How to improve your communication skills

Being able to communicate clearly and effectively is a key part of my job as a Designer. Not only do we need to find solutions to problems and be creative, but we also need to express ourselves in order to explain, present our ideas, brainstorm, among other things. I’ve personally struggled with communication in general for almost all my life. I’ve always been a very introverted and shy person, and luckily enough my job has helped me get out of my shell to be more open and express myself more.

However, I still find it difficult from time to time to be 100% confident when I’m speaking to others, especially when the attention is being directed at me. So that’s why for the past few months I’ve been working on my communication skills to help me at work and in social life, and hopefully, this will help other people who also struggle with this. I’ve been paying a lot of attention to 5 major points which have already helped me a lot:

1. Speak, but also listen

In order to be able to communicate and express yourself, you need to listen to others too. This can be a little tricky, especially nowadays where remote meetings are more common and we have to face some new obstacles. This Tweet from Lily, a Designer from Facebook, explains it well:

This balance between not being rude and also wanting to speak also ties up with the next point.

2. Find your timing

A big part of me not speaking at times correlates to finding the best time to speak. So the best way to face this is to feel the tone of the meeting or conversation to speak without interrupting or being rude. Current days are making this possible, since many meetings are being held online, some tools offer the ability to virtually raise your hand so you can notify that you wish to speak.

However, just wanting to talk is not enough, so if you feel that what you’ll say isn’t important or isn’t related to the current topic, just wait until question time or save it for later. Wanting to talk but not being able to at the moment is an issue many people face, so try to feel the energy of the meeting or conversation to speak at the right time.

3. Practice non-verbal communication

Communicating with others doesn’t mean just speaking and listening, but also how you express yourself with the body. A huge part of communicating comes from body language signals and cues, so it’s very important to take that into consideration when you want to improve your skills. Of course this doesn’t apply 100% to remote meetings, since people will most likely only see your head. However, you can still make hand gestures, smile and maintain eye contact when appropriate, which will also help. Also, avoid leaning on a chair and crossing your arms especially for more formal meetings.

Research by Albert Mehrabian showed that 55% of an audience's perception of a speaker comes from non-verbal communications. So, more than half of what you say is not through words, but from your body language.

4. Read, read, read

This may not apply to everyone, but a good way to improve your communication skills is by reading. A lot. I’ve started reading articles and books more than I used to and I found this helped me a lot when having to express myself.

From my experience, I found that through this somehow translated into better communication with my teammates. No scientific explanation here, but by reading, you not only learn more, but you also become more familiarized with terms and that can be used when you speak.

5. Ask for feedback

There’s no harm in trying to improve soft skills, so one of the best ways to see if you’re getting better at speaking is to ask your peers. They are the ones that are closest to you and have a good idea of how your skill level is and how you can improve. Don’t be ashamed or afraid to ask for it.

The reason for wanting to improve is already enough of a reason to ask your coworkers and friends, so even if you don’t struggle with communication in general, I would still ask for feedback. You might get some really good insights about your skills that you may have overlooked which will help you improve them.

Conclusion

Communication is definitely an essential skill and will help you express yourself better in work and social situations. When effective, it will make you more consistent in your workflow, will make you quicker in problem-solving, and will advance your professional image. I hope this helped you at least a little bit in order to improve your own communication skills.

A huge thank you to my teammates at Air Apps who have helped me (directly or indirectly) throughout the months to make me a better communicator.

Thanks for reading!