10 Ways to Improve your Communication Skills

Table of Contents:

• What are the Top 10 Ways to Improve your Communication Skills?
  • Keep it Simple
  • Use Active Voice
  • Use Examples and Stories
  • Ask Questions
  • Think About your Audiences’ Perspective
  • Proofread and Edit
  • Choose the Right Platform
  • Make it a Two-Way Communication
  • Read Cues
  • Ask for Feedback
• Conclusion
• Bonus Points

Whether you are just starting your professional journey with your first-ever job, or you are a seasoned professional aiming to climb the corporate ladder and land a senior role, good communication skills will always enhance your professional opportunities.

In this article, we will look at 10 ways to improve communication skills in the workplace.

What are the Top 10 Ways to Improve your Communication Skills?

If you want practical insights into communication skills in the workplace (and a certificate to prove your commitment to learning and self-improvement), you can explore the free Basics of Business Communication course on UniAthena. 

It will help you in improving your communication within and outside an organization. Now, whether you are communicating with your team, clients, stakeholders, or leaders, these are some tips to help you improve your communication skills:

Keep it Simple

• As a rule, try to use as simple of a language as possible when communicating your message. If you can pass on a message in two words, there is no need to use ten in its place. 
• You want your audience to understand what you want to say without risking them getting bored.
• Using complex phrasing can also lead to your message getting lost in translation or being misinterpreted. So keep the phrasing simple, minimal and to-the-point.

Use Active Voice

• This is especially relevant for written communication. Writing in an active voice helps your communication be effective and compelling. 
• Instead of saying, “The meeting is being hosted by PersonX.”, say, “Person X is hosting the meeting.”
• This makes the sentence and message more action-oriented and helps you get the message across in a simple and direct way. 

Use Examples And Stories

• The easiest way to get your message across is by turning it into a story or an example. 
• The best way to improve communication skills is to improve your storytelling skills. This is because people will not remember theories and definitions but they will remember human stories.
• So you can incorporate your personal experiences, relate a matter to a common example, or give details that your audience would find interesting. These will resonate with your audience better and you will have communicated your message more effectively.

Ask Questions

• When you want to emphasise on a particular point, asking questions will make the audience think about it on a deeper level. They will start looking for the answers you want them to find. This will help them grasp the information better.
• This will also help you make the communication a two way conversation. If you keep your audience engaged in the conversation, they will follow your reasoning more actively

Think About your Audiences’ Perspective

• One of the best ways to improve your communication skills is to understand your audience. This helps you pinpoint their motivations and tailor your message as needed. 
• This free Executive Diploma in Business Communication can help you perfect your interpersonal communication skills in just 4 weeks. Factors like messaging, tone, language, and platform of communication need to be considered when attempting cross-cultural communication.

Proofread and Edit

• Your strong communication skills should also translate into written communication. One way to ensure that is by proofreading your emails, messages, and documents, before sending them. 
• This also means that if you do find any errors in your message you must rectify it immediately. 

Choose the Right Platform

• Depending on the information you are trying to communicate as well as your audiences’ preferences, you will need to pick the right platform.
• For example, if you want to notify your team members with an update, you can send it as an email and cc the involved parties in it.
• In case of a more informal workspace, you can also share the information in a group chat.
• For client discussions or negotiations, you need a different approach. Setting up a meeting will be the more effective way. 

You can learn to better communicate with groups with this free Mastering Group Communication course. In just 1 week, you can enhance your communication skills. 

Make it a Two-Way Communication

• While discussions are naturally a two way communication, you can also benefit from getting the audience involved when teaching or training them something.
• Getting engaged in the conversation helps the audience grasp concepts better and faster. You can do this by asking for their input or encouraging them to ask questions.

Read Cues

• This is typically possible if you are communicating in person. Understanding physical cues and body language is an important part of professional communication skills. 
• If your audience seems disinterested, bored, they are no longer making eye contact, or responding enthusiastically, that is your cue of ending the conversation or getting their attention back by getting them involved again.

Ask for Feedback

• Asking for feedback can help you gauge audience perspectives. 
• You can take the feedback and improve your communication skills in the workplace by implementing it in your next meeting or conversation.

Conclusion

These were some of the steps to improve communication skills in the workplace. As a leader or even an aspiring leader, these should help you improve your communication skills. You can explore the courses mentioned above and learn communication skills for free with UniAthena.

Bonus Points

• Don’t forget that listening is also part of communication. So ensure you also build active listening skills.
• Note-taking during long interactions can be a good habit and help you understand the conversation better.
• Pay attention to your tone in written communication, both formal and informal. Certain words, phrasing, or even punctuations, can be misinterpreted.
• If possible, have frequent face-to-face communication with your peers. This helps you maintain a good relationship.