If I told you to become a better person, what would you do?
'I'd try to become a better person.'
But how?
'Hmm... not sure.'
Exactly.
You aren't sure how to become a better person because it is too subjective of a request.
My definition of a 'better person' may not necessarily be yours.
Becoming a better person can be something as big as quitting your job & investing in your business.
Or something small like texting back faster.
Same concept with communication skills.
In order to become a better communicator, you have to zone in on which part you want to improve.
If you just say you want to get better, then you will go nowhere.
That's where the 5 Levels of Communications come in.
Understanding that there are 5 layers, and that communications isn't this blob of a subject makes you more of a nuanced thinker.
When you know how to think, you know what to do.
So let's go thru each level.
Level 1: Intra-personal
This is communicating with yourself AKA: inner dialogue.
You may be prone to wave this off as not being communication because there isn't another party involved. But don't.
All other levels of communication stem from level 1.
Level 2: Inter-personal
This is dialogue with another person. A typical 1 on 1 conversation you have with a friend for example.
Level 3: Working within a group
Are you good at teamwork? This section is all about collaboration.
Level 4: Talking to a group
Picture public speaking.
Level 5: Mass Communications
Getting your message heard among a lot of people. This blog post is an example of mass communication.
Once you see that there are 5 layers, evaluate what you are good at & what you suck at.
Before deciding to improve a weak point, assign it a priority in relation to your life.
Example...
Imagine Mary works for the government & has a VERY private job.
Then it wouldn't be too smart for Mary to start a #3speak or #dtube channel to tell everyone about that job.
So level 5 may not be suitable for Mary's life.
But say Mary always has to work with her group to produce a deliverable.
And she hates working in a group.
She feels self conscious.
Well, in this case, she needs to work on Level 3.
Level 3 will be marked as a high priority.
When you start seeing which level you need to work on, that's when you can take a breather.
Communication skills no longer seems like the boogeyman.
Just a ladder that you need to climb.
Step by step.
Assess where you are.
Assess where you want to be.
Find your ladder.
Lock into it.
And get better each day.
That's how you improve communication.
So easy that a monkey can do it.
Till tomorrow.
Trilston 馃挷
