What is good communication? While there are many experts and even entire books that debate this question but at the end of the day good communication is effective communication, and effective communication clearly produces results. At the end of the day that is the one and only factor to seeing if you effective at getting your message across: does it produce the results, you’re trying to create? If not, it’s time to take a good hard look at how you communicate and what you can do to improve yourself in this area.

So if you’re struggling, what can you do to improve? Read on to find out!

#1: Study Body Language
When you are communicating for results understanding the small but powerful signs that body language gives off serves two major purposes. One is looking at how you stand and interact with others. Are you coming across as too aggressive? Too weak? Is your body language giving conflicting messages compared to your words? Fixing even a few minor body language problems can turn into huge noticeable results.

The second reason knowing body language can help is it allows you to read the people you are communicating with. Are they getting excited over your style of speaking? Offended? Picking up on small signals can let you know when to push forward harder with your style, when to back off a notch or two, or if you’re hitting the perfect tone. That’s powerful knowledge when it comes to communication.

#2: Mode of Communication
Understand the mediums available. What is appropriate for a quick e-mail? When is a phone call better, maybe to let the recipient hear the excitement in your voice? There are some things that are best talked about in a meeting whether one on one or as a larger group. Understanding the pros and cons of each type of communication is critical if you want your communication to be effective in the workplace.

 

#4: Clear & Concise Language
Don’t use a $20 grad school word when a simple $2 word does just fine. You want your language to be as clear and direct as possible, so workers don’t need to spend time and energy figuring out what you mean before acting. They should be able to talk to you, listen to a message, or read an e-mail and know exactly what action to immediately take.

These four tips might seem like small things, but there’s no denying the power each one holds alone, much less together. Follow these, and you will be amazed how much more effective your communication will now become.