Communication is one of the most important skills for success. It helps you build long-term, sustainable relationships and meet your goals. Of course, communication can feel challenging for people, especially when they are not honest about what they want and honest about what they expect. A clear understanding of these things – and an understanding of the elements listed in this article – will help you learn evidence-based strategies and approaches to communication, so you can apply them to your own life. 

Skills for Success defines communication as the “ability to receive, understand, consider, and share information and ideas through speaking, listening, and interacting with others.” 

Component 1: Listen with intention (for example, pay attention)

Consider the structure, syntax, imagery, and diction of the person who’s speaking (or writing). Structure means considering how the person is communicating with you. What words are they using? Are they being clear? Ambiguous? Syntax is about considering the structure of individual sentences, with a particular emphasis on word order. Imagery is about using descriptive language that activates the five senses. Diction is about the words or phrases that someone uses. 

Gesture

Forceful gestures imply that the person really wants you to see their point of view. It doesn’t mean that they are right, but it does mean that they have a vested interest in getting you to see their point of view, if not materially then psychologically. They need you to buy in, so you play the right role, so they can continue with the story in their mind. This can be difficult, because the person may change the story in their mind without telling you. The world of accomplishing objectives (with the exception of getting to heaven) is material not spiritual. That is why it’s called an objective. There’s a physical object that must manifest. 

Emphasis

What is the person emphasizing? Consciously or unconsciously, when someone puts emphasis on certain words it’s either because they deliberately want to draw attention to it or because it’s important to them and they’re unknowingly drawing attention to it. Whatever the reason, this is information. 

Non-verbal cues

Take in whether a person is fidgeting, what they keep glancing at, and whether they seem uncomfortable. While this is not an exact science, there are all kinds of things that can help you understand whether your message is being received, whether there’s something else that needs to be addressed, or whether everyone needs to take a break. Things like personal issues, hunger, sleep deprivation, or needing to use the bathroom are all things that can act as noise when someone is trying to send or receive a signal. 

Understanding your unconscious biases

A bias is a type of error that affects your decision making. Unconscious bias is when you have an automatic and systematic error in thinking that deviates from rational judgement, logic, or probability. 

Listening with intention is also about being aware of your own nonverbal causes and body language. This doesn’t mean becoming self-conscious about yourself or putting on a show. It means recognizing when there’s “noise” (hunger, lack of clarity, strong emotion, sleep) preventing you from demonstrating that you’re present and paying attention or that’s preventing you from hearing what the person is saying. 

You can demonstrate understanding by asking clarification questions or paraphrasing what the other person has said, so that they have a chance to clarify things themselves. 

Component 2: Listen to understand

When you’re listening to understand, it’s important to try to decipher the speaker’s purpose and intention and what actions they expect the listener to take as a result of the information. Whenever you’re listening to someone, be sure to fact check the reliability and validity of what they’re saying. Reliability is about checking that someone is consistent over time or that the source of their information has been consistent over time. Validity is about accuracy and whether something is factually (materially) true. 

Component 3: Speak with clarity

Speaking with clarity is an important part of communication. There are specific ways that you can ensure clarity such as using grammar, practicing pronunciation, and being conscious of your cadence and rhythm. Cadence is about the rise and fall of the voice while rhythm is about the pattern of your beats, the speed you use, and your timing. 

Component 4: Speak with purpose

There are several communication tools and techniques that you can use, and the ones you choose depend on the purpose of your communication. It’s important to understand why you’re even communicating and what you’re trying to achieve. 

The three main types of communication are: 

• Verbal communication: This is communication through spoken words and can be impacted by things like word choice, rhythm, and cadence. 
• Non-verbal communication: This is the type of communication that happens through body language, eye contact, body positions, and movements. 
• Written communication: This occurs through written words, pictures, diagrams, and symbols. 

There are also different different forms of communication, including: 

• Intrapersonal communication: This is about communicating with yourself, usually for reflective purposes. This can help us regulate our emotions, get clear about what we want, and achieve goals. 
• Interpersonal communication: This is communication between two people whose lives are mutually impacted by the others’ presence. 
• Group communication: This is communication among three or more people with the specific purpose of achieving a goal. 
• Mass communication: This is when you have one speaker and a wide audience. 

When you’re writing, there are four main types of writing: 

• Expository
• Narrative
• Descriptive
• Persuasive

When you know why you’re communicating and who you’re communicating to, you get a clear understanding of purpose and therefore the tools best suited to achieving your goals. 

Component 5: Adapt to your audience and context

When you’re adapting to your audience, it’s important to understand their needs, preferences, and interests. They might have differences in communication and interaction style. 

Is there a communication framework for assessing an audience’s culture when communicating? 

When communicating about culture, you can use the five dimensions of culture framework: 

• High vs. low context
• Time orientation
• Formality
• Communication style 
• Individualism

Another approach comes from the World Health Organization’s Strategic Communications Framework: 

“Social norms can make it easier or harder for audiences to adopt recommended health actions

and policies. Social norms are the rules, beliefs, expectations and behaviours supported by

friends and communities. They can come from peer attitudes, social or community beliefs, and

work contexts. Most people will find it difficult to adopt recommendations that are not connected

to their social beliefs and expectations. Communicators can use the following approaches to

align recommendations and benefits with relevant social and cultural norms.”

• “Encourage trusted influencers and messengers who are close to the audience to act as models and champions for the desired behaviours and policies.
• Identify where decision-makers feel pressure to conform to norms that contradict recommended actions. Work with the target audience to develop tactics to reduce that pressure.
• Increase message credibility by promoting trusted messengers who changed their behaviours to align with recommendations.
• Create messages that describe how communities, organizations and peers support the
• recommended actions.”

Component 6: Adapt to other people’s different communication modes and tools

One way that you can decide on the best communication mode or tool is by using the Media Richness Framework. This framework helps people understand which channels are best for reducing ambiguity when conveying a message. 

For highly complex or sensitive messages, the framework recommends using face-to-face meetings or video conferencing. For less complex or routine communications, the framework recommends using email, text, or instant messaging. 

Communication requires a goal and understanding of your audience

Communication can feel overwhelming. It can feel like there are so many different variables to consider – and there are! To prevent this overwhelm, it’s important to understand why you’re communicating in the first place and to be honest about what you’re trying to achieve. When you do this, you can choose the right tools, techniques, and modes for effective communication.