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Saturday, May 24, 2008

Practical Tips for Improving Commuication

The best way of improving communication skill is through practice. There are some easy and fun ways that you can improve your communication skill, though, so you needn't worry about it being too hard to do. You will probably be really glad in a short space of time that you bothered to improve your communication skill.
Remember that communication can be either written or spoken. Both of these improve with practice and here are some fun ways to do that:

1. Write down your thoughts
Just write down anything. It can be impromptu and you Don't have to show these ideas to anyone. This helps you to be able to order your thoughts logically.
However, if you find that you enjoy this way of expressing yourself, you could join an online community or article database which will publish your articles. There are lots of opportunities like this online and some even offer payment, but what is probably more important and more gratifying is knowing that people are reading your opinions.
2. Learn from other communicators
Watch speakers on TV or go to lectures. Watch English news daily See how the experts do it. You can learn a lot this way, seeing what you liked about their way of putting their message across.
In improving communication skill, it's important to have the confidence to get your own style. Getting some tips from others is fine, but no-one has all the answers and you may well have some good ideas yourself. Your communication style needs to be individual to you and you need to feel comfortable communicating in this way for it to be really effective..
3. Try the telephone
Telephone conversations take a different set of skills. Obviously, one big difference is that you can't read body language of the person you're talking to on the end of the telephone line. Also, without this body language to read, silences can seem much longer over the phone.
They are still important pauses to allow people to think, though, so you need to learn not to be frightened of these pauses in conversation.
4. Chat to people
Try holding a conversation with anyone you meet - the bank cashier or the man you pay for your gas when You fill up the car. Anyone. It's the practice that matters.
5. Strike up a debate
One way of improving communication skill that you may not have considered is getting a few friends together and having a friendly debate. Pick a current topic in which you are all interested. It doesn't have to be anything weighty or in any way controversial; in fact, whilst you are just starting out improving your communication skill, it really should be something light and fun in which everyone can participate.
Serve up the coffee and have fun with the debate. It can be casual and low-key and if you really want to have fun with it, which not switch to argue on the opposite side a little way into the debate. That's a great way of improving communication skill.
6 Read a lot.
Even if you don’t always understand. The subconscient mind will absorb it all and when you need, it will draw on its memory. The human memory is not perfect and it needs repetition. So you have the option of reading a lot or reading selectively but repetitively to retain whatever you have come across.
7 Language is learnt more by association and environment. So try to create this atmosphere around you as much as possible.
8 Watch good clean movies, graded for children. Repeat them till the storyline and vocabulary and conversations make a permanent imprint on your mind. This is equivalent to audio-visual education.
9 Avoid B grade publications/productions because you will end-up learning a mistaken form of English. For the same reasons avoid communicating in English with people who are not good in English.
10 Style and Content are important. Avoid slang and local versions. Learn the internationally accepted common language. Aim for simple but correct sentences. Your language should be international in its character so that anyone anywhere can understand it.
11 Remember it is very easy to learn but very difficult to unlearn. Unlearning needs
10 times more effort. So whatever you learn, you must do it correctly the first time itself, otherwise your mistake will become a part of you and a habit and this becomes very difficult to eradicate.

12 If your foundation of basic grammar is weak, you should take private tuition. You will need a teacher who can make you practice and correct mistakes as they are being made. The rules of grammar can be found in any book but this is not enough. It is practice that you need and much of it so that it becomes automatic.

13 A word can have many different meanings. First is its real & original meaning; this is called its literal meaning. Second are its related meanings and these are the figurative meanings. Thirdly the same word is used in phrases/idioms/sayings, which have very different and special meanings. The beauty of the language is in these various usages. That is why it is of utmost importance that you read a lot and with attention. Take notes if you have to. A good dictionary will give you all this information

14.Another Important tip to improve communication is to stay positive. Phrase your ideas and suggestions in a positive, rather than critical way. Be confident.
15. One more method to improve communication is to listen actively. Make sure you understand what the other person is trying to say. And see if you got it. Do not get so preoccupied planning what you will say next that you do not pay attention. Keep an open mind. Be flexible about compromises and alternate solutions. Speak with self-control do not just say the first response that comes to mind
16. A powerful way to improve communication is to step into others shoes

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