What is Communication?
Transferring information from one location, person, or group to another is the act of communication. Every communication has a sender, a message, and a recipient at a minimum. Although it can seem straightforward, communication is a complicated topic. There are a wide variety of factors that might influence how a message is sent from the sender to the recipient. These include our feelings, cultural context, communication method, and even our geographic location. Accurate, effective, and clear communication is quite difficult, which is why companies all over the world place such a high value on these abilities.
4 Types Of Communication Skills with Examples
It is vital that one acquires the right type of communication skills at the right time. It can lift your career and help you impress your peers. Communication Skills can help you resolve arguments and explain your ideas in a better way. Let us start learning about these skills.
1. Verbal
When a person communicates with another person and establishes a connection, verbal communication takes place. It may take place in person, on the phone, on Skype, etc. While some verbal interactions are more informal, like chatting with a coworker in the office, others are more formal, like a scheduled meeting. Regardless of the type, it’s not just about the words; it’s also about the words’ difficulty and quality, how they are strung together to form a coherent message and the modulation that is used when speaking.
Check the Tone of Your Voice
When individuals are angry or agitated, it is frustrating. It may be tempting to use an unpleasant tone of voice. However, it would be beneficial if you avoided doing this as it communicates your opinion of the other person. One should use a polite and professional voice while conversing with coworkers or people around them if one wants to foster good relationships.
Right Volume And Pace
A decent pace is neither too swift nor too sluggish, allowing the listener to digest what they are hearing. Important words or phrases should be emphasized clearly in statements. Speaking at a proper volume, which could be softer for private talks, is another important aspect of communication. Examples:
Giving A Speech: When a person is giving a speech they are talking directly to an audience in front of them. Most of the communication is done verbally to put forth one’s ideas and discussions. Chatting: Chatting with one’s workplace buddies and family is also a form of verbal communication. Whether to have a serious discussion or to have a chat or gossip with one’s people, it is about talking orally with no other means in between.
2. Non-Verbal
Facial expressions, posture, eye contact, hand motions, and touch are all examples of non-verbal types of communication skills. It is crucial to pay attention to both verbal and non-verbal cues while speaking to anybody. Although a person may be saying something, avoiding eye contact, sighing, scrunching up their face, etc. indicate something else.
Keep a Check on Your Own Nonverbal Communication
Speak with your body language when you are aware, receptive, and upbeat about your surroundings or when you are uncertain and uneasy about information. Additionally, verbal communication—such as asking follow-up questions or pulling the presenter aside to receive feedback—could be a useful tool for reading facial expressions and gaining a better understanding of what is going on.
Cause and Effect of Emotions
One can pinpoint how and where one experiences an emotion by being conscious of your body’s reactions to various emotions. For instance, you could observe that boredom makes you yawn more frequently or that fear causes an unsettled stomach. Knowing what is going on inside of your own body will help you recognize when another person isn’t acting in their best interests. Examples:
Finger Pointing: It can be interpreted as unpleasant or confrontational. It could also imply that there is something in their direct line of sight that is noteworthy. An item on the ground just in front of them, for instance. Smiling and Laughing: Smiling and laughing have different connotations. When feeling uneasy in any situation, a person might laugh as a form of a defense mechanism; this type of laughter is frequently nervous laughter. A genuine grin, on the other hand, conveys your joy at seeing someone. Arm Crossing: If you frequently cross your arms over your chest, it may be a sign of poor self-esteem or mistrust of both yourself and other people. This implies that you are not open to what is being said. Looking down: Speaking while looking down might be interpreted as an attempt to avoid eye contact or as lying about what they’re saying.
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3. Written
Any conversation that comprises any form of the written word is considered written communication. Along with spoken communication, it is one of the two main forms of communication. Letters, reports, bulletins, memos, job descriptions, employee handbooks, blogs and emails are just a few of the numerous types of written communication that are utilized by people on daily basis. All written communication like other types of communication skills in the workplace has the similar goal of conveying information clearly and concisely and it is mostly used in formal setups.
Be Clear With the End Goal of Written Communication
It might be challenging to determine how much information to provide in directions, but it is always preferable to provide more than is necessary. Be considerate to your audience. Consider what they already understand and what you need to elaborate on. It should be easy to grasp while communicating. Instead of using jargon that only you understand, try to give the reader enough background information so they can understand your argument without it.
Reviewing is a Must
Setting aside time to go through the letters, emails, or notes will assist you in writing and communicating flawlessly. It could be beneficial to have another person who is reviewing the letter check it for crucial letters or ones that will be forwarded to several recipients. Read further to get a grasp on 4 types of communication skills and how to improve the same. Examples:
Informal Letters: Though old-fashioned, sending letters was one of the original written forms of communication. Formal Letters and Emails: At workplaces, emails and letters are one of the most commonly used forms of communication. Essays: Writing academic papers and essays is also a form of written communication. Reports: Reports for work or academic purposes are written to convey facts and information to a set audience.
4. Visual
For ideas and information to be transmitted using visual aids is called visual communication. Examples of visual communication aids include graphs, charts, maps, posters, package designs, books, screen-based media, etc. A person’s body language, emotions on their face, and eye contact may also convey information visually.
Visual Communication Varieties
Other forms of communication that rely on images include advertising, which draws attention with the use of bright colors, images, bold fonts, and flashy graphics; textiles, such as clothing design; architecture, where buildings convey messages through their shapes and designs; company and organization logos; and even the pages of books, which may contain illustrations. Include clear visual aids that your viewers may easily grasp. For instance, take the time to explain what is occurring in the graph and how it connects to what you are talking about if you are displaying a visual with new data. It would be great if you avoided using any explicit, violent, sensitive, or offending photos in your communications. Now you know all 4 types of communication skills. Also Read: Are Teslas Worth it? An Analysis
Benefits of Having Good Communication Skills
One’s performance at work and in their personal life is largely dependent on their ability to communicate effectively. Leaders who can successfully communicate with others around them will experience increased productivity and stronger connections. It takes skill to listen intently to communicate effectively. It’s the capacity to respond with empathy, openness, and constructive criticism that makes one stand out from others. Additionally, having a positive outlook, confidence, and effective nonverbal communication can help build strong bonds with the team members and others in the social vicinity. Here are some of the benefits that one can reap from having effective 4 types of communication skills:
Build Relationships: Relationships with coworkers and in the personal life with family and friends are both enhanced by effective communication. Individuals may feel understood and heard when we listen intently and provide good feedback. Mutual respect is then fostered as a result. Build Trust: Trust is fostered with people via effective communication. Others are more likely to trust you to make the best choices for the group if you can listen intently and accept multiple points of view. This trust will spread to your team as you act as an example, and they will believe they can rely on their teammates to carry out their duties and responsibilities. Increased Productivity: Team members can concentrate more on their job and less on workplace concerns when they are aware of their duties, the roles of others, and your expectations. Conflicts can be addressed quickly, employees can more effectively manage their workloads, and distractions can be kept to a minimum with excellent communication. These advantages help you and your team is more productive. Learn more about types of communication skills in the workplace. Improved Clarity: One can provide the staff with clear expectations and goals if you have good communication abilities. This entails coming up with effective ways to point out when something isn’t working and offering constructive criticism to assist individuals to get back on track. They will be aware of their duties and obligations as well as those of their teammates, reducing misunderstandings and confrontations. Resolve Problems: Conflict resolution and the averting of future ones are both greatly aided by efficient communication. The secret is to keep your cool, make sure all sides are heard, and come up with a solution that works best for everyone. Improved Engagement: People become more involved with their job as a whole when they feel more secure in their work and in their comprehension of what they must perform. By placing a high priority on 4 types of communication skills, you can raise team member engagement and satisfaction. Build Better Teams: Team members will be able to rely on one another with enhanced communication. Nobody on your squad will feel like they have to support the entire team. The team’s morale and working conditions will improve as a result of this enhanced task division, which will also foster pleasant sentiments and connections.
Communication Skills to be Highlighted on a Resume
We have informed you about 4 types of communication skills but how should one portray these skills on their resume. Let us find out. Your work experience should highlight how many types of communication skills you are good at, just like it does for your other talents on your CV. Even while certain occupations call for more specialized capabilities, most careers require some fundamental communication skills. Teachers, managers, nurses, servers, psychologists, and salespeople are among the professions that demand effective communication abilities. Consider previous achievements and the role that effective communication played in them. If you provide instances of your communication skills, one will be able to show that you have them rather than simply claiming to. Here are the types of communication skills for resume that you need to add.
Writing Skills: Which writings do you have? Who was it directed at? What resulted from it? All this should be on your CV. Many occupations need daily writing, which is an essential component of communication. Writing emails and communicating in writing with coworkers is a common task in organizations. Negotiating Skills: Along with the obvious financial advantages, skilled negotiators provide businesses with the power to influence others. This calls for both effectively communicating ideas and interpreting others (non-verbal communication). This should be mentioned in a resume under the achievement section or in the necessary skills section. Mentoring Skills: Giving one-on-one advice demonstrates a variety of important interpersonal abilities, including listening, empathetic communication, and providing criticism. On your resume, you can add a bullet point to emphasize the candidate’s advancement that you have mentored. Oral Communication Skills: Speaking over the phone is a necessary part of many careers, including those involving customer service, sales, public relations, and PR. To demonstrate your great social abilities, you should emphasize any previous jobs where verbal communication was a need. Presentations: Making presentations demonstrates your ability to interact with huge crowds. It demonstrates a variety of abilities, including spoken communication. Given that many vocations need public speaking and that not everyone is confident doing so, it is outstanding communication ability to know how to create presentations. Listening Skills: You can effectively communicate back to someone if you can listen to them and process all they say. There are other ways to interact with people than chatting. In actuality, listening is a key component a lot of the time. Both managers and employees should remember this. All parties involved in a conversation should be willing to listen to one another. Teamwork: Becoming able to interact and exchange ideas with your teammates is essential for being a productive team member. To work well with others, you need to be able to communicate verbally and with others. You should list your experience working in a team as one of the different types of communication skills for resume.
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What is Communication Barrier?
Now you know how many types of communication skills are there, but one should also the types of communication barriers that can render any type of exchange fruitless. Anything in a company or any setup that inhibits individuals from hearing or interpreting information, ideas, and data is a communication barrier. Additionally, these obstacles can make it difficult to communicate effectively inside the organization, leading to a gap. Multiple sectors of the business begin to suffer when there is no clear plan for removing these barriers. From CEOs to managers, and then from supervisors to their staff, it cascades down causing loss of time, opportunities, and revenue. One should be able to identify the barrier effectively along with its cause so that it can be remedied in time.
What are the common Communication Barriers?
Here are some of the 3 common communication barriers that one should know about:
Language Barrier: This can cause various hurdles both externally and internally when a person cannot understand a language in which verbal, written and nonverbal communication takes place. Emotional Barrier: feelings that might hinder communication, in general, are called emotional barriers. One may experience fear or social anxiety associated with connecting or sharing causing a communication gap. Physical Barrier: Communication hurdles can result from how accessible people and co-workers are. Consider physical distance, remote work, employees without desks, various workplaces, etc. as some of the common physical barriers.
Other Barriers
Other than these 3, there are some other barriers to communication in workplaces, like:
Lack of Engagement: Employee engagement has a significant influence on firms as a whole. It affects the effectiveness of communication sent and received. Communication will suffer if one or even both parties are disengaged. Lack of Trust: Over two-thirds of workers think that trust has a direct bearing on their feeling of belonging at work. On the other hand, many businesses struggle with issues of trust. Because rumors and conjecture may spread quickly within teams, people want to feel informed and that open discussion is encouraged, otherwise, there will be a rise of conflicts and misunderstandings. Lack of Organizational Structure: A company’s organizational structure can prevent effective communication and information exchange. For bigger businesses, this is sometimes a hurdle due to the complex hierarchies of executives and managers as well as the antiquated communication mechanisms in place. This way information is miscommunicated or lost, which leads to dissatisfaction and misalignment of objectives or work that has to be done. Psychological Barrier: The psychological aspect of communication can affect not just how individuals communicate but also how they digest information. These barriers can be attributed to a variety of circumstances, including stress, social anxiety, hostility, and low self-esteem. All of these factors influence how ready and open individuals are to share information or how they react to certain news or criticism. Too Much Information: One could believe that the solution to the communication barriers is more information being exchanged more frequently. Unfortunately, that can complicate your discussions even more. Employees quickly experience information overload, which puts up a barrier since they start to become irritated and tune out the information. Selective Information Sharing: Selective sharing, which occurs when individuals don’t convey the complete picture, is one possible communication obstacle that might arise. Individuals won’t be able to do the task correctly or communicate that crucial information to others if they only receive a piece of the news or communications. Once more, this leads to misunderstandings and mistrust at work. Lack of Personalization: At times, the messages can get issued in an extremely general way for a team or organization. It might not have anything to do with most people at all. As a result, they tune everything out and eventually may begin to ignore or reject any communications. Personalizing the messaging and segmenting will improve the experience and will make sure there are no gaps in the communication.
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How to Improve Communication Skills?
Now that is well aware of the fact that there are multiple types of communication skills needed to be successful in making oneself clear to the other party, and that there are multiple barriers as well. Let’s check out some of the tips that will help improve all 4 types of communication skills and will help overcome some of the barriers in both one’s personal as well as in one’s professional life.
Simplify The Message: As one prepares their thoughts, proofread them and remove anything that deviates from the message. Working on producing succinct and clear chats, emails, and presentations is one of the best and proven methods to enhance communication. Organize the Thoughts: Spend some time on what to say if you’re going to offer an idea or have a meaningful conversation with anybody in your workplace or any social setting. Your dialogue should be more coherent and result in a more beneficial relationship with proper organization of thoughts. Active Listening Is Crucial: It’s simple to think that you are aware of another person’s desires. But this is a major contributor to misconceptions, which is why miscommunications often turn into conflicts. The active listening rule can come to the rescue in this situation. Empathy, or attempting to comprehend what the other person is thinking, is a key component of having excellent all 4 types of communication skills. Think and Respond: Spend some time coming up with a thoughtful reply. It’s common to feel compelled to reply right away, but taking some time to gather your ideas is necessary if you want to engage in meaningful dialogue. Improve Body Language: When speaking, maintain an upright stance, try to prevent slouching, and make fluid hand motions. Make eye contact with each person who is paying attention. When there is enough room, moving around the room might also be beneficial. It may make the audience feel more included. Keep Engagement: Maintain conversational engagement with your audience. Effective communicators solicit engagement and ask questions. The best method to maintain everyone’s interest is through an engaged dialogue. Practice Self-Awareness: Advanced communicators have a strong understanding of their own emotions. They know how to manage them when they become agitated or too eager and prevent them from dominating the conversation or creating an unneeded commotion. When responding to something you don’t like, it’s critical to maintain composure. Knowing when to accept that you are mistaken is another essential component of self-awareness and is usually a crucial part of 4 types of communication skills. Be Respectful: When you’re done speaking, you want the audience to feel that you respected their needs. This will increase the likelihood that they will respect you in return. Thank them for their time, stay on schedule with your presentation, and use only a few acceptable jokes if you want to gain their respect. Embrace the Silence: Although silence often seems intolerable, it isn’t necessarily a terrible thing. Don’t start talking solely to break the awkward phase of silence. When you understand when it’s OK to be silent, people around you will appreciate it automatically. Remove Fillers: Try to cut off pauses like uh and ah to help your conversational skills. Start paying attention to such fillers so you can stop using them and talk with more assurance. Try to embrace the quiet rather than fill it because these lines are frequently used to break up the natural pauses in the discussion. Don’t Ignore Feedback: Ask for feedback as you attempt to hone your communication abilities, and be open to it. By seeking input from coworkers or friends, you can identify problems and show your devotion to your position. Consider incorporating the suggestions into your discussion, brainstorming session, or chat. Personalize: Depending on the audience, one should adjust their words and communication flow. Make everything more personalized, whether it is verbal, visual, or written. If you’re speaking with your boss as opposed to an intern, for instance, your message, tone, and body language should be genuine while yet being adjusted.
