Improving your communications skills can be a massive advantage, both in your career and in life in general. Strong communication skills help you develop successful, authentic relationships, improve your social confidence, and enable you to showcase stronger leadership abilities.
It’s important to remember that the path to becoming an effective communicator is a journey, not a destination. Developments in technology mean there are constantly new ways to communicate – whether that be a new social media channel, or a whole form of tech like the latest AI chatbots.
In a workplace context, you’ll face fresh communication challenges all the time, including contributing to team projects, job interviews, or even a more serious event such as a HR crisis. Feeling confident in your ability to communicate can help resolve these challenges or open up new opportunities.
Organizations should never assume they have achieved communication perfection either. It’s been reported that 96% of people feel businesses have room for improvement in both communication and project management, while 80% rate their own business communications as average – or worse.
That means that communicating well can set you apart positively – and help open up new opportunities in your career. This article dives into the key principles of communication that you need to keep in mind to become a good communicator.
7 Cs of Communication
The 7 Cs of communication can be used as a framework in which to ground your communication strategy. Whenever you communicate, especially in a business setting, make sure it checks these boxes:
- Complete: Don’t assume understanding or prior knowledge. Is there context required or do you need alternative terminology to ensure your audience responds to your core message? Provide all the information needed to make your message resonate.
- Concise: Modern communication is loaded with ‘white noise’ – that means to ensure your message sticks, you should avoid complicated, flowery language. Make your point quickly, clearly and succinctly, accounting for shortening attention spans.
- Considerate: Whether you’re communicating to an individual or a group, it’s important to be aware of their emotions and sensitivities. You risk your message getting misunderstood or ignored if you don’t take these human factors into account.
- Clear: Going hand in hand with the first two Cs, being clear is the best way to ensure your message is received. Some use the phrase “ tell them what you’re going to say, say it, then sum up what you’ve said” to help structure their message clearly.
- Concrete: Trust is a key element to communication and the best way to build it is to ensure your message is backed up with concrete evidence. Use examples, statistics, and anecdotes to take your message from abstract to concrete.
- Courteous: The best communications make it clear that you understand the differing views, preferences and needs of your audience. Courtesy also requires understanding that not everyone processes information at the same pace or level or in the same way.
- Correct Timing: The timing of your communication can often be just as relevant as your content. Ensure your message is received at a convenient time, and avoid overwhelming your audience by, for example, bombarding them with emails when one would suffice.
These 7 Cs make up the core tenets of good communication, and adopting them will ensure your communication skills improve – helping you share your message effectively both in the workplace, and life in general.
10 More Essential Communication Principles
With those pillars in mind, let’s now dive deeper into the key principles of good communication and the effect each one has on your ability to communicate.
Trustworthiness
At the heart of good communication is trust. If your audience doesn’t trust you, your message won’t resonate and you won’t be able to make an impact.
By presenting yourself as competent, warm, and empathetic, your audience is far more likely to trust the information you are giving them.
As we mentioned earlier, concrete evidence can help build trust in your message too. Leveraging statistics or anecdotes on the subject will help reinforce your words with real-life data and experiences, which helps your audience place your message in a wider context.
Active Listening
Communication is a two-way street. It’s not just about what you communicate to others, but also about how you receive and interpret their communication to you.
Actively listening will help your conversation partner understand that you’re engaged and care about what they’re communicating, while also helping you formulate the best response possible – one that actually addresses the other party’s concerns and queries.
The importance of active listening cannot be overstated. Even if you’re eager to share information or have something urgent to communicate, it’s vital that you also listen to what the other person says to you, as that message might be just as significant as yours
Speaking Skills
It’s no secret that speaking is a key part of communication. We speak to people every day, in the office, at cafés, or at shopping malls. Because we use the spoken word so frequently, developing that skill can have a big impact.
You might hold immense knowledge and understanding of a subject, but without strong speaking skills you’ll struggle to pass that information on to others. When you speak, aim to be confident, enunciate clearly, and have a meaningful intent.
Achieve this, and your spoken communication will carry you to new opportunities.
Writing Skills
Nowadays, we write just as much – if not more – than we speak aloud, especially in business settings. The impression you make on someone via email (before you’ve ever spoken to them) can be the difference between booking a meeting with a potential client, or losing them to a competitor.
Brushing up on your grammar and paragraph structuring will help you send effective emails, design impactful presentations, and write up comprehensive reports in a way that ensures they’ll be understood and appreciated for their value.
That doesn’t mean everything you write needs to be formal. Understanding how to write in a more colloquial manner and when to use different writing styles can make all the difference too.
Be Non-Judgemental
Good communication inevitably requires you to evaluate and ‘judge’ your audience’s needs, but despite this anything you say or write should come from an empathetic, constructive angle – without devaluing, insulting, or deriding anyone.
When communicating in sensitive situations, taking a ‘no blame, no shame’ approach and ensuring your message is constructive is more effective than negatively judging someone’s actions or motives.
Value Difference
Awareness and recognition of others’ values is a key part of communication. Even when you’re communicating to a large group, you’re addressing individuals within that group, each with diverse levels of understanding and ability, and differing natures and attitudes.
When you communicate, be aware of the differing needs and sensibilities of your audience, whether they be social (such as cultural or gender sensitivities) or ability-based (such as the pace someone takes in information, or their knowledge of jargon).
Accounting for these factors will ensure your communication is inclusive and impactful regardless of who your audience is.
Authenticity
Authenticity ties in closely with trust. Today, people are often exposed to marketing-speak, flowery language, and platitudes, and are therefore likely to have an amount of scepticism and resistance to your message.
One study even found that one in three employees don’t trust information they get from their own organization. That means the more accountable, open and genuine your communications are, the more you break down barriers to engagement – especially in a business context.
Curiosity
Great conversations are driven by mutual interest and curiosity. To achieve this, try to build in opportunities for your audience to ask questions or request additional information – as creating a two-way dialogue ensures that your communication is meaningful and purposeful.
Curiosity and genuine interest can reveal challenges, opportunities, and innovations that otherwise might have been overlooked if you were communicating without purpose.
Leadership Communication Principles
If you are, or aspire to be in a leadership role – every single one of these principles become essential. Leaders need to lead by example, be clear and precise in their communication, and remain calm and deliberate even in high pressure situations.
In addition to the principles we’ve already outlined, there are three more that are especially important for leaders to apply in their communications.
Confidence
Whether it’s in work, sports, or somewhere else, people look to their leaders for guidance. As a leader, you should make sure you communicate with confidence and come across as assured in the decisions you make.
People can sense nervousness, indecision, or a lack of confidence and this can have a similarly negative effect on their confidence. This doesn’t mean you should lie when things aren’t going well, but you should exude confidence in you and your team’s ability to get through any situation.
Openness
As a leader, it’s critical that you are open to critique and feedback – as that’s what helps us grow and improve. Two-way communication between you and your team should be honest and open, with everyone feeling comfortable to speak their mind and work towards a collective goal.
Motivation
Leaders need to be able to communicate in a way that motivates their team. This means understanding the style of encouragement that works best for each individual, and tailoring your communication strategy in a way that allows you to motivate your team appropriately.
This, like many other parts of being a leader, requires a strong degree of empathy and understanding. You can motivate two very different people to the same level as long as you take a tailored approach with each one and treat them respectfully and as unique individuals.
Applying Communication Principles in Practice
Now that you understand the principles behind being a great communicator, it’s time to apply those learnings. There are a number of ways you can practice implementing these principles into your communication skills:
Experience
Ultimately, nothing beats experience. Putting yourself in situations where you need to communicate well is a great way to improve. After you’ve been in a situation, spend some time reflecting on what you did well and what you could’ve improved, and act on that the next time you’re in a similar situation.
Over time, you’ll develop a good sense of how to steer conversations in a way that achieves results and helps you reach your communication goals.
Practice with Family and Friends
Practice makes perfect. If you’re not feeling confident in your application of the principles of good communication, ask a family member or friend if they can help you practice with some mock conversations.
Having a trusted second opinion give you feedback on your skills can be a great way to identify improvement opportunities.
Preparation
As the saying goes, if you fail to prepare, you should prepare to fail. If you have an upcoming event that will test your communication skills, like a presentation or speech, make sure you spend time beforehand preparing yourself.
Don’t just focus on what you’re going to say, but think about how you’re going to say it, and prepare some backup plans in case you finish your speech early, or in case there’s a tech malfunction during your presentation. That way, you can overcome any hurdles in the moment.
Online Resources
There is a vast catalog of information available online these days. If you feel like you need more help with understanding the key principles of communication after reading this article, explore websites like YouTube to find advice from famous public speakers or look up recordings of famous speeches that you can take inspiration from.
Using VirtualSpeech
VirtualSpeech is a soft skills training platform that is designed from the ground up to help you improve your communication skills. You can roleplay with AI-powered avatars in countless, realistic scenarios and then sit down with the AI Coach and discuss your feedback and how you can improve for next time.
Accessible in your browser or with a VR headset, VirtualSpeech provides a safe, judgement-free environment for you to practice your communication before taking your skills into the real world. And if you want to learn more about using VirtualSpeech on an organization-wide scale, chat to one of our friendly team members!
