking. It’s no secret that good leaders are also good communicators. There are ways how we can enhance our communication skill. Here are some of the ways to enhance our communication skills.

Be a listener: We must be good at listening to make effective communication. If we fail to do so then we may not communicate effectively.

Show empathy: Communication is a two-way avenue. When two or more individuals are involved then we must respect each other. If you practice taking the opposing viewpoint, you can reduce the difficulty and anxiety that sometimes arises when trying to truly communicate with others. Developing empathy helps us to better understand even the unspoken parts of our communication with others.

Brief but specific: There’s actually a BRIEF acronym-Background, Reason, Information, End, Follow-up to help you keep your emails/mails/ conversation short without leaving anything out. It’s a good policy for both written and verbal communication.

Put away the distractions: It’s pretty rude to use our mobile phone while someone’s talking to us. It is always good to avoid distractions for effective communication which may not be very realistic but we must try it.

Ask questions to be clear: When we are communication with many people , sometime we may not understand what the other person is saying . In this situation we need to ask question to understand the conversation so that we can reply properly.

Have a script for small talk: Small talk is an art that not many people have mastered. For the inevitable, awkward silences with people you hardly know, it helps to have a plan. We can have a script and make the talk small which shall lead to effective communication in certain situations.

Get rid of unnecessary conversation fillers: Um’s and ah’s do little to improve your speech or everyday conversations. We must avoid the fillers to make our communication effective. This is possible through proper practice.

Body language: A positive body language is important for the effective communication. Sometimes a person’s body language will tell what she wants to express or communicate. Our behaviour is our single greatest mode of communication, and it must be congruent with what we say. If our actions don’t align with our words, there’s trouble.

Good leaders know how to ask good questions, and then listen with both their eyes and ears. Lack of effective communication amongst the youth of north eastern region is one of the causes of failure in many interviews and other professions.

Effective communication is yet to be developed amongst our youths. As there are techniques, so, its high time for us to enhance our communication skills. With effective communication we can become successful in our region as well as outside too.

Remember getting good marks does not guarantee jobs or placement but marks with employability skills like ‘effective communication’ one may become successful than their peers.