5 Successful Methods for Authentic Communication
You can implement any or all of these today!
Communication affects every part of our daily lives. Effective communication achieves several goals, including conveying the intended information, maintaining positive and respectful relationships, problem-solving, planning next steps, and achieving mutual success. However, many people struggle with communicating effectively in professional settings.
When was the last time you said, "I thought you meant..." or "I misunderstood what you said?" If you've experienced these moments, you're not alone. Many of us can relate, and it's a sign that we can all benefit from communication improvements.
In today's world, where the social media lifestyle forces people to sugarcoat their lives and act as if everything is excellent, authentic communication is more critical than ever. Today, more people appreciate those who choose to be original than those with rehearsed, "Insta-worthy" communication styles.
So, how can you communicate more authentically? Here are five ways to positively impact your communication -
1. Incorporate stories.
Storytelling, examples, analogies, and metaphors are powerful tools that can help to resonate a message or meaning, inspire creativity and understanding. For instance, when explaining a complex project, you can use a personal anecdote to make the information more relatable. When discussing a challenging situation, you can use a metaphor to simplify the concept. When you use a metaphor to simplify a challenging situation, you're not just simplifying, you're engaging your audience.
Stories are memorable because they connect you with the message and thus have more impact. Everyone has personal experiences they can draw upon, so there's always a supply of stories, examples, or analogies to share.
Ensure that your story has a clear purpose or point. Relate the story to your message and let it become the focal point. For example, if you want to convey that there is a timeline importance, a story or example of what happened to an actual business or client that missed the timeline and the domino effect of this delay for everyone involved would be purposeful in conveying its importance. Use stories, examples, analogies, and metaphors in a way that's consistent with your overall objectives.
2. Understand and respect that people have differences.
If you run a business, each customer, client, partner, and colleague's values, beliefs, and experiences will differ. It's natural to think that a person's preferences will be no different regarding how they prefer to communicate. However, when it comes to communication in the workplace -- or business in general -- it's not the differences that complicate communication but how these differences manifest. Each person's life, work, and relationship experience impacts their preferences for how they prefer to communicate.
3. Listen more than speak.
Do you listen actively or passively? Active listening shows that you care and respect what the other person is sharing, and fosters a deeper connection and understanding.
Good listening means focusing not only on what someone is saying but also on what they aren’t. In business communication, good listeners take note of facial expressions, tone, pitch, emphasis, and body language. They make an effort to understand the message through more than just words. The goal is to understand the other person, not just determine what to say in response.
An effective way to be a good listener is to ask questions. Clarify, inquire, and explore other people's ideas and feelings, as this helps you connect and enables you to understand what is being conveyed more thoroughly. Also, occasionally repeat some of your understanding to the other person to show you are listening, engaged, and genuinely caring about what is being communicated.
4. Communicate from your heart.
Allow yourself to feel inspired in a professional context. Passion draws people in and catches the eye, even in business settings. A passionate speaker or listener is recognized and appreciated, especially when discussing topics they are deeply knowledgeable about or care about.
Even more powerful is the ability to communicate compassion to others. Communicating empathy to others shows that you are a genuinely caring person. You demonstrate your willingness to connect and empathize with others when you verbally and nonverbally show interest, intent, and concern. When we communicate from our hearts, the speaker and the listener mutually benefit, respect and appreciation grow, and the relationship is developed and nurtured.
5. Engage with your eyes.
Make an effort to look at the other person's eyes as soon as you start talking. When listening, look at the person speaking to show you are genuinely interested in what is being communicated. Using good eye contact builds trust and rapport, shows confidence and self-assurance in the conversation, and conveys intentions more clearly. Cultural norms and individual preferences may vary, so it's important to be sensitive to these factors.
Communication is an everyday activity, and we all can use authentic communication to help others better understand our messages and others more. Communicating with authenticity and compassion is a way for everyone to be more productive, effective, connected, and successful.
These methods can also be effective in your personal communications. Try some of these at your next holiday gathering and see what happens!