Effective Ways to Improve Your Business Communication Skills
Your business success is directly related to how effectively you communicate at your workplace, whether you are writing an email, or participating in a meeting or a presentation. Not only leaders and executive managers, but all professionals at all levels should be great communicators to inspire their colleagues and team members to express themselves efficiently, solve problems and hit their targets so that the company as a whole can reach its goals.
Effective Business communication is not a skill set that you are born with. If you are not a natural communicator, don’t worry! Business Communication Skills can be learned with patience and practised over time for you to master them.
Effective Business Communication Skills are crucial for business, especially when you do business in a different language from your native one, to avoid misinterpretations, and increase your chances of success. Companies like Premier English .co.uk offer industry-specific courses for professionals who want to improve their communication skills. It’s hard work, but it is absolutely doable and essential for your career at all stages.
Here are a few tips that you can use today to improve your Effective Business Communication skills:
Be Clear, Concise & Focused!
We all have attended business meetings where someone goes off-topic rambling on and on or says something unclear that everyone has to guess what they meant by it. To respect the limited time everyone has in the business, and avoid misunderstandings, use this short and sweet style of communication that can drive your goals forward faster.
First, identify the goal of your business discussions and the message that you want to communicate with others beforehand.
Then, think about the clearest & most concise way to deliver it! Find a short and easy-to-understand way to communicate your message. Keep it simple and stay focused and to the point when delivering your message or extracting the information you need. Avoid frequent pauses in your sentences or filler words like “umm” which is very common among people, but totally fixable with coaching and practice.
Good communicators have a laser focus on the topic and smooth continuity in thoughts when they express themselves.
Use Business Vocabulary & Jargon Correctly
It is essential for any business communicator, to have a vast knowledge of the business vocabulary used in the workplace, as well as the specialised jargon specific to their industry and position. This could be complicated if you are communicating in a foreign language, but there are many specialised courses for professionals that you can use to learn the right language specific to your position and industry.
These keywords and phrases allow you to explain your vision no matter how complex or technical it is. However, it is very important to understand when to use them and adjust your language accordingly based on the person you are speaking to.
When you are speaking with non-technical people in the business, avoid jargon and complicated language and words that they might not understand.
Instead, use corporate language and industry-specific jargon when you are in a meeting with the technical group. Not only do they understand you, but they highly appreciate your level of professionalism.
To expand your niche vocabulary, you can attend industry-specific courses or read websites and magazines in your industry.
Engage, Ask for Feedback & Listen
Engaging your audience is one of the best ways to keep their attention on the topic, and make sure they understand your message fully. By asking questions you can encourage people to share their thoughts and stimulate them to participate in the conversation, and give you their honest feedback.
Asking for feedback can help you build trust among your colleagues. This is critical to becoming a better business communicator and helps you discover areas for improvement that you might have otherwise overlooked.
To improve your business communication skills, you need to be a good listener as well. This means more than just hearing what someone says. You need to pay attention to the tone of their voice and how they are feeling when they say something as well. By listening actively you show that you care about your colleagues. This will create trust in your relationship and also allow you to better understand their perspective, which makes your future communications easier.
By following these tips, I’m sure you will become a better communicator, which will have a direct impact on your work, and in the long run, help you advance your career.
About the author
Sheida is a Business Language Coach & Communication Advisor with 20+ years of cross-industry experience. She specialises in creating tailored industry-specific coaching, event preparation for international conferences, presentations, meetings, negotiations & job interviews and career coaching. Sheid has led professionals across Europe in different industries such as (Sports) Journalism, European Banking, and key figures in the Italian Football Federation and Italian Politics.
