How To Be a BETTER COMMUNICATOR in ENGLISH

today we are diving deep into a topic that is crucial whether you are chatting with a friend nailing that job interview or captivating an audience how to be a better communicator and truly impact people hey everybody how's it going Chiago here and welcome to another episode of the podcast in case you're new here I've created this podcast and YouTube channel to help intermediate and advanced Learners of English communicate with more confidence more accuracy more Clarity and more awareness if this sounds like something you want for yourself and your English subscribe to the channel here on YouTube and follow the show on Spotify or apple podcasts so you don't miss a single new episode also don't forget to check out my new pronunciation course which is available on pre-sale right now this is a course I've designed to help you learn the main connected speech patterns that native speakers use in real media and in real life knowing this will help you better understand them when you listen to them and also this course is designed to help you improve your pronunciation by learning the main sounds of the English language the course is available on pre-sale at a very special pre-sale discounted price if you want to learn more about the course the link to the page is here in the description under this video on YouTube also has a pinned comment in the comment section on YouTube and if you are on Spotify or apple podcasts just go to the show notes of this episode and you can find the link there so for those those of you who have been following me here for a while you know that I always State the purpose of the channel and podcast at the beginning of every episode right I always say that this channel is designed to help intermediate and advanced Learners of English communicate with more confidence more accuracy more clarity and more awareness but why do I say communicate and not speak because there is actually a difference between being a good speaker and being a good communicator so let's start this episode today with this fundamental question what is the difference between being a speaker and being a communicator a speaker delivers information the speaker might be clear articulate even entertaining but their focus is on getting their message out it's about delivering messages broadcasting messages this is really important don't get me wrong it is really important that you become a good speaker as well because how can you effectively pass or deliver information if you're not a good speaker however being a communicator is a level above that because being a communicator is about creating a connection with the people you talk to they not only speak but they also listen they understand they adapt and they Inspire action or change you see I like to think of being a communicator as the the next level once you've mastered becoming a good speaker now work on becoming a better Communicator so you can think of it like this think of a speaker like a radio broadcast that sends out signals or that sends out information okay being a communicator is more about engaging in a two-way street or in a two-way type of communication it's more of a Dynamic dance let's call it of ideas and emotions it's about interacting with people connecting with them on a deeper level okay so why is being an effective Communicator more important than just being a good speaker let me give you some reasons first of all by becoming a better Communicator you're going to be able to build better relationships with people because good communication Fosters trust understanding and deeper connection with others to Foster means to encourage to inspire to generate okay so if you want to develop trust understanding and a deeper connection with other people with your audience you need to become a better Communicator being a better Communicator also helps you achieve goals for example maybe you have to persuade your team maybe you are a manager at the company you work at and you have a team that you are responsible for you need to persuade your team that One Direction is the best direction to go how can you do that if you're not a good communicator or maybe you have to close a deal maybe you work with sales and you have to close a deal with your potential client or customer what about motivating your kids maybe you are a parent how can you motivate your kids to do the right thing to do what they have to do to live up to their responsibilities okay so clear communication get to results again let me stress that it's important to be a good speaker it's important to be able to successfully transmit information but what we are talking about here today is to go beyond that to become a great communicator being a great communicator obviously boosts your confidence as well because when you know you can express yourself clearly and connect with others your self-esteem Soares or grows exponentially and this is really powerful finally I would say that this ability of communicating enhances or improves leadership leaders who communicate well Inspire their teams resolve conflicts and drive or encourage Innovation okay you see so I look at communicating or communication as the extra layer the extra level after you've become a good speaker so let's level up our communication game here by going over some practical tips now the first tip is active listening imagine you are at a party and someone tells you about their exciting trip to a foreign country as the person tells you about their trip are you really listening or are you just waiting to tell them about your awesome vacation active listening means giving your full attention asking thoughtful questions and showing genuine interest okay for example imagine your friend is sharing about the trip that he took recently on vacation you can go something like this wow that sounds amazing what was the most memorable part of your trip would you recommend a person to go there on their vacation you see ask follow-up questions sound interested in what the other person is sharing with you don't just wait for your turn to speak this is easier said than done sometimes it can be a challenge for us to be fully present with a person in communication so we have to be mindful of that if we feel like we are starting to deviate our attention and we are starting to think about what we going to say next we have to stop there you know and bring ourselves back to the conversation you know this reminds me of an interview that I saw with Matthew mccon the actor on The Lax Freedman podcast and that was a really interesting episode and conversation they had but one thing that Matthew talks about in that episode is the idea of being less impressed and more involved what he means by less impressed is um be less in her head and more in the present moment because he says that if I am too impressed with talking to you here right now in this conversation I'm not going to be fully present I'm going to be anticipating the questions you're going to ask me I'm going to start thinking about maybe a funny remark or a joke that I can share here or an interesting comment so I'm not going to be fully in the moment so he talks about being less impressed in that sense and more involved in whatever is going on there so that's the first tip practice active listening practice being more involved more in the moment as you talk to other people in real life the second tip is about nonverbal communication did you know that most of our communication isn't even in words it's in our body language our facial expressions and tone of voice so you can practice maintaining eye contact this is really important if you are talking to a person live in real life practice um looking at the person in the eye as you talk to them if you are having an online meeting or recording a video like I'm recording right now you have to practice looking at the camera looking at the lens that little hole yeah that little thing there that is staring right in front of you so either on a laptop or on your camera practice looking directly at the lens this is about looking directly at people making eye contact with them you can also practice using open open and welcoming gestures so for example it's never a good idea in my opinion for you to talk to a person like this you know folding your arms for those of you who are watching me on YouTube or in video you can see me folding my arm now can you imagine if I talk to you like this the whole podcast I mean what kind of message does that does that send you or does that I give you you know maybe I'm too apprehensive maybe I'm too closed you know I'm not really open you know to talking to you to sharing stuff with you so adopt more of an open and welcoming body language about that even smiling smiling can be really powerful smile when you talk to people yeah don't be too serious or don't have that long face I mean you don't have to exaggerate like talk like this all the time of course not but have that facial expression of friendliness of openness okay and of course practice speaking with enthusiasm this is really important especially if you have to give a presentation okay uh or if you have to persuade someone of something convince someone of something practice speaking Within enthusiasm let me give you a practical tip here if you happen to make videos for the internet or if you happen to have live calls on Zoom Google meet whatever you know when you record videos for the internet naturally there is a barrier between you and your audience because there is a lens here there's a camera okay so the way for you to break through that barrier is by being a little bit more enthusiastic than you would normally be in real life okay it's about raising your tone of voice a little bit more projecting your voice a little bit more and maybe exaggerating a little bit more your moves and the way you speak okay because then you can uh break through that barrier and connect and touch the people on the other side who are watching you on video this is a practical tip so if you are in front of a camera don't talk don't speak exactly like you speak in real life because then your energy level is going to be just too low okay when you are in real life with people that's okay because the fact that you are there in person transmits other things yeah that build that connection but when you are on camera or online like this you don't have that so much so you got to be a little bit more enthusiastic when you communicate to really get to the other person the next tip about being a great communicator has to do with Clarity and conciseness okay conciseness is about being concise so have you ever listened to someone ramble on and on and you totally lose track of what you're saying that has happened to me many times I'm sure you have experienced that as well when a person Rambles on the person never get gets to the point The person talks talks and talks but usually The person talks in circles like that and the person never really makes a point okay this is not a tradeit of a successful of a great communicator so you want to aim for clarity you want to speak as clearly as you can and you want to get to the point as fast as possible this is being concise when you are able to communicate clearly using as few words as possible so here's a a tip a practical tip to accomplish that or to achieve that before you speak take a moment to organize your thoughts it's okay to take a moment embrace the pause collect your thoughts and then share what you want to share use simple language and avoid unnecessary jargon jargon is vocabulary that is specific to a group of people who work in a field who work in the same field for example avoid fancy terminology fancy language you don't need that use Simple language but clearly and concisely okay so Embrace deposits like I just said and control the filler work words filler words are those words and short phrases that we use in conversation to fill the pause or to feel the silence for example uh um you know like you see right it's okay to use them they can be very helpful actually and I'm going to make a video about them pretty soon here on the channel but if you are at a higher level you want to better control how many fer words you use okay I use fer words all the time when I communicate but nowadays what I try to do is I try to be mindful of them and not use them as much okay because if you use too many fillow words your speech gets distracting all right but again there is a place for fillow words but I'm going to make another video about that the next tip has to do with EMP empathy and understanding this is huge guys put yourself in the other person's shoes in other words imagine yourself and the person's situation try to understand their perspective even if you disagree it's important that we all as individuals practice this that we practice empathy and understanding trying to understand the other person's perspective if we are to have a productive dialogue about anything for example imagine a friend of yours is sharing a struggle that he or she has you can say something like I understand you're frustrated it sounds like you're feeling blah blah blah that'll be the emotion it sounds like you're feeling a little bit lost because you don't know which uh career to to choose right which career path to choose maybe okay learn where the person is coming from this is really important guys sometimes we talk to someone and the person shares some thoughts and ideas and opinions that we really don't agree with and for us it's just so outside of what we consider of what we judge to be correct but it's important that we take a step back breathe and try to learn where the person is coming coming from because usually guys we form our opinions our ideas of the world and life based on our history right I mean your opinions about things tend to be related to your upbringing the family you come from uh the country you come from your life experience you know the things that you have gone through and haven't gone through in your life so all those things shape the way we think and the way we uh look at the world you know so I find that trying to understand where the person comes from in that sense has helped me uh be more acceptant of Divergent opinions and be able to actually engage in a productive uh argument to share my thoughts my side of things and vice versa the next tip has to do with adaptability different situations and audiences require different communication sty stes this is true especially if you are a person who gives presentations all the time or you are a professional who's always traveling to deliver speeches and classes okay so take your audience into account what works for a casual chat with friends for example might not be appropriate for a business presentation what works in a specific country that you go speak at might not work in another country when you go to speak uh in that place okay so be aware of your audience and adjust your tone vocabulary and level of formality accordingly so you got to have this feel for who you are speaking with and adjust your language accordingly this is really important as well finally guys I want to talk to you a little bit about the voice part of being a great communicator in English in your native language even is about mastering your voice your voice is like your instrument so do you know how to play your instrument well do you know how to use your voice well some things for you to be on the lookout for here when it comes to the voice varying the tone I've already talked about the tone that you adopt here right so so vary the tone when you speak all right sometimes you can speak with a little bit more intensity and sometimes you can just take a notch or two down and speak in a more light way okay vary the pace the pace is the speed with which you speak you know it it's it's good for you to have your base Pace let's say the P your normal Pace that's the pace that you usually communicate with which is not too fast and not too slow but depending on what you're communicating sometimes you can speed up a little bit and be more intense and faster in your communication and then you can slow down and take the audience back to finalize your point you see so this is varying the pace also vary the intensity like I just said the intensity of your tone okay speak with more intensity reduce the intensity as you can see this is all about not speaking monotone a person who speaks in a monotone way speaks in a monotone way right I mean there isn't much variation in the person's tone of voice you see you should be going up and then going down this is much more Dynamic and ex exciting to listen to people who only talk in a monotone way are usually really boring to listen to so reflect and try to change that if you happen to be one of those people who speaks at a monotone level okay also when it comes to mastering your voice learn to project it learn to project your voice projecting your voice is about speaking outwards okay not speaking inside it's about yes raising the volume a little bit but it's not about shouting you don't want to shout like that this is shouting okay but you don't want to speak too light or too low either you see the difference this is a problem because if I don't project my voice how can you better understand me you see so there is a fine line here yeah you want to have enough grip in your diaphragm you know in the way you breathe and in your vocal cords to be able to project your voice powerfully without having to scream and shout of course but remember speak out words all right you can practice this with theater classes with singing lessons singing lessons are very uh useful for that because you'll learn to breathe properly when you learn to sing and also you learn to uh project your voice in a way that doesn't hurt your throat your vocal cords okay finally about mastering your voice articulate the words as clearly as you can articulation is about moving your mouth more so that you are sure to articulate to enunciate to pronounce the words as properly as correctly as clearly as possible okay avoid mumbling when a person mumbles the person doesn't move their mouth so much okay so if you Mumble you tend to sound more like this you know so now I'm talking to you right now I'm not really being mindful of articulating so much I'm not moving my mouth so much maybe you can still understand me but you agree that this is not so impactful not so powerful when it comes to communication you see you want to articulate the words the sounds as much as you can look at how my mouth moves now if you are watching me on video my mouth moves all the time guys okay because I'm very mindful of that and I believe you should be mindful too so articulate the words as clearly as you can especially if you speak a a language as your native language that doesn't move the mouth so much so reflect on that too look at your first language look at people who speak our first language and uh think to yourself do we naturally articulate the words or we tend to mumble more or speak more in our mouth now to wrap up the episode I want to give you some bonus tips I'm going to go through them quickly now but I do plan to make one individual episode about each one of them because I believe that these are really important for us to learn about and to master when it comes to becoming better communicators okay first of all learn the basics of Storytelling learn storytelling because people are naturally drawn to stories okay if you are able to tell a story people will naturally listen to you more easily okay this is useful guys even when presenting hard data imagine you have a job that involves many numbers and graphs and statistics okay it's possible for you to present numbers hard data using principles of Storytelling in a representation by constructing by building a narrative around those numbers so you are telling a story you are telling a narrative with those numbers this is much more impactful than just presenting the numbers okay we had an increase of this percent and a decrease of this percent you know so even when presenting hard data storytelling can be powerful one example I can give you here personally is the video I published here on the channel a few months ago where I share my personal story of how I went from A1 beginner level of English all the way to an advanced level of English that that is one of the most successful videos on my channel so far it has almost half a million views but I believe that part of that is because that's a story that I'm sharing there and I tell my story in that video If you haven't seen it you can watch it later I tell my story following the basic principles of Storytelling there is a logical sequence of events that I take you through there that keeps the story engaging so learn the basics of Storytelling this is really powerful another tip learn to give and receive feedback properly when you know we we work with people yeah we study with people we work with people we sell to people we buy from people we negotiate with people so it's important especially if you work at a team that you know how to give feedback both positive and constructive feedback and also how to take how to accept positive and more importantly constructive feedback these are all Hallmarks of a great communicator okay and finally being a good communicator is about being able to manage conflict and disagreement because again uh sometimes disagreements and conflicts are inevitable people have different opinions people have diverging views but that doesn't mean that you can't work together but in order to do that you got to be able to manage conflict and disagreement successfully you see so I do plan to make one individual episode about each one of these but I just wanted to briefly mention them here because I also believe that these are characteristics of a great communicator so in this episode we learned the main difference between being a good speaker and being a good communicator and also why you should strive to be a good communicator ultimately not just a good speaker okay and then we went over some tips like active listening practice being in the moment when you are talking to someone mind your nonverbal communication that's your facial expressions your body gestures even your tone of voice when you communicate with people speak clearly and concisely be short and effective in your communication don't ramble all right show empathy and understanding when talking to other people put yourself in the person's shoes adapt to different people different audiences different situations and adjust your communication style accordingly then Master Your Voice learn to vary the tone of your voice the pace the intensity learn to project your voice better and articulate the words as much as possible finally we finished with the um quick tips right learn the basics of Storytelling learn to give and receive feedback properly and learn to manage conflict and disagreement all right so that's all I have for you today in this episode I hope you found these tips useful don't forget to check out my pronunciation course available on pre-sale with this course you're going to learn the main connected speech patterns that native speakers use so you can better understand them and also you're going to learn the main sounds of the English language so you can communicate with more clarity more flow and more fluency Link in the description or in the show notes but do check out the course and of course guys don't forget to subscribe to the channel here on YouTube and leave me a five star review on Spotify or apple podcast because that also helps me a lot on those platforms I'm CH I'm signing off thank you so much for listening until now and I'll be talking to you in the upcoming video very soon bye-bye

Channel: English with Thiago

Views: 16,030

Keywords: english, english learning, speak english, how to speak english, english fluency, how to learn english, advanced english, intermediate english, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, connected speech, esl, listening, writing, reading, communicate better, communicate better in english, communicate effectively in english, tips to communicate effectively in english

Id: m6FI5ka8g3w

Length: 30min 54sec (1854 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 26 2024