Community colleges like RCTC are gateways to much larger worlds. All the academic subjects are covered in the classrooms to the point of perfection. Other skills such as communication skills can be developed at the student’s leisure.
graphic by Harley Overson
Proper communication skills are behaviors in which a person communicates with others in a way that leads to positive responses and avoids negative ones. In other words, communication skills are the ability to communicate effectively and efficiently with others.
Practicing these skills can lead to many doors opening and countless opportunities presenting themselves.
Communication skills include a variety of types, including verbal communication, like using words to express thoughts and feelings. Non-verbal skills include body language and facial expressions. Writing and visual skills have a category of their own with words, symbols, numbers, photos, and diagrams.
School is the right time for students to develop communication skills. Many accomplishments are guaranteed once these skills are learned and developed. Future goals like finding a career, even setting up a family, are reached easier once communication is mastered. Here are some of the skills that can help students succeed in their field of study and future goals. Every one of these skills is broad and requires several pages of explanation. Because of the space limitation, we cover some of the points briefly.
1 – Active listening
Active listening, sometimes called gratitude listening or conscious listening, refers to not only the other person’s speech as we hear the unimportant voices but also to follow and listen attentively to the other person. The difference between listening and hearing is that in listening the person deliberately and intentionally follows the other side’s contents. While listening, one may pay attention to a part of the material and ignore some others.
In active listening, instead of thinking about what you are going to say next, focus on the other person’s words and how they talk. If you want to clarify something, ask questions or state what they have said to confirm that you understand them correctly.
Active listening involves a full focus on content and speech in videos, podcasts, or seminars related to your interest or field of study. The better you listen, the more you can use a variety of topics in your communication. Finally, as you actively listen, avoid distractions such as cell phones and laptops.
2- Passionate reading
Reading plays a leading role in enhancing verbal skills. An undeniable benefit of reading is getting to know new vocabulary. Each text may have unfamiliar words for you. Therefore, reading articles, newspapers, magazines, poetry, novels, and books in a fast-reading way can play a significant role in improving your verbal skills.
If you study with your friend at the same time, each person can read each section aloud at a given time. You can make a big step in improving your verbal skills. Notice that having another human being in front of you when practicing verbal skills is very productive. Now, if this other human being is a good and close friend, it can be said that the result will be doubled.
3- Strengthening writing skills
Today, we live with the universality of social networks and new tools of information transfer such as email, and blogs. Writing is one of the most important communication tools. People share their thoughts and ideas with other people through writing. Therefore, people who are more capable of writing can convey their ideas more accurately and effectively. In writing, you should use the correct tone, wording, grammar, and spelling. Read the content of the text before you send it. Do not forget that the text lacks body language clues, so it may be misunderstood or wrongly interpreted. This can be avoided with careful attention.
One exercise you can do in this area is to write a long text and then read the text to yourself afterward. Then, see if you could summarize that text. The summary text shows your meaning very clearly and unambiguously. Doublechecking the text can convince your audience. After this, drop unnecessary words, use better vocabulary, and use more compelling sentences.
With frequent and consistent practice, you can use this method to improve your verbal skills.
4- Using a dictionary
Having a dictionary and studying it means getting to know the different words along with their synonyms and opposites. If the extent of your vocabulary is wider, you will be more confident when you speak. Words are tools of speech, and obviously, the more tools you have, the better product you will have produce. So, in most cases, those with a wider vocabulary speak better than others.
5-Lecturing
If you want to improve your communication skills to the best or professional level, it is best not to run away from public speaking. These lectures can take place in small gatherings of friends and family or at university level. For a better speech, you need to write everything that you want to say in advance.
Do not be afraid or shy of how others will react to your words or what they think of you. You need to be fearless to improve your communication skills. Express your ideas, criticisms, and complaints easily and without any fear.
6- Avoiding unnecessary words
If you listen to the words of those around you, you will find that they use a lot of unnecessary words when they speak. For example, the words “so” “I say…,” and “you know,” “then,” aAnd others. These are the words without which a sentence can become more clear, more practical, and more precise. The use of such words shows that the person has not thought about it much before saying it. It is best not to use such words. It is best not to use such words. The best way to avoid such words is to practice constantly. The function of your brain’s hemispheres over time, and with a lot of exercise, becomes accustomed to not using these words.
7- Using body language
Body language is important for face-to-face and video interactions. Correct use of hands, body movements, facial expressions, as well as eye contact have significant impacts on the communication process. When you listen to someone, you need to pay attention to their words as well as their nonverbal language. Likewise, when communicating, you should be aware of your body language to make sure you are sending the right cues to others.
This type of communication helps build more trust than verbal communication. At the same time, it allows you to go beyond what a person says and understands exactly what they mean or feel.
To practice improving body language, you can speak in front of a mirror. Pay attention to yourself and your body movements. Try to use them at the right time.
Another way to do this is to record your talk and watch it. You can record your voice and listen to your recordings repeatedly to correct the flaws.
8- Strengthening empathy skills
Empathy is understanding people’s feelings and experiences by putting themselvesyourself in their place. If you do not empathize with the people, you are not in connection with needs, desires, and feelings. Your relationship with others will be completely one-sided. Empathy skill helps you accept others even if they are different than you and understand the issue from their point of view. By understanding this definition, your connections will expand even among diverse groups.
In the end, communication skills are not intrinsic;, they are acquired. A variety of communication skills are achievable and learnable. Everyone can learn and develop communication skills by practicing, studying, and, if necessary, using a specialist’s help. Improving communication skills is a never-ending journey. We can always improve on this and learn new ways of communicating. It is an ongoing process that makes us better communicators and have a better understanding of others if we try. These skills can significantly affect every aspect of our lives, from personal relationships to the workplace. So go ahead and always try to be better.4
by Leila Rakhshan