Communication Skills

Communication Skills

1. Key Elements

   • 1. Active listening
     • 603/5000 Knowing how to listen is a basic communication skill, but, although it seems simple, not everyone has this ability. Many times we only hear instead of listening, and sometimes we listen to ourselves instead of listening to the other with a correct attitude. Active listening, as the name implies, means listening actively, that is, with full attention. In other words, you have to pay attention with the five senses. Active listening refers to attending not only to what the person says, but also to the feelings, ideas or thoughts that the individual expresses.
   • 2. Conflict resolution and negotiation
     • Conflict is inevitable in any relationship, and learning to manage and negotiate is a healthy and essential way to make relationships work. Some individuals prefer not to face conflicts to avoid the discomfort they can generate. This only causes resentments and misunderstandings. The ability to resolve conflicts efficiently requires a calm, non-defensive and respectful performance. When you control your own emotions, you can communicate your own opinions without threatening or attacking others.
   • 3. Verbal language
     • One of the basic elements of a good communicator is how it sounds in front of others. Speaking too softly or loudly, dragging words, or using too much filler term such as "ah", "eh" or "um", can cause the message and the connection to the speaker to be lost. Therefore, it is necessary to be clear, use concrete examples, have a good capacity for improvisation, vocalize correctly, consider times, and ultimately express correctly what we have in mind to connect with our interlocutor.
   • 4. Respect
     • 526/5000 People are more open to communicate if we show respect towards them and their ideas. Simple actions such as using your name or tutoring, having eye contact that indicates sincerity, and reflecting active listening makes the other person feel respected and taken into consideration. In a couple relationship, for example, a nice gesture or sign of affection can almost instantly stop a tense and negative situation and return the relationship to a good channel for positive and affective communication.
   • 5. Non-verbal language
     • Body posture, eye contact or gestures, that is, non-verbal language (or non-verbal communication) also communicate. Being relaxed and transmitting what we are trying to say can maximize the message we want to send to others. A study carried out by Albert Mehrabian states that in a face-to-face conversation, the verbal component is 35% and more than 65% is non-verbal communication. In the words of Mehrabian himself: "The verbal component is used to communicate information and the non-verbal component to communicate personal states and attitudes".

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