How Good Are Your Communication Skills?
Rubina Das
need to succeed in the workplace.
We talk to people face to face, and we listen when people talk to us.
We write emails and reports, and we read the documents that are sent
to us. Communication, therefore, is a process that involves at least
two people - a sender and a receiver. For it to be successful, the
receiver must understand the message in the way that the sender
intended.
This sounds quite simple. But have you ever been in a situation where
this hasn't happened? Misunderstanding and confusion often occur, and
they can cause enormous problems.
If you want to be an expert communicator, you need to be effective at
all points in the communication process - and you must be comfortable
with the different channels of communication. When you communicate
well, you can be very successful. On the other hand, poor
communicators struggle to develop their careers beyond a certain
point.
When it comes to training in corporate English there are two important
aspects:
1. Written English Skills
2. Spoken English Skills
Here, we will look at written corporate training. This mainly includes
writing emails, business proposals and presentations, as well as
varied other written communications required to develop business.
Given here is a list of rules to help one improve their corporate
writing skills:
1. One should not write using gender specific language, unless one is
sure about the gender of the recipient.
2. One should always finish what they start.
3. One should avoid the overuse symbols and abbreviations.
4. Using analogies in business communications is like using feathers
on a snake.
5. Avoid annoying alliterations
6. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
7. Making an appropriate selection when it comes to idioms.
8. Do not shift the point of view in the written correspondence - be
focused.
9. Avoid clichés
10. Do not use commas unnecessarily
11. Avoid using foreign words - stick to basic English words
12. Do not overuse exclamation marks
13. Avoid using quotes that are not attributed to the personality
concerned.
14. Avoid ending sentences with prepositions.
15. Avoid being repetitive
16. Be as specific and to the point as possible.
17. Avoid misspelling words - ideally refer to a dictionary or
thesaurus
Where spoken English is concerned, the trainer has to cover modules
that include every aspect of spoken communication skills such as:
1. Listening skills – One need to be attentive and alert while
conversing with someone. Maintaining Eye contact is must with an erect
posture with your head tilted toward the speaker, this shows you are
interested in what the person is saying. Asking few questions related
to the conversing topic helps emphasizing your interest.
2. Speaking skills, which include:
Voice - tone, volume, accent, diction, etc.
Grammar
Vocabulary
Sentence construction
Pauses and flow
3. Non-verbal skills, which include:
Eye contact
Facial expressions
Posture
Gestures
Body movement
4. Overall Presentation, which includes:
Grooming
Etiquette
Personal hygiene
BrainTreasure
Please feel free to give your Feed Back.
Rubina S Das.
Rasika Deshpande
Good material. It will really help one to improve or check our skill.
Only I could not get point no 4 and 5 from written skill.
It will be great if we get some training about those skills.
With regards,
Rasika Deshpande
Consultant - SAP PP
Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Space Center, CTS No. 175/A, Near A. K. Mom Chowk,
S.V. Road, Jogeshwari (W), Mumbai - 400 102, India.
Tel.: +91 22 42222500 | Fax: +91 22 42222510
Direct: +91 22 42222514 | 9869028103
BrainTreasure
strong urge to improve oneself. I have explained point 4 and 5 below:
Using analogies in business communications is like using feathers on a
snake. -- Giving same examples and trying to supersede another person.
When someone has made a point, one should avoid giving other examples
to prove the same point.
Avoid annoying alliterations -- Something that rhymes while you speak,
or while addressing someone. Done especially to annoy someone.
Rubina S Das.