Effective Communication Skills

Communication and Teenagers

Parents, when you were a teenager growing up, didn’t you wish your parents would have listened to you more? And didn’t you wish you would have been allowed to talk more about your feelings?

Well, guess what? The same exact things that frustrated you as a teenager also frustrates your teenager.

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Child communication skills: Do You Really Know What Your Child Is Saying To You?
Here’s the scene of communication with your child: your three-year-old boy is
bawling his eyes out. Hurriedly, you run over, and ask “What’s wrong?”. But no
answer is spoken, the tears just keep coming out, and the vocal cords just keep
on saying “waaaaaaah!”.
You start talking to him in that sweet and soft voice of yours to cajole him
to tell you what his problem is. You really want him to calm down now. But when
he’s asked questions like “Is something hurting you?” or “Are you hungry?’ he
doesn’t answer. He just keeps on crying.

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Branding and Employee Communication
In the I-HR newsletter, moderator Beth N. Carvin asked if the idea of branding could be used effectively to improve productivity and retention. This is an expanded version of my response to her question:
Yes, I think you can use the idea of branding as a tool for improving employee productivity and retention.
Let’s approach it from the perspective of a manager communicating with his or her subordinates. If the manager sets out to build a positive reputation over time and over a series of messages, then we might say he or she is embarking on a branding exercise. It’s an attempt to create the trust and goodwill necessary to have messages both accepted and acted upon.

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Avoiding A “Failure to Communicate”
It’s in every classified ad and most job descriptions: must have excellent communication skills. Worse yet, once hired, it reappears annually at review time: Improve communication skills. What’s a worker to do? Communication skills don’t require a graduate degree, just some common sense, a bit of homework and a better understanding of the role communication plays — in everything:
Listen. Don’t assume that better communication skills mean you have to speak like John F. Kennedy or orate like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. listening skills are the most ignored aspect of good communication skills. More misunderstandings occur due to poor listening than to misstatements.
To be a good listener, suspend that urge to speak while others are speaking. Don’t begin to prepare what you’ll say next. Listen intently, with ears, eyes, mind and body. Are you following what’s being said? If so, nod in agreement. If not, a furrowed brow indicates you’re confused. Your speaker needs these cues. If you truly heard and understood, repeat it back in your own words. This lets both parties know they’re on the same wavelength.
Mind Your ABCs. Some people turn complex topics into simple explanations. Sadly, others’ talents lie in the opposite direction: making simple topics complex. I strive to mind my ABCs: Accuracy, Brevity and Clarity.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur once remarked that even more important than giving orders that could be understood was issuing orders that couldn’t be misunderstood. Whether or not lives are at stake, your reputation as a communicator may be. People appreciate short sentences; they are often confused by long, convoluted ones. Keep it succinct.
Don’t get labeled missing in action. Some excellent communicators are deemed less so for not contributing in meetings. A coaching client of mine from overseas was culturally uncomfortable speaking up, so others monopolized the meetings, often rudely interrupting to make a point. Her timidity, coupled with self-consciousness surrounding her command of English, resulted in her wallflower demeanor.
Now the night before meetings she reviews the agenda, composes her thoughts and rehearses making powerful yet concise statements about items of the day. To others her remarks appear off-handed. She’s thus perceived as a more powerful and effective communicator. She’s also developed a nice yet firm statement when she’s interrupted, which reminds people she hasn’t yielded the floor yet. After a few invocations of this phrase, others respect her opinions better. Her boss has noticed and applauded her new assertiveness.
It takes two. I knew a worker who was fired for her boss’s inadequacies as a communicator. Don’t pay the price for another’s communication shortcomings. It may require some work on your part, but it’s worth the effort.
I once had a boss who listened, but never asked questions. After a while I anticipated the questions that needed to be asked and posed them myself, or simply provided responses as if he’d asked them. I would go prepared to each meeting with a list of project-related questions, which showed my foresight and attention to detail. It benefited us both.
Write speech. It sounds like a Buddhist precept, yet remember, writing is a big part of communication. Let e-mails, weekly reports and other writings reinforce your clear thinking, organizational skills, attention to detail and ability to express important ideas.
Make your writing easy to read. Spelling matters, even in e-mail. Use white space, numbered lists and bulleted items to communicate more effectively. Titles, subtitles and lists similarly add cogency. Write your piece, set it aside for a spell, then review it and strike out 25 percent to say it more
succinctly.
Speak up. Consider taking a public speaking class, joining a local Toastmasters club (www.toastmasters.org) to improve your oral communication skills. The new skills, offline practice and confidence gleaned will help you in meetings, in giving reports and in making presentations.
Excellent communication skills help in many ways. With practice you can confidently give a speech, make a cold call, train others; conduct a meeting, make a sales presentation, interview someone or be interviewed.
Improved communication skills can open many doors, both within and beyond the workplace. It’s time you sharpen your CQ — Your Communication Quotient!
by Craig Harrison
As a self-employed speaker, trainer and consultant on communication and customer service topics, Craig Harrison is simultaneously a decision maker, gatekeeper and caller on a daily basis. Craig is standing by to take your calls and e-mails: (510) 547-0664, or via Excellence@craigspeaks.com. Visit his website at http://www.ExpressionsOfExcellence.com.

5 Keys To Powerful Communication
As a coach that specializes in marriage, couples and family coaching, it is
critical to develop strong and clear keys for communication. How many times have
you been faced with a difficult feeling or occurrence that you are reluctant to
discuss with your partner? You probably thought, “If I just don’t say anything,
I can get past it”?
The problem is most of us can’t get past it. It simmers and swells until we
near our boiling point. Finally, we explode. The problem has magnified itself
beyond rational conversation. From this miscommunication comes a personal,
relational and emotional mess.

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Effective communication is the key to strengthen relationships. By developing effective communication skills, you can have a successful long term relationship. This article helps you understand how communication can keep your relationships alive.
Lack of Communication in a Relationship

One of the most important aspects of a successful relationship is effective communication between both parties. Lack of communication in a relationship can result in hasty decisions that can even lead to separation. We need to understand the reasons behind communication breakdown and how they can be avoided to ensure a fulfilling relationship.

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What is communication? This article looks at the basics of communication and effective communication. By understanding how communication operates,and tools to use in effective communication, the more your communication will improve.

COMMUNICATION

A lifelong process in the human life, COMMUNICATION is a way to express oneself in various ways : using words and without using a single word.

COMMUNICATION is the exchange or interchange of ideas or objects between two people or designated locations. More precisely the definition of communication is the consideration and action of impelling an impulse or particle from source point across a distance to receipt point, with the intention of bringing into being at the receipt point a duplication and
understanding of that which emanated from the source point. The formula of communication is: cause, distance, effect, with intention, attention and duplication and understanding. Communication by definition does not need to be two-way. Communication is one of the component parts of understanding.

Communication is the process of exchanging information and ideas. An active process, it involves encoding, transmitting, and decoding intended messages. There are many means of communicating and many different language systems. Speech and language are only a portion of communication.

Ask yourself: Who? What? How? When? Where? Why?

- Who are you speaking to?

- What do you wish to communicate?
- How can you best convey your message?
- When? Timing is important here.
- Where? What is the physical context of the communication in mind?
- Why? What disposes them to listen?

Communicaction requires effective time management : The right word at the right moment…
by Tarun Patel
Tarun Patel - Gujarat - INDIA.
I am working as a communication skills
trainer in India.
BLOGs:

http://comwell.blogspot.com

http://careersinfo.blogspot.com

http://win-learn.blogspot.com