When communicating with others, there's seven different points you should always try to complete in order to communicate effectively, listed and explained below are all seven:
- Clear - Always ensure you're clear and that your listeners are able to understand what you're trying to get across to them. If you're not clear when communicating, those listening/ reading won't know what you're on about and may leave unsure or having to fill in any gaps for themselves, leading to confusion.
- Concise - Whatever point you're trying to make, make sure you stick to it and don't venture away from the topic, doing so will make your audience become disinterested and it will begin to bore them, it also makes it look like you're unsure what you're talking about.
- Concrete - When communicating, ensure your audience has a clear understanding and image of what you're trying to say/ explain. Give your audience the enough detail to fully understand, but not overwhelm them.
- Correct - Ensure what you're saying or writing is correct, don't give your audience or readers incorrect information as it looks bad on yourself, and may lead them to question your knowledge on the matter. Also ensure to check what you've written, spellchecker is great, but isn't 100% foolproof!
- Coherent - When communicating, establish a logical order which makes sense and is easy to understand. Make sure you get your point across and stay on the topic in hand, don't go venturing off track!
- Complete - Make sure you tell your audience everything they need to know! Don't leave out any details which are of some importance. If you're sending an email about a meeting you want to take place, remember to include a time, date, location and what it's about.
- Courteous - Regardless of whether it's positive or negative, always be courteous in everything to you say and write. Being upbeat and polite when discussing a negative topic can be difficult, but always try, as further issues can arise if not.
Potential Barriers To Effective Communication
Physical Barriers
A physical barrier can include things such as a hearing or speech problem, which would prevent someone from hearing you talk, or prevent them from speaking/ you understanding. In other forms of communication there are other barriers. For example, when speaking to someone over e-mail, the person you're speaking to cannot detect your body language or tone of voice, which may lead them to misunderstand or your choice of words may mislead them into thinking something else. Any one of these examples are able to make a conversation ineffective, and in most cases there aren't a whole lot of ways around these types of barriers. Take hearing loss as an example, besides using sign-language or writing down what you're saying, there are no other ways around this. And these too are not complete alternatives, as some people may not know sign-language or the person you're trying to talk to may also be unable to read effectively.
Language Barrier
A language barrier, a barrier in which you speak a different language to the person you're trying to speak with and can prove to be a difficult barrier to overcome, particularly in person. For example, if you're speaking in English to someone who doesn't understand English then they aren't going to understand what you're saying, and when they speak back, you aren't going to understand them either. The only way around this barrier is a translator, such as Google Translate or an actual human who speaks the two languages, and even this isn't a complete solution because Google Translate for instance may misinterpret or miss translate what you're saying and again cause more confusion.
Disinterest
The person you're talking to may have no interest in what you're saying and so may misunderstand or misreply, should they even reply. Either way, without their interest, the conversation isn't going to be at it's best. The best way around this, is to comeback at a better time, when they're more likely to be interested.
Different Opinion
The person you're talking to may have a different opinion to yours and so they may not be interested in what you have to say, particularly if they don't like or agree with your opinion. The only way to get around this is to persuade them into listening to your opinion whether they agree or not. Another alternative would be go speak to them another time when their opinion or mood has changed.
Poor Understanding
The person you're trying to communicate with may not understand what you're saying, or not know what you're on about. For example, if you try and talk to someone about football when they don't know anything about the sport, they aren't going to understand what you're on about. A good way to get around this would be to try and explain more about what the subject you're going to talk about, in this case, explain to them the basics about football, then when you're talking to them, they'll more likely to understand what you're talking about.
Effective Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal skills are the skills you use when speaking to someone face-to-face, so for example, how you react and your body language. Below are a couple of methods in which to maintain effective interpersonal communication skills.
- Respect - Treat people how you'd like them to treat you. So have respect for their opinion, give them a chance to explain themselves and don't interrupt them.
- Don't interrupt - Give them a chance to speak, and they'll give you a chance to speak once they're done talking. Even if you have a question you need answering, wait until they're done, or they may even answer it before you have a chance to ask. Interrupting someone may lead them to thinking you aren't interested in listening to what they have to say.
- Respect their opinions - It's okay to not agree with someone, but it's best to be done in a sense why you explain why you have a different opinion, provide any facts or reasons to this.
- Maintain eye contact - Always maintain eye contact with the person talking, this is a good way to show you're listening and interested in what they have to say.
- Maintain good body language - Similar to keeping eye contact, when talking to someone face-to-face you should ensure you maintain good body language. For example, you shouldn't be slouched in your chair like you would be on the sofa, instead sit up straight with your back against the backrest.
- Keep listening - Ensure you listen to what they're saying, doing so will also allow you to best reply or ask questions on what they say; you also don't want to make a fool of yourself if they ask what they just said and you can't give an answer.
- Ask questions - Ask questions on what they say but keep them relevant. For example, ask them for their reasons behind their opinion, and doing so will not only show you're interested and listening, but it also allows you to further understand them.
- Relate - To help someone understand your point, you may wish to include examples which you've come across yourself. This not only explains the point, but also puts it into context/ a real life scenario.
- Concise - Stay on topic and don't venture off it! Doing so may disinterest the listener and lead them question your knowledge on the matter.
- Visuals - There are many types of learners, so aim to suit them all! Provide visuals to help reference and assist in explaining. A good place to use visuals is when providing instructions or facts.
- Knowledge - Know your audience, if they don't have the same knowledge as you on the subject, then stay away from using terms that only you understand, this way you cannot confuse your listeners/ readers.
Ways To Adapt Communication Methods
In some circumstances you may have to adapt your method of communicating to help the person or people you're speaking to. Below are some ways you can help adapt to the situation in hand.
- Slow your speech - If you're talking too quick, some people may not be able to take in all what you're saying, may miss out on something you said or just misunderstand you. Speaking fast also shows you're want to get your speech over quickly, something which doesn't give off a good impression.
- Use images - If you're presenting a presentation for example, rather than having a wall of text on each slide for your audience to read through while you speak, add some images to show what it is you're talking about.
- Maintain good body language - Show your audience you're a positive speaker with confidence. Address them as a group and maintain a good level of eye contact with each of them. If someone asks you a question, ensure to look at them while they speak and give a good reply which answers their question.
- Translator - In cases where you're speaking to someone who doesn't understand the language you speak, you're going to need a translator, for example Goolge Translate so that they can understand what you're saying and are able to reply back to you. Without a translator, you wouldn't be able to communicate at all, let alone effectively.
- Use sign language - If someone you're talking to is deaf then it's best to use sign language, whether that be you do it yourself should you know how to, or have someone else present who can use sign language whilst you speak. Failing being able or having anyone else available, you may have to write down what you're saying.
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