Improving your Communication Skills

In an article in the March 2008 issue of Structural Engineer Magazine, Richard Weingardt wrote in his column “The View From Here” about a Six-Pack Plan for increasing your effectiveness. One of the items in his plan focused on the importance of improving your communication skills, including verbal, written, and spoken. As you work with coworkers, superiors, clients, and prospective clients, not only could you be judged by what you say, but also the way you say it.

Not everyone is born with a love of public speaking, but it is something that can be practiced and a procedure refined, until it become second nature (or at least not dreaded). For me, it all started with writing – I would write what I was going to say, then practice reading it over and over until it was memorized. That was great, until I forgot one line in my presentation, and then I was stammering for the next line. Now, I still write many of my presentations, but instead of memorizing them, I try to outline my talk, and then remember the outline as a guide for talking points as I am giving the presentation.

There are many avenues for improving your communication skills. Classes on writing or speech are usually offered at a local community college or through an adult education program, and you can also look into a Toastmasters group (http://www.toastmasters.org/) for a focus on presentation skills. Are there others avenues that you have used to improve your communication skills? Send us an email and let us know what methods have worked best for you.