Top Ten Tips for Good Interpersonal Communication Skills

1. Listen first. Communication is a two-way process; getting your message across depends on understanding the other person.
2. Be interested in the people you are communicating with. Remember people are more attracted to those who are interested in them, and will pay more attention to what they are saying.
3. Be relaxed. Bad body language such as hunched shoulders, fidgeting, toe-tapping or hair-twiddling all gives the game away.
4. Smile and use eye contact. It’s the most positive signal you can give.
5. Ask questions. It’s a great way to show people that you are really interested in them.
6. If the other person has a different point of view to yourself find out more about why they have that point of view. The more you understand the reasons behind their thinking the more you can understand their point of view or help them to better understand your point of view.
7. Be assertive. By this we mean try to value their input as much as your own. Don’t be pushy and don’t be a pushover. Try for the right balance.
8. When you are speaking try to be enthusiastic when appropriate. Use your voice and body language to emphasis this.
9. Don’t immediately try to latch onto something someone has just said ... "oh yes that happened to me" and then immediately go on and tell your story. Make sure you ask enough questions of them first and be careful when / if you give your story so as not just to sound like it’s a competition.
10. Learn from your interactions. If you had a really good conversation with someone try and think why it went well and remember the key points for next time. If it didn’t go so well - again try and learn something from it.

AUTHOR INFORMATION
Ravinder Tulsiani is the Author of the #1 BESTSELLER: “Your Leadership Edge”, an innovative step-by-step leadership training program that will help you develop a highly engaged and super-charged workforce... get your copy at http://www.yourleadershipedge.ca.