How to Improve My Communication Skills? (Part I)

People often come up to me after my speaking engagements and ask “Bishal, how can I become an Excellent communicator?” I see that you have the same question.

Hi I am Bishal Sarkar, people know me as “The Excellence Guy” and I am a content-filled motivational speaker. Also, I help corporate professionals, businessmen, managers, leaders, software engineers speak & present like a pro so that they can create a bigger impression as a professional, create a bigger impact and make a brighter income.

So, you want to be an excellent communicator. Very good! What most people don’t know about me is that I have always been an introvert person. As a child I never had the courage actually to go and talk to someone. When I grew up, I was afraid of talking to unknown people. Forget public speaking, I was even afraid of public standing.

But today things are different. Because I have learnt how to improve my communication skills. I have learnt from various places, various experiences, various situations- and you will learn a lot from this blog series (Part I, Part II & Part III)

The first thing you need to keep in mind for becoming an excellent communicator is that it’s actually not about “communication,” but it’s about “connection.” What most people fail to understand about communication skills is that it’s not about talking as much as it is about “connecting.” So, now the question is how can you connect with people so they listen to you, they do what you tell them to, and hence you become a person of influence? Here are some quick tips for you:

Ask open ended questions. There are two types of questions you can ask: open- ended and closed-ended. A closed-ended question can be answered with a word or two. An open-ended question requires an explanation in order for it to be answered.

Examples of closed-ended questions would include: “What’s your company’s name?” and “How long have you been in this company?”

Examples of open- ended questions are “Could you explain what your current job requires you to do?” An open-ended question really opens up the conversation. Listening to the speaker’s response, for each open-ended question, will help you discover about themselves. And that’s how they start connecting with you (and fall in love with you as well.)

Ask the person’s name if you don’t know it. And then throughout your conversation, repeat their names once in every 4^th sentence. This makes them feel special and they instantly start taking a liking for you, and they see you as a “gentleman.” In part III of this blog series, I go in details about how easily and effectively you can remember a person’s name. This technique is GOLD.
When someone asks you: “What do you do,” don’t just say I am a business man or I am an accountant. Make your job/business sound interesting. Cause in reality, it is. Instead of saying “I am an entrepreneur,” say something like: “Anupama, I am an entrepreneur, my business is all about helping my clients get more online visibility. I help people get better online presence, attract more customers, and improve their lifestyle.” See the difference?

Read Part II for more.

About the author: Bishal Sarkar, popularly known as “The Excellence Guy”, is called the best motivational speaker of India. Bishal is the creator of “Present like a Champ Bootcamp” (The Best Presentation Skills Training in Bangalore) where he teaches people the step-by-step easy-to-follow process of presentation skills success. He regularly speaks to professionals, youth groups, corporate groups, and trains people from various walks of life and brings out the excellence within them. As the author of “Daily Wisdom for Daily Excellence”, Bishal now teaches professionals how to give excellent presentations using the proven formula of speaking & presentation success. People say that he has designed the best presentation skills classes in Bangalore. For enrolling in Bishal Sarkar’s “Present like a Champ Bootcamp”, call us on +918880361526.

Excellence & Communication Expert