How good are you when delivering messages during a meeting? Excellent or not so excellent?

Being able to convey our words in front of others is not easy, especially if you lack communication skills. Jeff Weiner, the CEO of LinkedIn, told CNBC that businesses are relying on cross-company collaboration, making communication as well as interpersonal skills on demand. Unfortunately, many talents are lacking this skill resulting in this ability become number one skill gap across businesses. Employers, in this regard, are also finding it hard to get talents that possess this great ability.

Not only are employers paying interest in interpersonal ability, but managers are also paying special attention to communication skills when evaluating employees. Interpersonal skills are listed in the topmost in-demand skill based on Cengage Survey. Other skills which are in-demand are listening skills, attention to detail and attentiveness, effective communication, critical thinking, and active learning/learning new skills.

See also: Why are “Soft Skills” as important as “Technical Skills” for Business?

“While employers anticipate that computer and tech skills will be among the most coveted in the next five years, many human skills, such as critical, thinking, communication, and the ability to learn new skills will remain important.” – Michael Hansen, the CEO of Cengage

Why interpersonal skills important

Interpersonal skills are the skills needed to be able to communicate and collaborate effectively with others. Additionally, as mentioned by Weiner, businesses rely heavily on cross-collaboration which resulting in the rise of importance of interpersonal skills. Having interpersonal communication ability allows individuals to convey honest and open interactions which helps build valuable connection amongst interlocutors.

In short, interpersonal skills are life skills that will help you communicate and relate better to people.  

3 most important interpersonal communication skills

There are many skills included in interpersonal skills, including public speaking, body language, empathy, leadership, patience, adaptability, active listening, problem-solving, etc. And yet – the most interpersonal communications that will help you succeed better are active listening, public speaking, and body language.

Active listening is a valuable process which will result in effective communication. Active listening involves full attention which is often followed by visual cues such as nodding, eye contact, or verbal affirmations. Inline, public speaking will help you influence others and deliver the right messages to other individuals.

In addition, body language is important as experts agreed that 50-90 percent of our communication is nonverbal, implying that your body, posture, and facial expression plays a huge role in what you are trying to convey. Likewise, open body language to indicate that you welcome others will increase trustworthiness and encourages better connection on a deeper and intimate level with your clients, boss, or co-workers.

How to excel in interpersonal interaction

As interpersonal skills gain its importance in the workplace, you must be able to stay competitive by enhancing current interpersonal skills. How to do that? Here are five practical ways to excel your interpersonal skills which can improve the quality of your career and life.

1.  Be assertive – Being assertive means you should be able to express yourself, be it about good or bad opinion while respecting others. Expressing assertiveness should be done in an open and honest way. So, you can gain both your self-esteem and decision-making skills while making the communication clear.

2.  Practice active listening – There is a difference between active listening and simply hearing. In active listening, you should dedicate your attention and ear to understand what the speaker said. You should also be able to control your emotions and hold your words until the speaker finished delivers his messages. You can practice your listening ability by paying full attention to the speaker, dedicating your time and ear to understand messages, showing interest, and providing feedback.

3.  Practice your focus to non-verbal signal – As mentioned earlier, body language plays a huge role in how others perceive your messages or how you perceive others messages. In order to enhance communication, you should pay full attention to the nonverbal signals. And remember that different people might communicate or deliver different signals.

4.  Do effective communication – Being good in your communication means you should be effective and concise with your messages. Therefore, you should be able to deliver true communication at the right time. You should be able to identify the right time when to praise, appreciate, listen, talk, give advice, etc.

5.  Emotional Intelligence – You should enhance your emotional intelligence to manage your emotions and understand other’s emotions during a conversation. Thusly, you can give the right response to your conversational partner while maintaining good relationships with them. 

Read also: Skill vs. Talent: Why You Should Change Your Focus of Recruitment