Articulating Your Thoughts: The Art of Communication
- Blog
- June 21, 2023
- 1:57 pm
Communication is the art of sharing your thoughts, feelings, and ideas with others. It is essential for building relationships, achieving goals, and expressing yourself creatively. But communication is not always easy. Sometimes we struggle to find the right words to convey our message clearly, or to connect with our audience. You may think you speak very well, but you don’t, and the moment you need to articulate your thoughts clearly, you will see how limited you truly are.
In the scope of things, there are primarily three types of people that exist: The arrogant, the ignorant, and the student.
The arrogant thinks he’s great at communicating without ever improving this skill, and the ignorant underestimates the power of communication and influence and dismisses the importance of it, but the student is humble enough to accept that he should improve. He knows he wasn’t born with elite communication skills, and he doesn’t dismiss the importance of coping with this deficiency. Instead, he is eager to get better, and out of the three, he is the one who becomes the most successful in life.
You see, communication is everything in the modern world. Your ability to effectively communicate dictates, in no small way, your ability to succeed, even if you have no other skill to back it up with. Because high-level communication is essential for success and, indeed, influence, it can get people to understand you, respect you, buy what you sell, and follow you to the ends of the earth. In a nutshell, you can’t be a good leader without it.
In this blog post, we’ll examine this concept extensively as well as offer tips to help you elevate your communication game. If you have a student mindset, it’s time to become a powerful communicator. Let’s get started.
1. Think Before You Speak
We see so many people just rambling their thoughts as if they were having a conversation with themselves. They do not pay attention to what they say because they feel social pressure to speak quickly and without thought. It’s not because they have a great answer, but because the pressure is forcing them to respond fast. This pressure isn’t real, but they make it real in their heads, and as such, they feel the need to answer in time. This happens all the time, even in conversations of low importance, like when the barber asks a question while you’re getting a haircut.
Just because someone asks you something doesn’t mean you must provide an answer right away. Think. “What I’m about to say—is it valuable, or do I come off weirding everyone out and wasting their time and attention?” To prevent this from happening, think before you speak. That brief pause makes all the difference in the world between a successful conversation and a disastrous one. A brief pause can stop you from saying some of the most regrettable things you’ll ever say.
Here’s a secret: the more often you pause before speaking, the shorter those pauses become over time because you’re training yourself to think faster under pressure. In the beginning, you may need long pauses to formulate a well-thought-out response, and it may feel awkward to do at first, but before you know it, you’ll be able to deliver well-thought-out answers with ease. This is why you’ll see certain individuals, either in a podcast or debate, delivering impactful responses effortlessly. It’s not because they’re talented or have memorised their lines; it’s because they’re so used to thinking before they speak that their brains are used to processing thoughts and answers at a much quicker rate.
So, think before you speak. That’s where it all starts.
2. Choose Your Words
Words carry weight, so you must pick your words carefully. Always consider how they’ll be received by the other person, not just by the content of the words you are saying but by how that person will receive them.
You see, the words you pick combined with the tone of those words can make a night and day difference in how they are received. Something you say with good intentions can be perceived as disrespectful or hostile merely because of the wrong choice of words, tone, or both. You must be tactful as well as respectful of other people’s feelings. This doesn’t mean you should settle for indirect remarks; instead, you should always consider if what you’re about to say is necessary, relevant, and appropriate for the situation. If it’s not, bite your tongue and save your thoughts for something more suitable.
Remember, to become articulate is to become a master of your tongue.
3. Use Simple and Clear Words
One of the most common communication mistakes is using complex or vague language that makes it hard for your audience or receiver to understand you. To avoid this, use simple and clear language that expresses your thoughts precisely and concisely. Avoid jargon, slang, technical terms, or acronyms that your receiver may not be familiar with. If you need to use them, explain them clearly or provide examples.
Also, when writing, avoid long or complicated sentences that may confuse your audience or make them lose interest. Instead, use short, simple sentences that convey one idea at a time. Use transitions, connectors, and signposts to link your sentences and paragraphs and create a logical flow of information. (Like this one.)
4. Listen Actively and Intently
Communication is a two-way street. As you express yourself, you also need to listen to what others are saying and show that you are interested and attentive. Listening is akin to speaking, which is different from talking in this context; it is understanding, interpreting, and responding to the messages of others. Why? Everyone likes to talk about themselves, and when you allow them to share things they love or like talking about, they’ll associate those good feelings with you. Most people don’t know this, but listening is the winning formula for influencing people, and it sounds easy, right? Well, it isn’t.
Being a good listener takes just as much skill as being a good speaker. Here are a few tips to help make you a great listener:
~ Don’t interrupt. Being interrupted is frustrating for the other person, as it gives the impression that you think you are more important or that you don’t have time for what they are about to say. If you are naturally a quicker thinker or speaker, force yourself to slow down so the other person can express themselves. Remember, a pause or a few seconds of silence does not mean you have to jump in. Letting the other person speak will make it easier for you to understand their message as well. Secondly, listening to non-verbal cues, facial expressions, and tone of voice can tell you just as much as what is being said in words. In a nutshell, pay attention to what the other person is saying with their body language.
~ Listen without judging or jumping to conclusions. If you start reacting emotionally to what is being said, then it can get in the way of listening to what is said next. Try to focus on listening; equally, don’t try to predict what the other person is going to say or plan a response, because you can’t listen and prepare at the same time.
~ Don’t impose your opinions and solutions. We all have an ego, and most people prefer to come to their own conclusions. It’s better to ask questions or give suggestions than to bluntly tell someone what to do. There’s more to the art of listening, like your body language, making eye contact, and nodding your head to encourage the other person to keep talking.
With these tips, you can drastically improve your communication skills and influence.
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5. Practice
Having given you all the information you need to communicate properly, we’re going to get into how to practise and become a wordsmith when conversing.
Your practise comes down to two simple things: input and output.
~ Input: One of the best ways to become more articulate is by reading books. Reading expands your vocabulary, and using a variety of words makes your conversation more flexible and dynamic. A strong vocabulary provides speakers with the ability to create compelling and thoughtful sentences. So, find books on topics you want to get better at, whether it’s books on self-improvement, making money, or fictional books, even if it’s just for 15 minutes a day. This doesn’t just improve your vocabulary; it also makes you smarter.
~ Output: Start writing. Putting your thoughts on paper will improve your ability to articulate them because you’re training yourself to play around with words. You could write about anything; you could journal about your goals and other things on your mind, as long as you gradually make it a habit by writing for at least 15 minutes daily or every two to three days.
6. Copy & Combine
“The kernel, the soul—let us go further and say the substance, the bulk, the actual and valuable material of all human utterances is plagiarism.” Mark Twain
As Mark Twain eloquently puts it, everything is plagiarised. Humans have perpetually taken inspiration from those before them, either consciously or subconsciously.
To develop a great style of your own, you need to start copying great speakers.
When you were a child, you learned by copying your parents. Then you went to school and started copying your teacher and peers. Even now, you learn by copying those around you. This is simply human nature. However, copying becomes a problem only when you copy from just one person. When you copy from dozens of other people, mix it up, and give your own style to it, that’s called innovation.
So, how can you use this to level up your communication skills? Copy the great speakers you know, but don’t just copy one; copy multiple great speakers, because settling for one ultimately turns you into a lesser version of that person. Mixing these different styles and adding your touch to them will give you a whole new style of speech that is unique to you.
By and large, communication is an art that can be learned and improved with practise. By following these six tips, you’ll be able to master the art of communication and be articulate with a finesse that has never been seen before.