Every single day we know we are guaranteed to experience connecting with another human being.The question becomes, are we actually effective at communicating, or are we just on auto-pilot reacting to situations?

There is a great saying I learned a few years back that goes like this; “2% of the population thinks, 3% think they think, and 95% of the population would rather die than think!” Scary to think about, when you think about it.

Most people are simply on auto-pilot. If you think that 96-98% of our daily perceptions and behaviors are unconscious, then most people are truly reacting….not thinking.

I’ve created a list of five simple Communication Techniques that I have personally found extremely effective when used in business, or everyday life. These techniques are Extremely powerful when applied correctly and will have a MASSIVE impact on your results in business and life.

If we are ALL going to live on this beautiful blue planet together, we mind as well learn the skill-sets to effectively communicate with others. I’ve found it makes life A LOT more enjoyable when we can communicate in ways that are beneficial for both parties.

So let’s jump right into it!

1. Listen

What a concept, huh? Quite often we hear with our ears, but we listen with our emotions. The very fist step to becoming an excellent communicator is to listen to the other person. When most people are communicating with others they are usually thinking of what they are going to say back, as the individual is speaking to them.

Highly successful entrepreneurs and business owners have crafted their skills to become excellent listeners. If you are not Fully listening and absorbing the information (with full attention) to the other person, how do you think it makes them feel? My guess, not too good. I’ve had that happen to me and I’d be surprised if you didn’t either!

Listen to what others are sharing with you, there is a lot of hidden messages inside even one sentence.

2. Who ,What, How Specifically

Have your family members, significant other, or close friends ever said to you; “I’m heading out now, I’ll be back later!” Isn’t that a fairly broad statement? What does later mean? Becoming clear and concise when communicating with others will surely help you FULLY understand what the other persons intentions are. In this case, as simple question like, “I was wondering when specifically do you think you’ll be home” could gain clarity and avoid and argument at the end of that evening!

The same rule applies to your business. You have to understand your clients needs and wants first. If a client is not interested in your product or service there is an underlying reason. The question becomes, what is that reason? The key is to ask high quality questions.”Do you mind sharing with me what specifically you concerns have?” See how that opens up and helps you understand more information to guide your prospect down the path of education? In most cases the communication is too vague and potential clients are left feeling confused and uneducated of the possibilities.

3. By the way…..

One of THE MOST powerful communication techniques I apply on a daily basis is the phrase…..”by the way.” By the way, how do you use it? hehe.

It a great phrase that GRABS people’s attention and keeps it there. At the end of your sentence you can easily slide this phrase in at any point in time. Let me help you with an example.”Our company is growing extremely quickly, there has been a tremendous increase in our quarterly revenue…..by the way, have you had a chance to see our numbers yet?” You see how it puts a slight break in the sentence? Just enough to bring people’s FULL attention and focus back to what you’re communicating.

When you get used to applying this phrase, you can literally incorporate into so many different areas of your communicating. I’ve found it effective to say the phrase “by the way” fairly quickly before your statement. Pronounce it as though it’s a filler statement before your actual statement.

4. Because

If you understand anything about the brain then you’d probably know that by about the age of five we are pretty much “Hard Wired” to communicate and act with the world based on our previous fives years of gathering information. Some people even say but the age of 13 we are VERY rigid with our beliefs and so most people are simply 13 year olds walking around in bodies that are our current age!

If we go back to our subconscious controlling 96-98% of our perceptions and behaviors what does that mean? When you were a child and wanted to play with something that you shouldn’t be, what did you parent tell you? “Stop playing with that!” You of course would likely respond with “why?” Your parent simple response (and may be more detailed) would be “because I told you so.” Think about that for a second….

Because is a word that we relate to an authority figure. When you take one second and use the word “because”, it makes the person who is listening to you go, “Oh, I better stop what I’m doing and pay attention!” It’s a VERY powerful word that again, grabs peoples attention and subconsciously gets them to focus in on what you’re saying.

5. Throw It Back

Through communicating with others it’s extremely powerful to gather information. By asking great questions you can start to determine what the persons true intentions are who you are communicating with.

One highly effective technique I use on a daily basis is simply repeating questions back to the people I’m communicating with. For example, if somebody says, “your product costs too much.” I would simply say, “It costs too much?” Then I would wait for a response. The person will then provide me with more details on WHY they believe it costs too much and help me understand what route the conversation needs to be headed. Instead of having handling their objective immediately, I first gather more information to discover what is the true root cause of their challenge.

When you use this technique right, it’s extremely powerful to communicate with others on a whole new level.

I hope this post was beneficial for you. I’ve used and continue to use these techniques in my life with great success for myself and others. The next step is to really understanding body language, since 60% of how we communicate is done through non-verbal communication. I’ll look to get a post up soon…:)

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To your success,