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21st Century is all about skills. Skills that can solve real time challenges and add values in the lives of others. Creative and Innovative solutions to bring ease to life and achieve goals. Communication skills is one of the top most essential life skill that we require at every moment from daily chores to achieving success in college, workplace, business and relationships. Communication Skills are not speaking skills only as mentioned in the previous blog. Then, what are communication skills? Why do we need to communicate? Where and with whom should we communicate? When should we communicate? And how should we communicate? Let’s find answers for all these important 5Ws and 1H of communication skills.

1. What are Communication Skills?
Communication skills are an individual’s honest self-expression. A complete, full and true self-expression of yourself to yourself and others effectively and clearly. It is a holistic way of expressing your inner energies and channelizing them into constructive creations. Self-expression is a way of making yourself expressed in your own comfortable way.

2. Why do we communicate?
Four reasons to communicate:
a) To express our needs
b) To express our feeling or emotions
c) To express our desires
d) To express our thoughts and ideas
e) To seek answers from the outside world or the inside world.

Human minds are wired for communication. At the time of birth we cry. That is telling the world I have arrived or I am not comfortable with the sudden spurt of light from the 9 months of darkness in womb. Infants cry to express their needs. My mentor once mentioned that monkeys will eat bananas and throw them away. Monkeys are not bothered about the benefits of bananas. But Human beings will conduct a conference and webinars on the benefits of bananas. We love to communicate our thoughts, ideas and perspectives. Even I am writing this blog to help my audience understand communication skills. Note: Don’t mistake it with the purpose of communication.

3. Who is communicating with whom?
Communication always happen between two parties. It is never a one way process. One is passing the message and the other is receiving the message. The two parties are as follows:

• 1. You and Yourself: This is the mind talking to your inner self either aloud or inside. We talk to ourselves everyday either consciously or unconsciously and for sure subconsciously. All these pass a message to our subconscious mind and eventually create a reality for us. For example: How many times you tell yourself that “don’t eat that extra slice of cake you will add to your weight”? Or “Common you can do this” It’s important to have positive self-talks to shape our reality into a beautiful world. This is where positive affirmations come into place. Every Human has the wisdom within himself that he or she needs. When you talk to yourself and you start tapping the potential of self-talk you will find answers to all your questions.

  To know how to do it join my Teenagers, Parents or Teacher Training Program.

• 2. Yourself and Others: We all talk to others to find answers for our questions. For example: 99% of my communication is in Question and Answer format. In a day I talk to my son, husband, family members, friends, parents who are my clients, children who are the consumers of my sessions, adults seeking professional help from me, my house helpS and the Social Media Marketing. This is the place which requires self-mastery to achieve desirable results. (A detailed blog coming up soon).

  For programs click on the services tab.

  In both the places it is important to establish connect with your audience/self through empathy and compassion.

4. Where to Communicate or Which is the right platform to Communicate?
Today we have a plethora of platforms to communicate. You don’t need to wait for getting selected for the school speech or storytelling contest or a business presentation to express. YouTube videos, podcasts, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and so many other platforms all offers opportunities to communicate and express. The objective is which is the right place to communicate and with what type of audience for your message to do its work. If you want to communicate to your boss or a client which is the most effective way to communicate: Email, Direct Call or WhatsApp or Telegram. In a physical setting the ambience plays a crucial role. For Example-You won’t ask for money from your father in a party in front of outsiders. The location and the channel of communication is important and that is what you have to decide depending on the subject matter which will be the best medium to make your mark.

5. When to Communicate?
My grandmother used to say, speak when the iron is hot, by which she meant speak when it’s necessary for your words to work. It was the most useful advice. For example- A delay in communication at the right time can cause death in the medical world. It’s important to know when to talk or write or dance? Don’t express yourself mindlessly anytime. Timings and duration of your communication is extremely significant.

After understanding the 5Ws the pertinent question is how to communicate?

How to communicate our thoughts and feelings in an effective manner is a wider topic though here we will understand the ways to communicate.?

There are broadly 5 types of communication skills:

1. Verbal Communication are the spoken words that we taste. It is the easiest way to communicate your ideas, vision and feelings because you can use words which will show your intention and feelings in your message clearly. For example- Talking, Storytelling, Ted Talk and so on.

2. Active Listening: It is the most important and most neglected. 80% of communication problem arises because we don’t listen properly or we choose to listen only that part which we want to. Listening skills and Speaking skills go hand in hand. None can be detached. For example: Most teenagers loose debating competition because they don’t listen to the opposition team mindfully.

3. Written Communication is for the eyes to read and the mind to remember. For example: writing daily reflections in a diary, books or newspaper articles.

4. Non –Verbal Communication is simply your body language, gestures and facial expression even when you are not speaking. It is the best way to know someone personality or state of mind in a given situation. Movement is a sub branch of non-verbal communication which most people enjoy and chooses them to express fully. For Example: Dancing, Swimming, Playing a Sport, Playing a musical instrument and Gardening.

5. Visual Communication is the most popular ones and probably the most loved one. They say “A picture is worth 1000 words”. They often add value to content and sometimes the picture is enough for communicating the message. For example: Creative Memes, Maps, Drawing are all used to convey a message.

Effective communication is all about conveying your message in a clear, concise, easy and understandable manner. The wise never speak unnecessarily because every word is an energy. To be successful in life we need energy. Hence channelize your energies at the right place at the right time

If you have any queries, doubts or comments do leave in the comment box. Would be happy to assist you. Share the article on your social media to help others.

Thank You
Storyteller, Drama Educator & Trainer
Khushboo Chokhaani