Four one-minute hacks to communicate like a Pro
Communication is the art of conveying your thoughts, ideas, feelings, and emotions. Effective communication requires effort from both sides and cannot be established by one single entity. Effective communicators understand that communication is not limited to words but also includes physical gestures, body language, facial expressions, and actions of the communicating parties. Now you can understand how a baby communicates with his mother without using words and only via physical gestures.
Communication is the essence of all relationships. The better the communication, the better the relationship.
There is no limit to learning for better communication but this article is about 5 quick hacks that can help you effortlessly communicate and improve your relationships. If practiced, these things take less than a minute and give wonderful results.
- Undestanding the power of eye contact
Eye contact and physical posture indicate a lot of hidden insights into the individual’s behaviour. When people are interested and want to extend the conversation, they usually stand with their faces toward each other. Similarly, when people are not interested and want the communication to be over, they don’t face each other.
When people are confident and interested in communication, they maintain eye contact. The absence of eye contact indicates a lack of trust, anxiety, fear, submission, anger, etc. It is usually verified by looking at the gaze of the next person. If they look downwards, they are probably afraid, shy, trying to hide something, and are not confident. Similarly, when people look sideways, they indicate a lack of interest in the topic. Looking sideways also expresses disinterest, a lack of trust, and conveys that the next person is hiding something.
Looking downwards indicates shyness, lack of confidence, fear, and submission. Looking upwards indicates that the individual is recalling/ trying to remember something.
You can maintain eye contact to prove your interest and confidence. When you are not interested in the communication, simply start gazing sideways without holding your head down. This will subtly discourage the next person and wrap up the talk in a short time.
Blinking of eyes has a natural timing and we usually blink 15–20 times in a minute. Each blink lasts about 0.1–0.3 seconds and is very healthy for the eyes. You need not count the number of blinks but you can notice if the next person is blinking more or less. Frequent blinking indicates stress and fatigue. Blinking with more average time (1 second — 3 seconds) expresses sleepiness and disinterest.
2. Physical Posture
Physical posture automatically indicates your interest and feelings. A confident speaker stands straight and is visibly active. A non-confident person is usually bent, holds his head down, and tries to look away.
When people are open to accepting your thoughts and don’t have any prejudice, they usually stand with open hands. At the same time, people who stand with their arms folded around their chest, are trying to hold on to their thought and are less likely to accept your idea. This is a common posture for someone who is reserved and trying to protect themselves.
A person having hands on their sides (placed around their belt area)usually are dominant. People having hands holding back at their hips indicate nervousness.
If you want to communicate better, look if the person is standing facing you or not. When people are interested in the topic, they face each other.
The posture is automatically controlled by the brain and with practice, you can control it. This has a reverse effect also. Thus, when you are nervous try standing with open arms and in a stable position with fewer movements. Your brain will automatically adjust and you will feel more confident.
3. Focus on words & tone
Just like your eyes & your physical posture, your speech also determines your state. Good communicators have a stable and uniform speech rate. It is usually fast for nervous speakers. Speaking at a rapid pace indicates
There is a natural speech rate that is unique to each individual and that varies from culture to culture. It also depends on the language that you are speaking and the content that you are speaking.
Any idea that requires attention and demands understanding should be spoken slowly and only the important parts should be emphasized. Unlike writing you cannot bold the parts which are of importance and thus, you should ideally repeat them, pause after them, or ask questions from the next person (if they have understood it).
The tone of speech is also a very powerful tool for effective communication. A loud tone expresses anger, and a mellow and low voice expresses nervousness and fear. If the speaker uses positive words, they are more likely to be confident and happy. Speakers that are sad and feeling low usually use negative words with smiles not lasting long enough.
You can also notice the persistence of a smile while speaking. Long duration smiles (2 sec — 3 sec) with a stable speech rate and average tone (not so loud, not so low) express the confidence and good mood of the speaker. On the contrary, short-duration smiles, a blank or serious face, a non-homogenous speech rate, and an unnatural tone simply take the joy of speaking away and trigger that the speaker is not comfortable.
Thus, when you communicate, please be aware and control your tone as per the situation. If you wish to express anger, a loud tone is required. If you wish to inspire friendship, communicate in a stable and friendly tone. If you wish to sound confident, maintain your speech rate at a lower side and use natural your tone.
4. Pausing & Listening
Effective communication also requires pauses in between and listening. Good speakers pause for a moment before they proceed to the next topic. This pausing helps the listener to relax and absorb what has been said. It also gives the listener a time to react to “what has been said”? Pausing also gives the speaker a chance to recall if they have missed anything that was necessary.
Good communication depends on how often you pause and ask the next person for their views, their understanding, and consider them. Great communication happens when both individuals are involved in it.
You should consider pausing and asking for their views in between communication. While you ask for their views and please remember the above tips to not convey your disinterest and disapproval.
We all are programmed by the nature to understand the subtle signs and respond accordingly. At times we might not be aware but these simple gestures rule the communication.
Now when you have understood some very basic tips that make communication great. You can be mindful and try to use them in your next communication. It will take time but then it will be an automatic response of your body and you will effortlessly communicate like a pro
