5 Steps for improving verbal communication skills

“Communication is a skill that you can learn. It’s like riding a bicycle or typing.  If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life.”

                                                                                                                                    -Brian Tracy

In this post I'm going share about steps to improve your verbal communication skills. Be it school, college or corporate industry your ability to communicate effectively will help you to get recognized and become successful. Communication skills can be classified into two categories : 

1. Verbal 2. Non-Verbal. 

Here are the 5 important steps you need follow to develop your verbal communication skills.

Step 1: Gain Command over the language

“Without language, one cannot talk to people and understand them; one cannot share their hopes and aspirations, grasp their history, appreciate their poetry, or savour their songs.”

                                                                                                                                -Nelson Mandela

Most of our communication takes place in English. So, to improve your communication skills you need to improve your language first. If you are beginner or if you are weak in the basic English grammar please refer the following books : High school English Grammar by Wren and Martin or Essential English Grammar by Raymond Murphy. If you want to improve your vocabulary please refer Word power made easy by Norman Lewis. Spend 10-15 minutes daily on exercises given in these books and you shall see a good level of improvement in your language.

Additional Tips:

•      Read regularly
•      Switch to English wherever possible
•      Communicate in English all the time
•      Try to think and Execute your thoughts in English
•      Try watching English movies and news channels

Step 2: Listen to understand

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”

                                                                                                                        -Stephen. R. Covey

Studies have shown that we spend approximately half of our time in day on listening. But, the problem is most of us are poor and inefficient listeners. So, if you want to become an excellent communicator first  listen and understand what others are trying to communicate. To cultivate the habit of listening you first need to develop patience. When you carefully listen and understand what others are trying to communicate half of the work is done, What remains is only the execution of what you've listened.

Tips to hone your listening skills :

•       Take notes - because you definitely can't remember all that has been said

•       Get clarification on points which you don't understand

•       Repeat what has been said to drive away any confusion

•       Understand what has not been said (this comes from experience)

•       Before you put forth your point let the other person complete his explanation

Step 3: Organize your thoughts

“Whether you are a newspaper journalist, a lawyer, a doctor; you have to organize your thoughts.”

                                                                                                                             -Fredrick Wiseman

Clarity of expression is vital for effective communication. You can express your thoughts with clarity only when they are organized. So, go ahead and get your thoughts in order. Also, you need to have a good memory when speaking extempore. Mind mapping is a good technique that helps you remember information without creating any confusion. Another important aspect that helps in organizing your thoughts is having an in depth knowledge about the subject on which you are going to speak. So, before heading towards preparation get all your facts and figures right!

Here's how you can organize your thoughts :

•      Write down what are you going to talk and rehearse your speech, lecture or seminar 

•       Make habit of thinking before you speak ( Give appropriate answers to queries)

•      Do one thing at a time ( Do not deviate from actual topic while speaking)

•      Develop a habit of mind mapping    

Click the link below to know more about mind mapping :

 Mind mapping technique

Step 4: Develop confidence

“All the power is within you; you can do anything and everything. Believe in that; don’t believe that you are weak, stand up and express the divinity within you.”

                                                                                                                        -Swami Vivekananda

When you are confident you automatically drive your mind towards the subject on which you have to speak. You tend not to care about size of the audience, or about the panel of judges if it is a case of competition. Habits are formed by repetitive actions, so if you want make confidence as a habit, you need to practice it regularly, click the link below to read the article on how to build confidence :

10 steps to build confidence

Step 5: Learn, practice and apply

“Even today I dare not say that I've reached a state of achievement. I'm still learning, for learning is boundless.”

                                                                                                                                    -Bruce Lee

Nothing great has been achieved without sacrifice, hard work and perseverance. If you don't get it right the first time, correct your errors and go for it once again. Remember that perfection is a journey not a destination. Try to improve yourself, eliminate all the negativity around you, let all your critics be busy criticising you, do not waste your time thinking about worthless people. Concentrate on what is important and always put first things first!

Tips for continuous improvement: 

      •      Speak in front of the mirror

•      Practice simple exercises such as role play

•      Learn to Learn and Learn to unlearn

•      Set goals for self improvement

•      Check on the progress achieved

•      Plan-Do-Check-Act

"You can have ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere."
                                                                                    -Lee Iacocca

If you guys think there are any other factors that can help to improve verbal communication skills, please post it in the comments below!

In the next post I'd be sharing the ways to improve your non-verbal communication skills.

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