Five Ways to Develop Effective Business Communication Skills

If you are an entrepreneur, you will always wish your business to run as smoothly as possible. Many a times, your key areas of focus would be skillsets like time-management and leadership. These skills are surely important but there is one skill that is underrated and is always overlooked and that skill is the skill of communication.

Now, why is good communication necessary at a workplace?  Simply because the perils of miscommunications are huge and sometimes unaffordable. Miscommunication at home can lead to feelings being hurt and damaged relationships. At a workplace, it can decrease productivity, hurt feelings, and makes the work environment quite toxic. When the communication is clear, effective, and two-way, it helps in clearing the mind which leads to decrease in stress and conflict. When there is decrease in conflict and the minds are clear on what to do, the productivity automatically increases.

So, as an entrepreneur, it is very necessary that you master the skill of business communication.

1. Be Emotionally Intelligent

The one who conquers the mind, conquers the world.

Guru Nanak

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise and control one’s own emotions while facing varied situations in life, be it positive or negative, and also understanding the emotions of people around you in those situations. If you are a leader at your workplace, your emotional intelligence has far reaching influence on your team and the whole workplace.

When leaders are emotionally intelligent, the workplace environment feels more secure and motivating. When the workplace has the freedom for employees to voice their opinions, the employees feel motivated to give their best. Moreover, emotional intelligence has a heavy impact on your professional success. TalentSmart conducted a test on emotional intelligence along with 33 other skills on the impact they have on the professional journey of a person. The test revealed emotional intelligence is the strongest indicator of performance explaining a whopping 58% of success in all types of jobs.

2. Learn the Science of Body Language

Your body language shapes who you are.

Amy Cuddy

Body language matters a lot to your business more than you think. In business, the way you carry yourself is a major factor in building a perception about you in the eyes of your colleagues, your clients, and your customers. When you showcase the best version of yourself, you are bound to close more deals, build a better network, and develop highly convertible leads.

In business, it is more about the way you present yourself before others that sends a bigger message to your audience. When you practice the science of body language, you feel positive within and there is an optimistic aura around you.

3. Learn to Write Succinctly

The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.

Gustave Flaubert

The digital era has put in a lot of importance on the art of good communication skills. The global workforce today has to stress a lot on how to convey their ideas and themselves in the most effective manner. There are three main modes of communication- Verbal, non-verbal, and written.

With the rising influence of social media in our personal and professional lives, the written mode of communication takes the pie of being the most important mode of communication today. Whether it is business correspondence or showcasing your skills through your resume, having a knack in writing always gives you an edge over your counter-parts. When you write something that has minimal grammar errors, typos and translates its message effectively, you come as more trustworthy and credible. When you learn to write succinctly, you tend to become more influential and persuasive with your ideas and whole approach making you an asset for everyone involved with you.

4. Be Confident and Charming

Self confidence is the best outfit, rock it and own it.

Samuel Johnson

Being confident and charming is one of the basic necessities of effective communication. When you are confident, you not only deliver your message with precision but also make the people around you feel relaxed. Be it any work, any project, any assignment, one needs to be confident about the work and oneself to complete it with success.

As a professional, practice confidence by training your brain to focus more on your positive attributes and strengths. Doing this will keep you aware of what you are capable of and how to achieve success through it.

5. Convey your Brand Everytime

You are your brand, so let it show.

In the digital age, you are constantly communicating to your audience. Interactions happen every now and then on social media. And your social media image has a huge effect on your brand image, so everytime you communicate ya speak on your social media handles, make sure to communicate your brand everytime. Be it through your status updates on Facebook and LinkedIn, tweets on Twitter, or image quotes and GIFs on Instagram. You have to make sure you put in the basic elements of your brand into it, so that your customers could identify you from others.

Good business communication skills matter at work because whatever we do are not solo-acts, it involves people and that is why communication becomes a necessary aspect to run a good business. With effective business communication skills, you can conquer the world in this digital age because you could influence your people and drive them to work for a common goal.