Communicate Like a Pro: Spoken and Written Communication

Introduction

Speaking, Listening, and Writing are critical skills when it comes to communicating. I've taken some notes on the topic and here they may help you.

Spoken Communication

When engaging in spoken communication, it’s important to practice active listening. This means putting away phones and other distractions so that you can be fully present. Listen and understand what the other person is saying. Avoid pontificating and multi-tasking. Additionally, use open-ended to keep the conversation flowing.

Celeste Headlee has outlined 10 rules to help ensure effective communication:

• Don’t multi-task. Put away your phone or clicker. Actually be present. Do not be half in and out of the conversation.
• Don’t pontificate - enter every conversation assuming you have something to learn.
• Use open ended questions. Complicated questions generally get simple answers.
• Go with the flow. When thoughts come into your mind, you need to let them go out of your mind. When you hold that thought you may stop listening.
• If you don’t know. Say that you don’t know. Don’t make your talk cheap. Say things as if you are going on the record. Error on the the side of caution.
• Don’t equate your experience with theirs. If they are talking about losing a family member don’t talk about the time you lost a family member. All experiences are individual. It is not about you. You don’t need to take that moment to prove how amazing you are or how much you suffered.
• Try not to repeat yourself. It’s condescending and boring and done all the time. We keep rephrasing the point over and over, don’t do that.
• Stay out of the weeds. People care about you. Remembering the dates and who aren’t as important as finding out what your like and what you have in common.
• Listen.
• Be brief.

Written Communication

It’s important to be aware of certain techniques that can help make your writing more effective.

Here are some tips for ensuring effective written communication:

• Strong Subjects are important.
  • Avoid the words "There" and "It" as they are better ways to refer to the subject. Video 5 min
  • Avoid passive voice. You can do this by eliminating the nominalization(verbs becoming nouns).Video 3 min
• Strong Verbs
  • Keep subjects and verbs close. Video 5 min
  • Use the active voice. Video 6 min
  • Understanding active verbs and passive verbs. Video 5 min

Quiz and Resources

• Quiz - How Good Are Your Communication Skills?
• Book: Communicating Effectively for Dummies

Conclusion

Communicating is something we can all improve and should always work on.