Communicate or Perish

Everybody knows how important is to be a good communicator. We communicate every time even when you don’t say anything. Experts say that the non-verbal communication is around 65% while the verbal communication is 35%.

The communication is today’s most important skill, not only in your job but in all areas of your life. You need to communicate with the surrounding world; in fact, there are professions where communication is one of the most important skills. What happens if you lead a team or you have to sell an idea to your boss, partners, colleagues or even the market? Do you think about it? How approachable are you? Or instead, do you have the impression that people are avoiding you?

In my experience as an Executive Coach, I have seen that when the leader is approachable he is capable of building relationships with his colleagues and develop a strong team. If you are approachable, your team doesn’t try to cover up problems because they know that you won’t react badly and even more the team members will feel able to contribute with ideas.

Hence, if you want to be a good leader you need to be approachable, and for that, you need to communicate your message to others with clarity. To do this you must understand what your message is, what kind of audience is it for and how it will be perceived.

Communication is much more than the word we use, it is our tone of voice, facial expression, body language, the stage and atmosphere. All of these help us to successfully deliver the message.

How do you become a good communicator to build and maintain relationships that help you to be successful in life?

Here you have some simple tips:

1. Understand what you say
2. Listen more than speak (you have two ears and one mouth)
3. Try to know what the people need
4. Take care of your body language
5. Ask questions to get attention

Great communicators have more success and produce more value for their organizations. Isn’t it time to become an excellent communicator?

Author: Marta Panareda, LIGS University lecturer