10 Steps to Effective Communication

Strong communication skills are the basis of any successful leader. Of course, there were leaders who rose to the highest positions and did not possess this skill, but they probably did not last long. This moment was recently demonstrated when I listened to NPR’s program about the bankruptcy of the big banks on Wall Street. When Congress explained to the leaders of these organizations why they didn’t understand the risky investments that ultimately failed, their answers were the same and pretty simple – we didn’t know. Their job was to know, and no one told them, or they didn’t understand it in the data they had access to. The flag did not rise; no one asked if anyone had said that. This is certainly a communication breach that has had widespread negative consequences.

What is communication? Communication in life is the culmination of any successful relationship, and even more so. According to Webster’s dictionary, communication is defined as the process of transmitting information from one object to another. Communication processes are iconic interactions between two or more agents separating the repertoire of signs and semiotic rules. Communication is usually defined as “transferring or exchanging thoughts, opinions, or information through conversation, writing, or gestures.” Although there is one-sided communication, communication is best seen as a two-way process in which thoughts, feelings or ideas (energy) are exchanged and developed towards a goal or direction. (Information) mutually acceptable.

Why is communication important? Often we have a message that we want to send, or we want the recipient of the message to understand our message the same way we deliver it. Take, for example, the need for business to increase the cost of health insurance. This is often reported to staff in writing during open registration. Typically, an employee reacts to anger at a company that has forced him to pay more for health insurance.

Four types of communication. I used to work with someone I call “chatter.” He walked the hallways every day, knocking on doors and asking, “Do you have a minute?” I quickly realized that my body language could interfere with this activity without being rude or restrained. What if Mr. Chatter came to my door and said, “Do you have a minute?” I’d say, “Actually, I’m busy, can I put you on my calendar later today?” This gesture changed the whole dynamics of the conversation. In our lives there are four types of communication: verbal, nonverbal, written and visual.

Verbal communication: verbal communication includes sounds, words, language and speech. Language would be born of sounds and gestures. There are many languages spoken in the world. The basics of language training: gender, class, profession, geographic region, age group and other social elements. Conversation is an effective way of communicating, which is divided into two types, namely. interpersonal communication and public speaking. Good verbal communication is an integral part of business communication. In business, you meet people of different ages, cultures and races. Free verbal communication is necessary to communicate with people at business meetings. Self-confidence also plays a crucial role in business communication, which, with free communication skills, can lead to success. Public speaking is another verbal conversation in which you need to reach out to a group of people. Before you start, it is important to prepare for an effective performance. Speaking publicly, the speech should be prepared according to the type of audience with which you will be dealing. The content of your presentation should be sincere and you should have sufficient information on the topic you have chosen for a public appearance. All the highlights of your statement should be emphasized and laid out in the correct order. There are many techniques of public speaking, and these techniques need to be practiced for effective speech.

Written communication: Written communication is the spelling of the words you want to convey. Good written communication is necessary for business purposes. Written communication is practiced in many languages. Email, reports, articles and notes are some of the ways to use written communication in business. The written message can be edited and amended several times before it is sent to the second party for which the message is intended. This is one of the main advantages of using writing as the primary means of communication in business activities. Written communication is used not only in business, but also for informal purposes. Mobile SMS is an example of informal written communication.

Visual communication: The last of the four types of communication is visual communication. Visual communication is a visual representation of information such as topography, photographs, signs, symbols and drawings. Television and video clips are an electronic form of visual communication.

What’s your style of communication? I’m from a family where directness is considered belligerent. For me, the best policy is honesty, and the only way to be honest is to be direct. Of course, this leads to a conflict between me, my mother and my siblings, because they would rather agree with the person in front than disagree behind the scenes. My style is straight, and their style is harmonious (with some passive aggressiveness in my opinion, but it’s a blog for another time!) I adapted my style to reduce conflict and I learned to convey my message without someone’s feathers. Is it still working? No, but it reduced my stress and the people around me. Knowing your communication style and recognizing the style of others is very important so that you can learn flexibility in your message without compromising it and significantly reducing the likelihood of misunderstanding. I found an interesting article with important information about the style of communication: