You communicate in various ways every day of your life but strengthening your communication skills can positively impact both your personal and professional development.
Communication is the act of exchanging or imparting information vocally, visually, non-verbally, or through the written word. You may have a preference in how you share your business information, for example, through blog posts or newsletters (written communication) or via podcasts, vlogs, speaking events, or webinars (vocally). No matter which method you prefer, you communicate in all these ways whether you are conscious of it or not.
Why is communication so important to your business success?
To be able to communicate confidently about your products or services is a vital part of your business success. Developing excellent communication skills enables you to listen, present your thoughts and ideas in a focused manner, collaborate well in groups, use appropriate language that resonates with your ideal client, write concisely, and build authentic relationships.
Let’s look at the various forms of communication that you use daily and see how you can improve your skillset.
Verbal communication
In the Woman Who Achieves Academy, we do a lot of work with our members around the benefits of public speaking at events and on video. There is nothing more powerful than sharing your business story.
Whether you are speaking to a room of 200 people or having a simple face-to-face conversation with a potential client or at a networking event, your verbal communication skills need to be honed.
I have extensive public speaking and interviewing experience and regularly speak throughout the UK and beyond. I talk about my own business journey at lunch events, conferences, panel discussions, and to large audiences on a variety of business development and growth themes. I weave my own story into my speaking and share real life examples.
The impact on your business success is so important, that I now provide training for anyone looking to improve their public speaking skills. To support women in business on their speaker journey is one of the highlights of my role as founder of Woman Who. I love nothing more than to create opportunities for Academy members to deliver a keynote on stage.
Most people are not used to hearing their own voice, which is why we often cringe when we hear a recording of ourselves. Building your verbal communication skills can be practiced easily using simple exercises such as talking out loud and recording yourself. Try talking about your business journey to a friend while they record you but remember to slow your voice down, keep your head up, and pause occasionally. Most importantly, don’t forget to breathe.
Non-verbal communication
You may have heard the saying ‘the eyes are the window to the soul’ and this refers to our non-verbal communication skills.
Non-verbal includes our facial expressions, body language, and even our clothing, posture, and kinesics.
According to an article on Haiilo, 7% of communication is verbal, 38% is tone and inflection, and a staggering 55% is body language.
If you have ever had a conversation with someone who deliberately kept their arms crossed you may have felt like you were talking to yourself. Crossing your arms disconnects you from your audience. How you present yourself is an important factor in building successful communication strategies.
Think about the misunderstandings between a business and client when communication has been carried out either via email or social media. Without the ability to see facial expressions or hear the tone of voice, any written correspondence can be misread or misinterpreted. Has this ever happened to you?
As a business owner, how you look and act speaks volumes. You are representing your brand and need to present yourself appropriately. There are many stylists within the Woman Who community who will tell you the importance of comfort and confidence, but they will also confirm the value of looking the part and wearing the right colours.
Listening
“Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking.” – Bernard M Baruch.
Excellent listening skills are not about hearing the words that are spoken, but about understanding what the person is saying or the challenges they are facing, as well as relating to how they are feeling.
Strong relationships are built upon the foundation of being listened to. Can you relate to this? As a consumer have you ever not felt heard when asking for a service or product vs. a time when you were understood? How did you feel? What difference did it make when you felt listened to?
To ensure you are developing your listening skills try practicing active listening. This exercise includes being actively present when someone is talking, asking questions where necessary to deepen your understanding, and relaying the main points back to the speaker so they appreciate that you have listened and absorbed what was said.
It’s imperative that you continue to nurture the communication skills necessary for business success. There is an entire community of entrepreneurs who can help you grow these skills, improve your mindset, build your confidence, and boost your business visibility here at Woman Who.
Woman Who Inspires Online Network
Each month Woman Who hosts the Woman Who Inspires Online Network
As usual with Woman Who events, there will be networking, inspirational speakers, and learning around each month’s theme.
Simply register, there is no charge to attend.
Be inspired and start your Woman Who journey today