EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Effective communication can be defined as transmitting the message to be conveyed to the other party in the clearest way and as soon as possible. Being able to communicate effectively is a skill that you need in your daily life, in your business life, in all areas of your life. While you express yourself more accurately and establish better relationships in your social environment with effective communication, you pave the way for more successful progress in your life.
Communication is a tool that allows us to share our thoughts, feelings and ideas with others. Humans communicated even before the development of language, and even today, most communication takes place through non-verbal means such as body language, signs and symbols, and our facial expressions. There is another concept called effective communication, which is gaining importance these days. The essence of effective communication is to increase the effectiveness of communication and make people understand what is intended. Here we can say that communication and effective communication do not mean the same thing.
To establish different communications with each unit, to keep these communications in balance, to be understandable and perceptible; It is a necessity that determines the individual, spiritual and social position of the person. This is where the concept of effective communication becomes important. Effective Communication becomes successful, harmonious and balanced by knowing and applying subjects such as body language, language of words, use of voice and breath, representation systems of people, love languages, methods of empathy.
To be able to communicate effectively, you need some skills.
In this context;
• Getting to know yourself well,
• Being able to open up and express yourself correctly;
• Being a good listener, that is, listening effectively and interestedly,
• Being able to empathize,
• To be tolerant and without prejudice to people,
• Being open to criticism
• To use nonverbal communication elements and body language effectively,
• Adjusting the tone correctly,
• Paying attention to the forms of address,
• Making mutual eye contact,
• Paying attention to gestures and facial expressions.
These are the skills you need to have in order to communicate effectively. The better you know and master these skills, the more successful you will be at communicating effectively. Knowing about ‘Effective Communication Skills’ will be your roadmap in order to go one step ahead in life and strengthen your communication.
Concentrating your attention on the person you are going to contact from the very beginning helps you to visualize the concrete situation in your mind. You need to know what will make a communication more interesting, useful and relevant.
• What are the current problems and needs?
• How can I address these problems and needs?
• How can I motivate people to give me their valuable time and attention?
• Why would people want to give their attention to you?
• Why would they find it productive to use their mental activity and money?
• How will this benefit them and achieve real results?
For a good start, you must first find the answers to these questions. Answering these questions is one of the best ways you can use to prepare everyone who engages with you for effective communication. These are methods that allow you to avoid superficial conversations and really get in touch with people.
People have become much more impatient with the development and acceleration of technology. If they don’t see or hear something that interests them at the first moment or on the first page, they quickly move on to the next thing or person. With the questions above, you can more easily review which of these startups will grab people’s attention and how to persuade them to drop everything and make you their priority.
It is possible to list the basic mistakes made in communication as follows. Be careful not to make these mistakes in effective communication.
In this context;
• give directions
• to threaten
• to warn
• deflecting the subject
• naming
• to test
• giving advice
• to criticize
• judging
• to orate
• blame
• to make fun of
These are the basic mistakes that prevent effective communication. Remember, ‘communication’ and ‘effective communication’ are not the same thing.
If you want to be effective through the words you use, it is useful to be determined. You should take care that the words you use are in harmony with your request. When you direct your attention to the person in front of you, you will feel the effect. Please keep in mind that you will not be effective if you are reviewing the environment while talking to someone. You should say what you want and your feelings clearly and openly. You should get the other person’s opinion and test whether we agree or not. Don’t be afraid to be open to other ideas. You should feel comfortable using body language. Speaking in many words should not be seen as the main source of effective communication. All of the features we mentioned below can be successful if they are used as a whole. Now we can explain what we said with the items.
- Fundamentally: Being positive in relationships and looking at the good side of things is the main point of effective communication.
- Face: Be lively. Smile as much as possible.
- Eye: Look at people’s faces. Don’t take your eyes off them when they’re talking
- Gestures: You should ensure that your gestures (use of hand, arm, etc.) convey the same messages as your words. Avoid clasping hands, crossing arms, and keeping your hands in line with your chin. Use your gestures in moderation.
- Head Movements: Show that you are listening and understanding by moving your head up and down from time to time while the other person is talking.
- Posture: Look at people talking to you. Try to look at as many people as possible, albeit occasionally.
- Contact: In some cases, make physical contact with minors, people of the same sex and lower status than you.
- Speaking: Tone of voice is very important. Don’t talk too much. Speak equally with the other person. To learn how to communicate well, observe people who communicate effectively. Because they know what they want to say, they have the ability to communicate positively, they know where, when and what to talk about, and they understand the messages they receive from the other party. S/he is careful, does not maintain the dialogue in one direction. With a good communication skill, people express themselves better and establish good relations. While speaking, you should look at the other person’s face and not turn your backside. No matter who is in front of you, it is a good behavior for humanity to show that we are listening, even if you do not benefit from belittlement.
In this article, we talked about effective face-to-face communication techniques. The internet, which has become an indispensable part of our lives in our age, has revealed the importance of effective communication in the virtual environment. In our next article, we will talk about the importance and rules of effective communication in the virtual environment.
Thanks!!!