The Ultimate Effective Communication Guide

Table of Contents

Effective Communication				1
	Why Communications Skills Are So Important:			2
	Communications Skills – The Importance of Removing Barriers:			2
		Source		3
		Message		3
		Encoding		3
		Channel		3
		Decoding		3
		Receiver		3
		Feedback		4
		Context		4
	Removing Barriers At All These Stages			4
	Active Listening			4
		Hearing What People Are Really Saying		4
		Becoming an Active Listener		6
			1. Pay attention	6
			2. Show that you are listening	6
			3. Provide feedback & verify what you heard	6
			4. Defer judgment	6
			5. Respond Appropriately	7
	Key Points about Active Listening			7
	Developing Skills to Understand Other People			8
		Empathy		8
		Using Empathy Effectively		9
			Here are some more tips for an empathetic conversation	10
		Key Points about Developing an Empathetic Approach		10
	Understanding Personality Types			10
	Body Language			12
		Understanding non-verbal communication		12
		First Impressions and Confidence		13
		Difficult Meetings and Defensiveness		14
	Assertive Communication Techniques			14
			Empathetic Assertion	14
			Escalating Assertion	15
			Ask for More Time	15
			Change Your Verbs	15
			Broken Record	15
			Scripting	16
		Key Points about Being Assertive		16

Why Communications Skills Are So Important:

The purpose of communication is to get your message across to others. This is a process that involves both the sender of the message and the receiver. This process leaves room for error, with messages often misinterpreted by one or more of the parties involved. This causes unnecessary confusion and counter productivity.

In fact, a message is successful only when both the sender and the receiver perceive it in the same way.

By successfully getting your message across, you convey your thoughts and ideas effectively. When not successful, the thoughts and ideas that you convey do not necessarily reflect your own, causing a communications breakdown and creating roadblocks that stand in the way of your goals – both personally and professionally.

In a recent survey of recruiters from companies with more than 50,000 employees, communication skills were cited as the single more important decisive factor in choosing managers. The survey, conducted by the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Business School, points out that communication skills, including written and oral presentations, as well as an ability to work with others, are the main factor contributing to job success.

In spite of the increasing importance placed on communication skills, many individuals continue to struggle with this, unable to communicate their thoughts and ideas effectively – whether in verbal or written format. This inability makes it nearly impossible for them to compete effectively in the workplace, and stands in the way of career progression.

Getting your message across is paramount to progressing. To do this, you must understand what your message is, what audience you are sending it to, and how it will be perceived. You must also weigh-in the circumstances surrounding your communications, such as situational and cultural context.

Communications Skills – The Importance of Removing Barriers:

Communication barriers can pop-up at every stage of the communication process (which consists of sender, message, channel, receiver, feedback and context – see the diagram below) and have the potential to create misunderstanding and confusion.

Key Points about Being Assertive

Being assertive means knowing where the fine line is between assertion and aggression and balancing on it. It means having a strong sense of yourself and acknowledging that you deserve to get what you want. And it means standing up for you even in the most difficult situations.

Assertiveness can be learned and developed, and although it won’t happen overnight, by practicing the techniques presented here you will slowly become more confident in expressing your needs and wants. As your assertiveness improves, so will your productivity and efficiency. Start today and begin to see how being assertive allows you to work with people to accomplish tasks, solve problems, and reach solutions.

To be continued…

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