Effective+communication

= How To Build Effective Communication Skills? =

The more knowledge you have about the language that you use for communication, the better. Improve your vocabulary and practice newly learned words by using them in your daily language. During communication, try to avoid saying long sentences. Try to make your sentences short and to the point. This may be difficult to do initially but with practice you’ll get better.
 * Improve language skills **

If you are having a conversation with someone, listen to the other person with concentration. This will ensure that you have a good understanding of the other person’s point of view before you speak. Generally, people tend to concentrate more on what they are going to say instead of listening to the other person with full attention. Therefore, both fail to understand each other and the conversation does not go anywhere. Effective listening will allow you to reflect back on what the other person said and your response will be more relevant and to the point. It will also make the other person feel good and s/he will be more responsive to what you say.
 * Listen with concentration **

Never enforce your point of view on others and never think or assume that whatever you are saying is absolutely right and unobjectionable. Always be mentally ready to face objection on whatever you say and don’t become defensive right off the bat. Open your mind to other possibilities. If an objection is thrown at you, look at it without prejudice and know that you could be wrong and always be willing to accept it.
 * Learn to handle objections **

You should try to be in control of your emotions when you communicate, especially negative emotions. During a conversation, if something is not said according to your liking or in line with your point of view, don’t get angry. Keep anger at a mile’s length and always keep reminding yourself that you have the right to control your reaction. In case of a conflict, try to reach a compromise by finding a solution that makes both people happy. If you get defensive and angry at any point, it is more than likely that the other person will do the same.
 * Learn to control your emotions **

People are more visual and they generally tend to make an opinion about what you say by observing how you say it. During a conversation, your tone, your volume, face expressions, hand gestures and other body movements make the most impact on the other person, even more than your words. So mastering your body language and synchronizing your gestures with your speech will help you achieve your objective to become an effective communicator.
 * Learn to master your body language **

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= How to Create an Effective Communication = **1) Determine your goals** **2) Identify your audience** **3) Summarize your message** **4) Choose your communication medium, and**

** Determine your goals. ** First you need to know what you want to achieve with your communication. Do you want to generate awareness of your business, promote a specific service, connect with your customers, educate the community, or something else? The business owner in my example wanted to realize several goals with one direct mail piece. Achieving more than one goal is possible. However, if you do not prioritize goals you risk diluting your message and decreasing the communication value. Your goals will determine //what// and //how// you will communicate to your audience. Here is an example. The business owner could have had the following goals: “generate X number of RSVP’s to event Z //and// strengthen the relationship with the current customers.” Or, the business owner could also have identified the two very different goals: “sell X number of service B //and// create awareness of the whole range of services that the company offers.” Depending upon his goals, the resulting direct mail piece would have been very different in terms of text, visuals, tone, and look and feel.

** Identify your audience. ** The next step is to determine with whom you intend to communicate. Are they customers who just started buying your product or service, loyal customers who have done business with you for years, potential customers, your employees and their families, stakeholders in the community, or somebody else? You may want to reach out to different audience groups with one and the same communication piece. To create a strong communication, though, target one audience group (or a few audience groups at most) when deciding on wording and tone. If you try to communicate with several audience groups at the same time, especially when these audience groups do not have much in common, you risk diluting your message. Just as you would approach your best friend very differently than an acquaintance, you need to use different communication styles with your audience groups depending upon your relationship.

** Summarize your message. ** Next, to focus on what you intend to communicate, summarize the gist of your message in plain language. It may sound like a no-brainer, but the message needs to align with your goals to ensure that your communication piece will achieve the goals. If the business owner in my example wants to: “generate X number of RSVP’s to event Z //and// strengthen the relationship with the current customers,” the core message of the direct mail piece might have been: “we value you as customer, we would like to see you again, please join us at event X where you can expect A, B, and C.” Obviously another choice of goals would have resulted in another message and communication piece altogether.

** Choose your communication medium. ** Now that you have identified the goal(s), audience group(s), and core message, it is time to determine the communication medium through which you will communicate. Would a postcard, an advertisement, a newsletter, an e-mail announcement, a formal letter, or another medium meet your communication needs the best? Let me give another example. Assume that the business owner wants to increase sales (goal) among potential customers (audience group), but he does not have their addresses. In this case, a flyer inserted in a magazine that targets his potential customers may be a better choice than a monthly direct mail piece.