How we use communication determines whether it will have positive or negative effects this fact dispels what myth?

#Communication

“The art of communication is the language of leadership.” — James Humes

Business communication is all about communicating in business with certain standards professionally that are acceptable to all. It helps communicate effectively with etiquette. Being aware of the right procedures and practices helps project and present the senders with professional decency and decorum, and also helps accomplish business objectives effectively. Here are some tools and techniques for successful business communication:

Keep the profile of the audiences in view before you communicate.
Don’t write with high vocabulary. Write in simple and straight language. Have clarity in your mind on what you want to communicate.
Don’t communicate without ground work and home work. Do adequate research and get accurate information about the topic, and then communicate. Make your content unique and don’t offer the routine stuff.
Share authentic information. Don’t deliver information on hearsay. Audiences are smart enough to be able to find out the inaccuracies.
Adopt various tools and techniques to reach all kinds of audiences as each audience has different levels of intelligence.
Above all, proofread your message a number of times to get the desired outcomes.

Remember, good business communication is a roadmap that builds bridges.

Myths and Truths about Communication: Most people want to know and improve their communication skills. However, there are several myths associated with communication. It is time to debunk the same to know exactly about communication.

Myth # 1: Assuming is not communication.

Truth: Most people assume their communication within their minds and think that they have communicated. You must learn that there is an inner noise that is responsible for this assumption. Therefore, avoid your assumptions during communication by suspending your inner noise to enable you to enjoy true communication.

Myth # 2: Your language is more important than expression.

Truth: Language is only a medium of expression. It is a vehicle for your communication. However, your ideas, insights and expressions count more than the language you speak. There are a number of languages in the world, but the ideas are translated from one language to another. It is a testimony that ideas, insights and expressions are more important than the language you communicate. The only solace is that when you communicate in your native language you will feel more comfortable.

Myth # 3: What you communicate is more important than how you communicate.

Truth: In fact, how you communicate is more important than what you communicate. In any communication, the oral language takes 7 per cent, voice modulation takes 38 per cent, and body language takes 55 per cent. Therefore, what you communicate makes up only 7 per cent of the entire communication while how you communicate through your voice modulation and body modulation makes up the rest of the segment which is the major portion.

Myth # 4: Your oral communication is the real communication.

Truth: As already discussed, your oral communication constitutes only 7 per cent while the rest falls in voice modulation and body animation. Therefore, the way you raise and lower your pitch, and the way you present through your body language matters a lot during your communication.

Myth # 5: Context in your communication is not important.

Truth: If you convey something without setting the context, it leads to a communication gap as the receivers might misunderstand your message. There are a number of challenges in communication. For instance, research shows that only one out of seven messages sent by the senders is absorbed by the receivers under normal conditions. Therefore, imagine how receivers will interpret your communication when you deliver the content without setting the context.

How to Ensure Effective Communication? Here are some tools to ensure effective communication:

There must be right synchronization between the speaker and the listener. You cannot clap with one hand; you need two hands to clap. Similarly, both the sender and the receiver must take interest in each other.
The sender must take feedback from the receiver from time to time through his or her body language. If the sender finds that the receiver is losing interest then the former must change his or her style of communication by stating examples to arouse the interest of the listener. The sender may also ask open ended questions during communication to ensure effective communication. (Open ended questions involve getting elaborate answers from others for the questions.) The sender must organize the information properly to avoid clutter in the mind of the listener. He or she must have clarity in his or her mind first, and then communicate with frequent emphasis on feedback.
Avoid usage of technical jargon which becomes difficult for the non-technical listener to understand. Make it jargon-free and communicate in plain and simple language.
Choose the right medium and the channel to convey your message.
Keep the profile and personality of the listener in view and communicate. Don’t speak on a subject in which the listener is not interested. Hence, find out what interests the listener, and then communicate.
The receivers don’t appreciate information overload. When senders deliver too much of information, the receivers cannot digest the same resulting in indigestion and ineffective results. Hence, the senders must be careful in delivering their content and they must deliver in a piecemeal manner rather than dumping all the information at one time. If a huge amount of content has to be delivered, the senders must share information little by little by adding humour as humour breaks the ice with receivers, and enable them to absorb the essence easily.
The senders must slice the complicated content into pieces to ensure effective takeaways among receivers. They can take the support of stories, and convey the essence through stories as human beings love to listen to stories. Human beings can relate the reel content with real content when delivered through amazing stories.
The senders must set the context first, and then deliver the content to avoid distortion of facts and truths, and thereby avoid being misunderstood by the receivers. Delinking both context and content in communication proves to be costly for both the senders and the receivers.
The senders must not assume that the receivers know everything. They must get out of such mental assumptions while delivering their message.
The receivers should not have any preconceived notions about the senders. They must avoid getting preoccupied with other activities in order to ensure smooth communication. They must not have ‘I know everything’ attitude as it disturbs smooth communication. They must demonstrate positive body language and interest toward the senders.

Communication and Leadership: Communication and leadership are interwoven as leadership demands good communication skills, and communication paves the way for great leadership. Leaders must be good listeners and communicators to lead others from the front. They must listen more and communicate the vision and mission of the company to their people.

To conclude, when you possess four pillars of business communication —speaking, listening, writing and reading skills, you will become a successful communicator. Once you become a successful communicator, you will become a successful professional and a successful leader. Hence, master these four basic pillars to achieve your professional success.

“You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere.” — Lee Iacocca

Note: This article has been adapted from my award-winning book, ‘Strategies for Improving Your Business Communication: The Book for Leaders to Communicate and Achieve Professional Success’ Nido Qubein wrote foreword. Link to purchase it: http://www.amazon.com/Strategies-Improving-your-Business-Communication/dp/9350239434/ref=sr_1_148?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1359111435&sr=1-148

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Professor M.S.Rao, India

Founder of MSR Leadership Consultants India

Recipient of 10th International Prestigious Sardar Patel Award―2015

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