Did you know that depending on how we communicate shapes the quality of our relationships and even our career path?
Communication is a fundamental part of people to be able to express themselves, not only to express their opinions or ideas, but to externalize their feelings so that they can be known by others. However, it is not always easy to communicate, because sometimes what we say and how we say it is easily misinterpreted, causing conflicts or unintentional injuries.
For this reason, communication can be a double-edged sword, with which it is possible to achieve a positive coexistence and promote good treatment or, on the contrary, it can be used for personal convenience and generate problems. In order to communicate in a good way, it is necessary to develop a number of communication skills.Do you know what they are?
We invite you to continue reading the following article, where we will talk about the most important communication skills and why it is important to develop them.
Why is it important to develop communication skills?
These communication skills are defined as a set of personal aptitudes focused on linguistic expression that are formed to be able to express a message to a person, creating in turn the opportunity to generate an interaction with that person and lay the foundations of a relationship. Good communication also allows us to reach functional agreements, show cordiality, understand instructions, inspire others and resolve doubts.
All you need to do is listen and talk, isn’t it simple? Not at all, the truth is that communication, as simple as it may seem, is a difficult process to understand and manage, since sometimes dialogues do not tend to flow as expected, we tend to get stuck or to repress opinions that end up hindering any effective communication.
On the other hand, it can happen that people tend to choose a specific type of communication with which they only seek selfish benefits, instead of generating a good interaction. This is the case of aggressive or passive-aggressive people, who tend to manipulate others through victimization or accusation in their speeches.
A good communication allows us not only to generate important links, but also to acquire a good return treatment, causing respect, kindness, understanding and mutual empathy, which in the future will allow easier deals and a greater opening of favorable negotiations.This will lead to respect, kindness, understanding and mutual empathy, which in the future will allow for easier dealings and a greater opening of favorable negotiations.
Most important communication skills
Below you will learn which are the communication skills you should always keep in mindYou will be able to recognize which ones you use best and which ones you need to work on.
1. Active listening
In order to learn to communicate, it is first necessary to know how to listen, and we are not referring only to hearing what a person has to say, but to paying attention to his speech, watching his expressions and empathizing with his feelings.
In addition, it is important not to judge and not to superimpose personal opinions, on the contrary, try to maintain a neutral position, allow the person to unburden him/herself completely and provide an opinion that helps to solve the problem.
2. Assertiveness
Assertiveness is the major point of communication skills, since it allows us to express ourselves correctly without offending or insulting and defending our point at the same time. This is achieved by mixing speech with respect, coherence and truthfulness of facts.
All this helps to express an opinion or transmit a criticism without printing cruelty in what is said, but offering a constructive observation that, even if it is not to the person’s liking, he will not take it as a personal attack and will be able to improve it.
3. Speak clearly and precisely
Giving ‘too much thought to the matter’ can make it seem that we are looking for an excuse to justify an act, a lie or a clear sign of insecurity that others can take advantage of negatively. That is why it is better to speak concisely and directly, so there will be no doubts that generate misunderstandings. But to achieve this it is necessary to control feelings to avoid nervousness and anxiety, increase self-confidence and work on eloquence to capture the attention of others.
4. Empathy
Empathy is the key to maintain good interpersonal and intimate relationships, because it allows to gain the trust of others, thanks to the fact that they feel understood and, therefore, ensures an adequate coexistence with them.
It does not matter if you have not gone through a similar situation or if you know the situation in detail, it is enough just to listen to the person and not judge them, think for a moment about the depth of their feelings, how they are affected and what you can do to help solve it.
5. Non-verbal expression
Non-verbal expression can say much more about us than our own words, since our face cannot hide what we really feel, since our gestures and expressions are perfectly reflected in it. Through these we can know the attitude of people and their emotional states.
Therefore, we can observe how sincere people are in their speeches, if they are lying, if they feel as they say or if they are unsure about what they are saying.
6. Negotiation skills
Many may associate negotiation skills with a kind of scam or pursuit of self-interest, but that is not entirely true. Negotiation skills allow us to reach agreements with others when we have differences of opinion, ideas or feelings, so that a win-win resolution can be reached.
In this way, conflicts can be resolved and a valuable lesson is learned that can be used in the future, with the purpose of avoiding annoyances or confusions that trigger bigger problems.
7. Positive attitude
Having a positive attitude is one of the most appreciated tools for social interaction, since it makes you more accessible for others to get to know you and, therefore, it is easy for them to approach you. To do this you must have the ability to face problems instead of running away from them, to take lessons after every fall, to be brave enough to do something again, and to observe the good elements in every moment.
This helps greatly to keep an open perspective on conflicts and to handle negotiations more effectively, since you are always focused on moving forward and achieving a point of balance between both parties.
8. Openness
Having an open mind helps to have a better adaptation to any environment and surroundings, because it allows that the differences that exist in the tastes or in the way of seeing life of the other people around us are not an insurmountable obstacle.
In addition, it generates the possibility of understanding things that are unknown or different points of view, even though they do not completely agree with one’s own, without generating any kind of conflict or offense.
9. Acceptance and feedback
This refers to the fact that it is necessary to show the other person that your message has been adequately received through a response to his or her dilemma. In this way, the other person really feels heard, understood and accepted. Of course, you have to take into account what you are going to answer, having a relation with the exposed subject and that can generate a solution or an understanding to the other person.
Therefore, we must remember to be respectful and sensitive to their situation and also avoid putting our personal beliefs or opinions first, so that it is an impartial reply.
10. Reading and writing
Reading and writing improves our way of communicating, there is no myth about it. This is because reading makes it possible to develop and expand our vocabulary, access great information and learn about different situations that help us understand the world.
Thus, with writing we can have a non-verbal means of communication, and this does not mean that we should be careless or lazy when it comes to expressing ourselves, since we have the challenge of expressing emotions and experiences through truthfulness and respect.
11. Patience and respect
It is useless to have a great cognitive development of communication skills if at the time of carrying them out we do not have the ability to show patience and respect to others. We must remember that when it comes to communicating our feelings or expressing an opinion, we have the challenge of exposing ourselves and therefore we end up being vulnerable, so it is important that both our interlocutor and ourselves maintain a cordial and constructive attitude.
On the other hand, our answers are not always well received at first, not necessarily because they are received as an attack, but because they are not fully understood, so it is sometimes necessary to repeat the message or express it in another way, always with good manners.
12. Credibility
Always speak truthfully is a good idea. Even when we are honest about ignoring an issue or not finding a favorable response, showing consistency between what we say and what we express is a sign of real interest, rather than appearing to have a selfish or pedantic interest behind it.
Like empathy, positivity and openness, credibility builds trust and consequently there is greater receptivity with the people we communicate with.