Everyone wants to be successful. And more often than not, we hear that success and knowledge go hand in hand. But we can’t all have an IQ rivaling Einstein, so what can we do to reach our goals?
While there are many paths to success, and there is no one definition of success, no version of success can exist without one skill – communication. Research has shown that 85% of financial success is due to the ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead. That’s why communication is one of the essential soft skills for 2022.
Thankfully improving communication skills is a lot easier than solving E = MC2. Keep reading to find everything you need to know to master business communication.
Why is it important to improve your business communication skills?
As we previously said, only 15% of success is due to traditional intelligence, while communication, negotiation, and leadership skills are far more influential on the road to success. But how does good communication result in success?
Improve workflow
One of the answers lies within your entire team. Effective communication and the strengthened relationships that come with it lead to better and faster decision-making and problem-solving, catching potential problems earlier, improved productivity, and much more. As you can see, nearly every aspect of business can benefit from stronger communication.
Opportunities
Good communication and relationships are vital to business success. With 85% of jobs filled through networking, the power of communication shouldn’t be overlooked. But, the opportunities that come from effective communication aren’t limited to job openings. In fact, nearly half of all meetings end in a sale or deal.
The five ways to improve your communication skills.
1. Listen
We put listening at the top of the list because it’s that important. Most of us are better at talking than we are at listening, so learning to listen actively is often the key to becoming a better communicator.
In an ideal world, communication is an equal relationship, with each person talking for about half the time. But in reality, someone usually dominates the conversation.
Some people automatically take control of a conversation and want to be the focus of the discussion. If that is the case, let them talk and even ask a few questions. If they fall on the opposite side and aren’t contributing to the conversation, it can be hard to spend much time listening. If this is the case, ask them questions, get them talking and learn more about them. This leaves them with a positive view of you, and you get to know them better.
2. Learn how to network
We’ve all been making friends since kindergarten, but fostering business relationships isn’t as easy as offering to share your cookie at snack time. Connecting with other professionals can be daunting, and crafting the right approach takes time.
Whether you are networking online, looking to network for career growth, focusing on networking for your business, or like to network at conferences, there are hundreds of different networking tips and skills to learn. To help make the process easier, we put together the top 5 right networking skills and the most common networking mistakes so you can master the correct approach to networking in a few simple steps.
3. Improve interpersonal skills
Communication isn’t only about words. Sharing thoughts, ideas, and feelings can also happen through non-verbal communication and the written word. Improving interpersonal skills can lead to better communication and better relationships, especially as communication changes with the rise of remote communication.
4. Become a master presenter
Not all communication will be networking conversations. Some will be sales calls or pitches to employers. While you might have the content of your presentation perfected, how you share that information could make or break your pitch.
Improving your presentation skills can be done in many ways, but the best presenters all have one thing in common, they are storytellers. Learn the magic of storytelling and how it makes your presentation more powerful.
5. Focus externally
Learning to improve communication by yourself is a great start, but you can’t expect to master a skill that requires another person all alone. Take a look at how others communicate. Ask what you can learn from other great communicators. Our favorite example is Steve Jobs. Jobs was an excellent communicator, and there are many lessons on communication to learn from him.
Once you’ve taken a deep dive into how the best communicators came to be so great, it’s time to take your newfound knowledge and put them to the test. Head to a networking event and test your new skills. At the end of the day, reflect on your conversations. Take a look at what worked and what could use improvement.
Main photo by Headway on Unsplash
