When it comes to communication, always the concept of being understood is usually the main goal.
However, it happens at times that despite our confidence in being able to speak to people, we more or less end up being misunderstood.
This problem is normally encountered by speakers or writers who are new into the field, and this problem is not limited to them. Even those who are much more experienced in the various forms of communication most of the time end up in similar situations.
Therefore, whenever you decide to communicate with people, you need to be very mindful and thoughtful of the words you use and how and when you use them, such that, in the end, people will be able to catch unto what you want to mean without there being any form of misunderstanding.
The Need To Be Understood In Communication
When it comes to communicating with clarity, it is a very important concept we must never ignore. This is something we must do our best to embrace and find ways and means to explore and, in the end, better ourselves more and more as it covers all aspects of our lives. From our jobs to our social life. Infact every thing we do on a daily basis involves this concept.
Effective communication is when there has been a successful exchange of useful information between two sources. Once there was some form of disruption in the midst of transmission, then that would no doubt bring about confusion, and then ultimately a misunderstanding.
And that is not what we want. What we want for you at the end of this article is to be able to communicate with your readers, your listeners, audience, whoever your end receiver may be and if you are ready, let us dive in.
5 Techniques for Effective Communication
Think Of the Message; Always
When it comes to communicating with clarity, there are several things you need to be working on in your head all the time. And one such is thinking about what you will be sharing. You need to be constantly thinking of its relevance to your end receivers. They need to be a part of your thought processes.
Although this continuous exercise can sometimes fatigue the mind, there are ways to go about this, and we will subsequently cover that.
There is a way to go about everything. And in this case, say you are a writer. Before you even begin to write, you need to think of what you will be writing, more like the message.
Think about the topic; think about your end receivers.
And as you write, pause every now and then to see what you have written, read through, and assess if you have written anything of relevance to your audience.
Then finally, at the end, you need to also assess and see if you were able to complete the main task. Ask yourself also if you made sense.
Ask yourself if your people will actually understand what you want to mean. Ask if you completed an actual objective with your craft.
That way, at the end of the day, when your people finally get hold of your craft, they will not only read to understand but also to benefit from your craft.
Now if you are a speaker, most often being a speaker is much more difficult than being a writer.
Because as a writer, I may sit in my room all day long with all the time in the world to think of every single word that I will include in my craft.
However, for a speaker, you need to be sharp with your words as well, as with your thoughts as well.
You literally have to be thinking all the time about your choice of words. And we all know that human beings are not robots.
We will definitely falter in the process and, in the end, say some things that will cause confusion, and people might not really catch on to what we actually wanted to mean.
So being a speaker, the first thing you need to do, similar to the writer, is first think about the message and its relation to your audience. Once you have that out of the way, you need to be considerate of your wordings. That is the words you choose when and how to use them.
As you speak, pause every now and then to assess your readers’ feelings toward your delivery and also see if you are on track. Then, before even continuing to speak, you need to be thoroughly aware of what you will be saying next, its relation to the previous one, and its impact on your listeners.
Every time you take that light break, you need to be sharp with that brain of yours.
In those moments, if its water youd be drinking or just taking a moment to assess them, you need to make use of those few moments.
Unlike writers, you won’t have the chance to assess what you communicate at the end and make corrections as you would have wanted. And so, it becomes problematic when you make mistakes with your choice of words and you are yet to assess yourself and the impact you are having on your people.
However, you can make use of those few instances (when you pause to take a breath and assess your end receiver’s response to your delivery) to know if you are actually making sense. If you realise at a point that
you are deviating; remember the message and the audience you are delivering to, and come back on track. As simple as that.
Learn To Listen
In communication, being able to listen is as important as being able to speak. If you fail to listen in one instance, the rest of the communication can end up being something entirely different. It is more so because of the fact that, when you do not listen attentively and fail to grasp certain key concepts, you might end up assuming things, or worse, accepting things as you heard them, and then jump to your own conclusion.
Which will in turn impact the whole of the conversation. Listening in communication, be it in a normal conversation or you are just gathering information for the sake of your craft, you need to keep in mind that listening must be the most crucial aspect of the process
Listening attentively will help you to analyse the head and tail of the information you hear. You are able to assess its relevance. That way, you are able to think in a certain way and give a response in a certain desired way.
However, if you fail to listen, you will not only make the mistake of not understanding what
you hear, but you will as well end up confusing people. This is practical, especially in physical confrontations with two or more people.
In such a meeting, failing to listen to what one has to say will end up with you responding in a way that will make people wonder. Therefore, whenever you get the chance to communicate with people, you need to make sure to listen.
If you are a speaker who is being asked a question, you need to listen very attentively so that you will know where the one giving a question is heading toward with the question being asked. That way, you will not only be able to give a desired response but also help to encourage
an effective dialogue.
Don’t Focus On Appearing Smart
Instead of focusing on delivering, the mistake most people make is wanting to be seen as smart. Honestly, there really is nothing wrong with wanting to be seen as smart. However, what it does is that it pushes you into the habit of employing certain words that in no way add any value to your delivery.
However, it only serves to distort your delivery. Additionally, certain keywords that lessen the relevance of your delivery and even give the impression that it is out of order should be avoided, as well as jargon and technical terms.
Additionally, certain keywords that lessen the relevance of your delivery and even give the impression that it is out of order should be avoided, as well as jargon and technical terms. Therefore, to communicate effectively and be understood, you need to expel the use of these words. Make your wording simple and concise. That way, people will not be raising their eye brows at your content.
Ask Questions
The key to not being misunderstood is to develop the passion for asking questions. This point is very applicable in normal conversations, as well as gathering knowledge for your craft. You need to make it a habit of asking questions.
That way, you are able to clarify where the speaker is coming from. Surprisingly, many writers who write on this topic seem to not realize the effectiveness of this point. However, being able to ask questions allows you to know the real thoughts of the person you communicate with.
In those instances, then you need to make very good use of the second point. Listen and understand well. That way you will not end up assuming things and ultimately jumping to conclusions. The more you learn to ask questions, the more clarity you get on things that you did not understand.
That way, you are able to respond with confidence and knowledge of the concept. All this does is help you to communicate with clarity and be understood.
Make Good Use Of Nonverbal Cues
In communications, nonverbal cues must never be underrated, as they help to add a lot of meaning to whatever is being communicated. Nonverbal cues like eye contact, body language, and facial expressions help your audience know what you are feeling in those instances as you speak.
This point is also very useful in normal human interactions. Your facial expression during an interaction lets people know how you are feeling in that instance, especially concerning a certain concept. The same applies to your body language.
One thing you need to always make sure to do is that your nonverbal cues must always tally with what you say. If in one instance you are saying this and your body language and facial cues are implying something else, then that would make people confused and it would be hard to understand you. Therefore, all the time, make sure to let what you said go hand in hand with your nonverbal cues. That way, people will tend to understand you more.
Final Words
Most people would like to see communication as simply an interaction between two or more people. And that you simply need to voice out something, and that is it. Well, unfortunately, that is not all there is to communication.
You need to keep in mind the major and minor points in this article, as it opens you up to some of the key things we sometimes disregard in communications. We need to pay attention to these things a lot, be it practical encounters or not.
Communication after all is something that we will do so long as we live, and so, to make our stay on earth better, we need to find ways and means to explore and learn to make communications as effective as we want them to be.
