Skills are attributes a person is born with or developed. Communicating also means convincing. Listening is the biggest skill that is required and most efficient managers fail to do so. There is no craft that cannot be learnt, but there is tremendous patience and the need to grasp methods that is required while enhancing communication skills. Great speakers or orators are not really good looking or charismatic but they are able to speak clearly, use the right words and gel with the expectations of the audience.
It is important to improve communication skills not only for corporate culture by also increasing our own self esteem. Communication in the verbal aspect is about tone of the voice, modulation and speaking clearly adhering to the right pronunciation. Written communication is basically about learning new tendencies in formatting, text and language. Official communication can never be in abbreviations, short forms or using a casual lingo. For all times it better to maintain formality whether in print format or using an email.
It is highly important to establish the rapport while speaking on the podium to a large audience. The best way is to adopt a good language and maintaining eye contact. If it is an interactive session, then this calls for a lot of patience and leadership skills to put irrelevant topics to rest. Communication is learnt also by observing people speak in a conversation, through letters and the latest business language used.
Teachers are the best communicators. To converse with a child requires a lot of effort and coming down to that level. It is important to respect the participant in a communication. Non verbal signs of communication are also important to be maintained like shifting of shoulders, avoiding quizzical looks and looking earnestly at the speaker.
Telephonic communication should be apt and the focus should be in minimizing the time. It is important to initially check the availability of the other person for talking or taking a decision. Calling back a client is also important for maintaining the decorum of communication. The primary concern about communication is able to focus and avoid distractions.
Using too many jargons or haphazard animated communications may signal a negative image to receiver. The person at the other end may not be an effective listener and might misunderstand the overture. To avoid such happenings, it is important to have a grounded image and yet speak with complete confidence and focus. A communication skill is an ongoing process.