What do sourcing raw materials, running sales promotions, and leading a team of workers have in common? They all lean heavily on your communication skills.
Whether your intended audience is an overseas supplier, a prospective customer, or your in-house sales team, an important part of being a leader is having the ability to share information clearly and succinctly. It’s equally important to be able to take incoming information from these external sources and process it in a reflective and open-minded way. To do this successfully, you need to master the art of communication.
The good news is you don’t have to be a motivational speaker or even a natural extrovert to be an effective communicator. You can improve your communication skills through small, achievable steps—maintaining eye contact and projecting positive body language can sometimes achieve more than a grand monologue.
There are numerous tips and techniques that people use to communicate effectively. Read on to learn about some time-tested methods.
What is effective communication?
Effective communication is the clear, efficient exchange of information that results in mutual understanding between those imparting the information and those receiving it. Effective communication goes beyond the scope of one’s vocabulary, the timbre of one’s voice, or a specific communication style. It involves active listening, choosing words carefully, and checking in with the person you’re talking to to improve understanding and create a meaningful dialogue.
We can all use effective communication skills as part of everyday life, but for business leaders, the skill is essential. Kara Brothers, the president of Starface, a skin care company that sells fashionable acne treatment patches, talks about this on an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast. For Kara, effective communication helps her rally her team, avoid misunderstandings, and create a positive workplace culture.
“I really lean on transparency and communication,” Kara says. “We’re constantly talking. We’re constantly dividing and conquering. It’s a collaborative process. We all have our own specific skills that we bring to the table, and constantly revisiting those and checking in is something that’s really working well for us.”
The 7 Cs of effective communication
Many people discuss effective communication by breaking it down into seven key principles, known as the seven Cs:
1. Clarity
Effective communication is easy to understand. It uses language your audience will find clear and cogent. It doesn’t cram in unnecessary words that may make a person tune out or feel intellectually inadequate. For example, if you’re teaching a first aid class, avoid medical jargon and focus on practical tips in plain, everyday language.
You can also emphasise clarity by taking the time to check that your listeners have clearly understood what you’re saying and leaving time for questions.
2. Conciseness
Effective communicators articulate their messages quickly and efficiently. They speak or write with purpose and quickly get to the point. They respect the other party and don’t take up more time than necessary. Effective communicators resist the urge to go off on tangents or tell meandering stories. If you want your message to be understood, don’t dilute it with asides, and work on sharing it as efficiently as possible.
3. Concreteness
An effective message comes with concrete, specific details. This might mean relevant anecdotes, or it may mean hard data and statistics. Vagaries, by contrast, can confuse a listener or cause them to tune out. Whether you’re speaking or writing, challenge yourself to convey your thoughts as tangibly and concretely as possible.
4. Correctness
Any message worth communicating has to be factually correct. No matter how confident or concise you may be, your message will be much stronger if it’s factually sound. To improve your communication, take the necessary time to research what you’re going to say and fact-check your anecdotes and claims. This commitment to correctness shows personal and professional respect to your audience.
5. Coherence
Effective communication flows smoothly, with all points connected and easy to follow. Whether you’re speaking or writing, structure your message to guide the receiver through your thoughts. Use transitions like “by contrast” or “on a related note” to help your audience follow the direction of your train of thought.
6. Completeness
The most effective communication provides all the necessary information a person needs to understand the message fully and take any required action. If your thoughts are incomplete, you lower the odds that your audience will buy in or fully trust you as a source. Balancing completeness with conciseness can be tricky, so scrutinize what you need to say, and if you decide it’s worth saying, do so comprehensively.
7. Courtesy
Effective communicators show courtesy to their audience. They seek to understand their audience’s background and base of knowledge. They talk or write using language to align with that audience profile. They also leave room for dialogue, questions, and differing points of view. As a communicator, it’s wise to use respectful, polite, and positive language. This helps you develop trust and avoid conflict.
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Tips for improving your communication skills
- Practice active listening
- Prepare in advance
- Pay attention to nonverbal cues
- Ask questions
- Adapt your communication style to your audience
Whether you aspire to lead an organization or just want to feel more at ease in a conversation, you can apply these key tips for better communication:
Practice active listening
Good communication is as much about listening as it is about talking. If anything, it’s more about the former. An active listener intently focuses on the words of the person across from them until they stop talking. This approach helps you, as a listener, process information you might not have otherwise had the capacity to receive.
Here’s an easy check-in you can use when another person is talking. Ask yourself, “Am I actively listening to what they’re saying or am I just waiting to speak?” The latter will result in poor communication, but the former can open up avenues for better understanding.
Prepare in advance
Someone once asked President Woodrow Wilson how long it took him to prepare a speech. He replied, “It depends. If I am to speak for 10 minutes, I need a week for preparation; if 15 minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days; if an hour, I am ready now.”
Concise communication takes time and effort, and whether it’s a weekly group chat with your team or a difficult face-to-face conversation, you gain a lot by preparing. Outline what you want to say ahead of time, editing your remarks down to the essentials so your audience can focus on what matters. Think about potential questions or counter arguments from your audience, and gather any necessary supporting information to convey your own point of view in a robust way.
If you’re giving a speech, practice it to whatever degree you need to conquer your nerves. If you’re participating in an important discussion, see if you can find a friend who will help you run through a back-and-forth dialogue.
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Pay attention to nonverbal cues
We all send nonverbal signals through facial expressions and body language. When you speak or listen to someone else, be aware of any nonverbal cues you may be sending.
For instance, facing someone with your entire torso turned toward them can indicate openness. Folding your arms across your chest and tilting your chin downward can suggest you’re closed off to someone else’s message.
Don’t let negative body language derail a positive message. Take stock of your nonverbal communication habits and adjust so your verbal cues align with your nonverbal ones.
Ask questions
It can sometimes be easier to absorb new information when we actively participate in a conversation, as opposed to just taking in a lecture or monologue. As a communicator, you may benefit from engaging your audience and asking questions. This helps you establish a connection, and it keeps your listeners from zoning out or nodding off.
As an added bonus, the responses you get from your questions may inspire new ways of thinking for you as well. Perhaps you’ll gain perspectives you hadn’t previously considered or make inroads toward solving a problem.
Adapt your communication style to your audience
Good communicators adapt their language and message to resonate with different cultures and audiences. For example, you might use a more formal communication style while talking to corporate investors and communicate more informally with your peers and those you work closely with every day. Body language also plays a role in your communication style, so consider making small adjustments. Even choosing to stand versus sit can promote a different type of relationship dynamic.
It’s also important to choose the right medium to convey your message. For instance, it’s preferable to conduct difficult discussions face to face. On the flip side, detailed instructions may be best shared in a doc or via email (and avoid the phrase “this meeting could have been an email” being bandied around). You can’t control how the other person will process your message, but you can improve the odds of connection by choosing the right message delivery system.
How to promote effective communication in the workplace
- Be as transparent as possible
- Establish clear communication channels
- Work together to create efficient systems
- Create a problem-solving approach
Here’s how you can take your skills to the next level and promote clarity and collaboration in the workplace:
1. Be as transparent as possible
When Kara Brothers took the reins at Starface, she prioritized transparency between her and her team. “Of course, there are things that you might not share at a particular moment because there’s a time and a place for everything,” she says. “But in the business environment, it’s really easy for individuals to start guessing—guess what your leaders are thinking, guess what your peers are thinking, guess what the goals are—and it takes a lot of energy.”
Instead of leaving things unclear so team members had to guess, Kara took a proactive approach and worked to speak the plain truth to everyone as often as possible. “I just try to reiterate the goals, why decisions are made, where we need to be, and where we aren’t right now,” Kara says. “And that provides a little context for a lot of decisions, which I find is really important.”
You can do the same by keeping relevant stakeholders in the loop as goals evolve, deadlines shift, and priorities change. Ask yourself: What information do I currently have that my team doesn’t? Could any of that information help them do their jobs more effectively?
2. Establish clear communication channels
Give everyone on your team the ability to communicate with anyone else in the workplace. Opening lines of communication gives people a sense of agency, and it encourages people to share ideas rather than feel isolated with potentially negative thoughts. As you open these communication channels, set expectations for decorum and respect for others’ time. No one wants to be cc’d on emails, SMS threads, or Slack discussions that aren’t relevant to them. On the other hand, always include relevant stakeholders in decisions that involve them.
3. Work together to create efficient systems
Ask your team to share their thoughts on how effectively your teams and leadership are communicating, and what could be better. You can do this using surveys, informal check-ins, or dedicated feedback sessions. Actively asking for feedback creates a culture where open, respectful communication is valued and normalized.
Just as important as soliciting feedback is acting upon it, where appropriate. For example, if multiple team members suggest reducing the number of group meetings and keeping a written record of action items instead, you may find it valuable to invest in task management software. By doing so, you show your team that not only is it safe for them to share opinions but that those opinions are taken seriously.
4. Create a problem-solving approach
Collaborative work can often lead to disagreements on the best way forward. When this happens, it’s important to ensure that communication feels productive and solution-oriented and that individuals don’t feel personally attacked.
Frame the discussion around pursuing a common goal and keep the conversation issue-focused rather than a referendum on someone’s personal shortcomings.
Effective communication FAQ
What are the 7 Cs of effective communication?
The seven Cs of effective communication are clarity, conciseness, concreteness, correctness, coherence, completeness, and courtesy.
How can I improve my communication skills?
You can improve your communication skills by practicing active listening, minding the nonverbal cues you send, and sharing information concisely. These actions demonstrate respect for the person you’re communicating with and promote mutual understanding.
What are the qualities of an effective communicator?
An effective communicator prepares in advance, speaks clearly and concisely, listens intently, and adapts their communication style when appropriate.
