How to Communicate Confidently
One thing common to all great communicators is that when they
speak, everybody listens. However, communicating to people is
one of the greatest fears for most of the human beings, and
especially when it comes to public speaking. Most people dread
public speaking more than death! Do you ever wonder why you
don't seem to get listened to by others even though you too have
many ideas to share? Then read on, this article is just for you.
Confident communication however, is more than what you speak.
It takes into account your body language as well.
What's inside the mind of a Successful Communicator?
Confident communicators aren't a know all
Of course, you need to have good knowledge about the subject you
are talking about, but what actually matters is not what you
say, but how you say it. Successful people don't do different
things, they do things differently. The first step is to believe
in what you say. You must be fully convinced in the idea and
only then will there be conviction in the tone of your voice.
Your voice now is equipped with the power to hold people's
attention. Once you have conviction in your voice, and what you
speak is useful for the other people and it actually helps them
or gives some credible information, you get appreciation. This
certainly peps up your self-confidence!
Confident communicators don't let people make them nervous
Most people suffer from fearing catastrophes that never happen.
Most people tend to make a very high imaginary impression of
other people in their minds. So much so that their mind starts
believing that other people are perfect. This creates an unfair
comparison between their own personality and the imaginary
personality of other people that they create.
This thinking breeds a fear of meeting and talking to other
people. It lowers their confidence and they fear what it will be
to meet and talk to these "perfect" people. However, in real
life nobody is perfect and you must realize this. Everybody has
their own set of faults and weaknesses. It's important for you
to realize that every human being is essentially imperfect. This
will give you greater confidence to go out and face people.
Take it or leave it. You snooze, you lose
Ideally you must be the best of your moods and carry a pleasant
demeanor when you go out and meet people. However, it might not
always be possible and it may so happen that you are not fully
prepared to communicate, or you are a little tense over some
other matter. A confident communicator, though, develops an
ability to keep control of his emotions.
This quality helps the communicator to keep control of the
situation. You may still not be in a good moodb but you must
make sure that you keep indecisiveness at bay. Your indecision
will fritter away your focus and energy and you fail to make any
impact. If you decide to communicate. Be yourself, have faith in
yourself and go ahead.
Mind your body language
Your gesture, postures and eye contact probably talk louder than
your words. Body language cuts across all barriers of
communication such as language, time, place, knowledge and so
on. Your body language starts getting interpreted unconsciously
by everyone around. People start forming impressions about you
the moment you make an eye contact and body language certainly
contributes a considerably large part of the impression you
make.
A few facts you must know
You may have a sad expression on your face because of
some other matter, but the person you are talking to may feel
that you don't approve what he says, leading to
misunderstanding.
A steady gaze may convey intensity, anger, aggression
or strong interest. Little eye contact may imply lack of
confidence or shyness.
Open hands may convey honesty and openness; however,
making a lot of hand gestures might mean that you are being
nervous.
Confident communication, including words and gestures, is
something that you do not perfect in a day. You must grab every
opportunity to communicate. Try to check your communication
skills, your strong points and the mistakes you make along with
the overall affect on the other person. Try to learn from your
experiences and there is no reason why you can't make it. Get
going. Good luck!