How To Hone Effective Communication Skills

communication skills

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By Sandler Training

The bedrock of strong interpersonal relationships is trust, but too often the signals sent through verbal and nonverbal communications act to undermine that sentiment. In FROM THE BOARD ROOM TO THE LIVING ROOM: Communicate With Skill For Positive Outcomes, communications expert David Hiatt shows how powerful techniques can be used to improve personal communication skills with family, friends, coworkers, and customers to achieve more positive outcomes.

With more than two decades coaching clients for Sandler Training, Hiatt provides the tools and techniques that will allow readers to hone effective and efficient communication skills.

One of the most important communications skills is active listening, which requires asking the speaker clarifying questions. One simple way to do this is to repeat back what the listener thought the speaker said, and ask if this is correct.

Silence can also be an effective tool when used appropriately. Hiatt uses the acronym SILENCE as a mnemonic device for the ways silence can become an effective communication choice.

  • Situation: Take the time, in silence, to process the people, place, and purpose of the conversation.
  • Intensity Silence allows intense emotions to subside enough to continue in a meaningful conversation.
  • Listen Think about what the other person is saying. When they talk, be silent, look interested, and make eye contact.
  • Empathy Think about what the other person is dealing with. Put yourself in their shoes, and, in the silence, imagine how you would be communicating if the roles were reversed.
  • Nurture Empathy and nurturing go hand in hand. Ask how you can best be nurturing in your response to keep the conversation moving in a positive direction.
  • Choices: When we think in silence, there is a better chance to craft more and better responses.
  • Exhale Using silence to take in a few deep breaths and exhale fully allows us to think faster, better, and appropriately.

Drawing on examples from the world of training as well as personal family interactions and more, Hiatt teaches that self-awareness is crucial to achieving more positive outcomes in conversations.

By applying the tools in FROM THE BOARD ROOM TO THE LIVING ROOM, readers will experience how gratifying it can be to communicate with others, and build better relationships in their personal and professional lives.

Website: www.Sandler.com

(Image by Felix Mizioznikov)

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