Clear Communication Skills

There are many reasons that motivate people to seek out a speech coach, but all of them usually fall into one of three broad categories, and they are clarity, confidence and credibility. Every client that walks into my office is concerned with at least one of those issues, and every improvement we seek is aimed at reinforcing those three critical traits.

Clarity is often considered when we think about content, structuring our thoughts in a logical sequence and choosing the right words. We even acknowledge the importance of things like projection, pronunciation and diction. But good communication skills require more than just language. You need more than just your mouth and your brains.

To communicate well, you must do more than just say the words. You must care for the listener and make sure they get the message. It’s easy to overlook that final phase of the process when you have the advantage of knowing what you’re about to say, before you’ve said it. Don’t assume you’re being clear.

Here are some common obstacles to clarity. Addressing these issues will ensure you have the communication skills to be consistently and easily understood.

Recommended Video

Fast Talking

Talking fast makes your speech less clear. While the average rate of English speech varies greatly, many speakers end up talking too fast. Here are some strategies to naturally moderate your rate of speech and dramatically improve your clarity.

Featured Products

Your Confident Voice

If you have to repeat yourself because your voice is too quiet, here’s a compact program to strengthen your voice. You’ll notice a difference in as little as one month, and you’ll be able to apply that stronger voice, in real life situations, within three to six months.

Tip

Open your mouth.. To communicate clearly, cultivate a relaxed sense of openness around your mouth. Use a mirror to practice. On average, you should have about one finger-width of space between your teeth. Speaking with less space tends to speed you up, weakens your voice, impairs articulation, and makes you look less confident.