How to clarify decisions for colleagues

One of the most important aspects of good business management is having excellent communication skills. Without them, the decisions that you make may be unclear to your colleagues. Your ability to communicate your ideas says much about you as a person and about your business. Good communication skills are an essential part of a successful business, and are necessary when communicating with employees, customers, clients, superiors and even potential employees. Here are some tips to help you improve your communication skills, and thereby clarify decisions for your colleagues.

1. Develop your voice: People do not enjoy listening to a whiney, squeaky, or insecure voice. Try to speak with an authoritative, but not overbearing, tone to your voice. People will be more apt to listen to a person who sounds confident rather than unsure. Vary your tone and speed when speaking. Use pauses to emphasize and break up your sentences, so that your listeners remain interested in what you have to say and can hear what you're saying when you say it.

2. Enunciate: Speak clearly. One of the worst things to do when communicating with others is to mumble. If your employees or clients are constantly asking "what was that" or "please repeat that," chances are, you're probably mumbling. Practice speaking clearly to others, especially when on the phone. This will prevent any misunderstandings to arise that you will have to clarify later.
3. Speak slowly: Speaking too fast can cause you to sound like you're mumbling or make you seem nervous. Practice speaking more slowly to your friends and family. Then, when you're on the spot may be inclined to speak quickly, you'll already be in the habit of speaking more slowly. This will also prevent any misunderstandings that may arise in conversation.
4. Pronounce your words correctly: People may assume you're nervous or unsure of yourself if you mispronounce your words. Or worse, they may assume that you're simply unintelligent because you mispronounce common words. When in conversation, try to use words that you're familiar with rather than words you might not say correctly. You may want to practice reading aloud to improve your pronunciation. This will help you to properly say what you want to say to your colleagues and prevent them from making incorrect assumptions about you.
5. Make eye contact: A person who makes eye contact with the person he's talking to is sure to appear self-confident, competent and interested in the conversation. You may also look at the person's face as a whole rather than stare them straight in the eye (just be sure not to stare at any one place for too long). Or you could try looking from one eye to the other. This is less awkward than staring someone straight in the eye, but gives the appearance of eye contact.
6. Use appropriate body language: Body language can say a lot about what you're thinking during a conversation. It can make you appear to be lively and interested in the conversation or bored and irritated, depending on your body language. Be aware of your posture and stance when in conversation. Also included in this are hand gesture and facial expressions. Be aware of appropriate and inappropriate hand gestures. They can be a great tool to indicate your feelings during a conversation-sometimes even more affective than words can be. Facial expressions can also tell a person what you're thinking about the conversation.
7. Know what you want to say: Being mentally prepared for the conversation can help you appear involved in the conversation and indicate your strong communication skills. Doing this can also indicate to your listeners that you know what you are talking about. It will prevent misunderstandings and clarify your words to your colleagues.
8. Listen to the other speaker: Listening to the other speaker is just as important as what you have to say. Avoid daydreaming. Pay attention to what they other person is saying so that your responses can be relevant and interesting. Asking questions is a good way to stay involved in the conversation. Show your understanding of what your speaker says by rephrasing key questions or statements.

Following these suggestions will enable you to have clear communication with your colleagues, and therefore eliminate any misunderstandings or need for clarification.

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