May 14, 2024
What to keep in mind when communicating?
Conversation, dialogue, monologue, discussion, chat, informing, arguing. Good communication is a non-separable part of human life. We communicate with each other by spoken, written, or sign language. Each exchange of communications carries a purpose. This may be, for example, a desire to exchange information, a desire to persuade someone to do something (persuasion) or to express one’s emotions. We utter countless words every day but do we do it the right way? Have you ever found yourself not getting along? Were the words you uttered misconstrued and completely not what you intended? Here are some tips for verbal and non-verbal communication and to communicate effectively.
Benefits of effective communication
Few people know that during an incoherent situation, that is, a specific, unusual situation during a conversation, when “something doesn’t feel right to us” – people pay attention to words only 7% of the time. So despite our good words and indifferent facial expressions, our words lose tremendously in value. Body language, eye contact, tone of voice or nonverbal communication, definitely prevails during a conversation. So let’s focus on our facial expressions, gestures, movements, body posture, maintain eye contact and listening skills. Let’s match ourselves to the situation and our interlocutor. Let’s observe how another person behaves and try to fine-tune our body language.
Effective communication is the key?
How to avoid misunderstandings? Listening = Hearing? Well, no! Listening is the most commonly used communication skill. It is very important in developing your communication skills. To be a good listener one should : not interrupt, not correct the speaker, not be preoccupied with something else while the speaker is speaking, not use “quantifiers” (i.e. messages like : “Never”, “Always”), avoid barriers to communication. Take into account how person feel and remember that it is two-way communication. The purpose of listening and sharing information is primarily to find out informations, thoughts and ideas, evaluate & criticize, as well as to empathize and understand others. It is very common that while listening, we don’t know, we don’t remember what was said to us a moment ago. This is normal. This is how our cognitive functions work. However, it often puts us in an awkward situation. How to behave then? We can learn actively listen. Use, for example, “Paraphrasing”, i.e. reflecting by questioning what we understood, e.g. “You say …….”, “If I understand your statement correctly then…..”. Another way is “Clarifying”, clarifying, that is, simply asking additional questions. “Reflecting” can also be helpful, it is to focus on the emotions of the interlocutor, e.g. “I can see that this issue upsets you”, “I feel that you are very concerned about it”.
Effective communication strategies and tips for improving
Communication mistakes and barriers are very common during conversations. A few of them are at least :
1. Generalizing (“Everybody”, “Everyone”, “All the time”, “Always”)
2. Labeling (“He is mean”, “She is mean”).
3. Dichotomous thinking (“Either……also….”)
4. Attributing (“Everything is my fault,” “If it weren’t for me,….”)
5. Minimizing (“Yes, BUT…..”).
6. Abusing imperatives (“You must,” “You should,” “Necessarily,” “You must not,” “You must not,” “You must not”)
7. Reading minds (“After all, I know Philip is jealous of me”, “I know perfectly well how she feels about it”)
Summary – tips for effective communication
These are just a few, of the many methods that can contribute to effective, satisfying communication. Keep in mind that an important part of communication is non-verbal speech, feedback, active listening and open communication. Don’t forget to make the other person feel heard and understood. You can always ask question to clarify and be clear about your goal. People are very often unaware of the power of their spoken words with appropriate facial expressions or gestures. Sometimes our message is received completely differently by the recipient than we wanted it to be. It is worth being aware of the above components and putting them into practice. Let’s talk! 🙂
We encourage you to read another article on communication with others https://levelupngo.com/efektywna-komunikacja-zinnymi/