If we ask you to name today’s great business leaders, whose name would pop up in your mind? Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Ratan Tata, or someone else. Now, why do you think they are great leaders? What will be your answer?
Well, we will answer for you here. Through his words and actions, Steve Jobs inspired his employees to strive for the best technology and hardware products. Jeff Bezos of Amazon articulated the company’s ethos among its employees and to the world. On the other hand, Ratan Tata is known for his humility, and as a visionary, he has been inspiring his employees to see and think beyond their imagination.
These and all the great leaders share one trait in common that makes them great, and that trait is – business communication. Now you must be thinking, how can you develop communication skills? How to reduce the barriers of communication?
Before diving deep into improving your communication skills, let’s understand what is business communication.
What is business communication?
Business communication is the process of sharing information within and outside the company. Whether it’s a leader, manager, sales executive, customer care, or employee dealing with clients, everyone in the organizational hierarchy needs to demonstrate great business communication skills.
Why business communication is important?
Communication is such a habitual part of our daily lives that we rarely stop and think before we speak. But have you noticed how verbal and non-verbal communication, your words, and actions affect others around you?
Effective communication affects employees’ productivity, processes, and work efficiency of every layer of the company.
Imagine a cricket, football, or hockey team that shares a great rapport and communicates well on and off-field always show their great sports leading them to win matches and become a strong opposition for other teams.
It works in the same manner in the business world. Organizations that induce effective communication among employees experience their productivity increased by 25%. This means ensuring the quality of work while meeting deadlines, better customer service, which means happier clients, higher profit, and increased revenue.
So how can you make this happen in your organization? How to improve communication skills?
5 Ways to improve communication skills
1.Understand non-verbal communication and its basics
Normally, we all believe that we communicate through our words. But one study found that how the audience perceives the speaker or presenter, 55% of it depends on non-verbal communication.
To demonstrate clear and confident communication, adopt proper posture. Avoid folding your hands, slouching, or making yourself look smaller than you are. Maintain eye contact and move around the space you are given. Your posture shows your confidence more than your words do.
2.Engage the audience in a conversation
Do you remember any bedtime stories that your parents or grandparents used to read for you? Or you might be doing the same for your kids every night. How long these bedtime stories are – three to five pages long, including pictures.
This is because kids have the low attention span and so do the adult these days. And no one likes to sit through long one-way communication, whether it’s a story, conference meeting, or motivational speech.
So, engage your audience make your discussion and presentation more interactive. Ask your audience a question, encourage them to share their opinions, ideas, and experiences on the topic.
3.Start and end with key points
Every communicator has a purpose of initiating communication, whether it is a team meeting, presentation, or speech.
So, reiterate the key takeaways at the start and end of the conversation that you want your audience to consider during and after the presentation.
Clear, confident, and effective communication is one of the most important skills you can learn and improve as a business leader. Remember to communicate with your words as well as body posture. Notice the feedback your audience is sending your way through their non-verbal cues.
Listen carefully to what your audience has to say and reiterate the key points to help it stick with the audience.
