Good communication skills play a huge role in the recruitment process and job applicants who have weak skills are decidedly at a disadvantage. But what exactly are communication skills and how can you perfect yours well enough to get you your dream job?
Nasha Fitter, a teacher, entrepreneur and expert on communications and soft-skilled training, recently launched You're Hired! a book that helps job seekers improve their English communication and job placement skills.
Rediff.com will present a series of excerpts from the book over the coming weeks, and also feature chats with Nasha discussing the topics and intricacies of the job application process.
Here we present the fifth part of the series: Interpersonal Communication.
In this section, you will learn how to use communication as a powerful tool to build relationships with co-workers, superiors, clients and customers.
In business, your ability to make people like and trust you is as important as being smart and hardworking. This section will help you improve your personality and become more successful at the workplace and in your personal life.
- Excerpt I: How to communicate effectively
- Excerpt II: How to quit Indianisms
- Excerpt III: I get rejected because of my accent
- Excerpt VI: I talk too fast and tonelessly!
Excerpted from You're Hired! (Rs 199) by Nasha Fitter with the permission of publishers Penguin Books.
In this continuing series, we will be featuring excerpts from You're Hired! covering topics such as pronunciation, speech, accent, email, interpersonal communication and professional etiquette. The author, Nasha Fitter, will also address reader queries every Friday at 12 noon. Get useful interview tips at Nasha's blog: http://nashafitter.rediffiland.com. So if you need help with your job search and career, watch this space!
The difference between an average and an extraordinary listener
Everyone tells us that effective listening is important. We have heard this a million times over. But what is the big deal how important is listening, really?
Let's analyse the dialogue given alongside. Sameer is at the office speaking to a few of his colleagues.
Sameer was in the middle of a sentence when Mohan cut him off rather rudely.
What could the repercussions be?It's possible that Mohan suddenly remembered Sunil's engagement and wanted to share the news immediately. But Sameer now probably thinks that Mohan wasn't listening to him in the first place. And this probably made Sameer feel that what he had to say was not interesting enough. Now, for no fault of his own, Sameer's selfesteem may suffer.
Can you think back to a time where you were speaking and someone cut you off in the middle of what you were saying? Try and remember who cut you off (you will most probably be able to), and how it made you feel.- Excerpt I: How to communicate effectively
- Excerpt II: How to quit Indianisms
- Excerpt III: I get rejected because of my accent
- Excerpt VI: I talk too fast and tonelessly!
Excerpted from You're Hired! (Rs 199) by Nasha Fitter with the permission of publishers Penguin Books.
In this continuing series, we will be featuring excerpts from You're Hired! covering topics such as pronunciation, speech, accent, email, interpersonal communication and professional etiquette. The author, Nasha Fitter, will also address reader queries every Friday at 12 noon. Get useful interview tips at Nasha's blog: http://nashafitter.rediffiland.com. So if you need help with your job search and career, watch this space!
Do you seem disinterested, bored?
Take a look at the floowoing dialogue [alongside]. Sonia is speaking to her friend Anu.
What went wrong? Why did Sonia stop talking about her problem all of a sudden?Well, for one, she saw Anu glance at her watch and sensed her disinterest. Also, Anu didn't ask her any follow-up questions; she just kept saying 'oh really'. Sonia suspected that Anu was getting bored, so she quickly ended the conversation. This fear was confirmed when Anu abruptly asked if Sonia wanted to go to a movie.
Think back to times when you were speaking to someone and it seemed like they were not paying attention. How did it make you feel?- Excerpt I: How to communicate effectively
- Excerpt II: How to quit Indianisms
- Excerpt III: I get rejected because of my accent
- Excerpt VI: I talk too fast and tonelessly!
Excerpted from You're Hired! (Rs 199) by Nasha Fitter with the permission of publishers Penguin Books.
In this continuing series, we will be featuring excerpts from You're Hired! covering topics such as pronunciation, speech, accent, email, interpersonal communication and professional etiquette. The author, Nasha Fitter, will also address reader queries every Friday at 12 noon. Get useful interview tips at Nasha's blog: http://nashafitter.rediffiland.com. So if you need help with your job search and career, watch this space!
Feel rejected, unimportant?
See if you can identify with this dialogue [alongside].
What went wrong?The problem was not that Tasha was not listening. In fact, she kept asking Ruby questions 'What happened? What did you say?'
However, something changed in the end. After Ruby shared how terrible she was feeling, that she had been crying, Tasha told her to 'get over it'. While Tasha may have thought this was great advice, to Ruby it signaled that her friend really did not want to sit down and listen to her problem. Instead, she just told her to 'get over it'.
Has something similar ever happened to you? Do you remember how you felt?The truth is that when people don't listen to us we tend to feel rejected, unimportant and sad. We usually avoid building relationships with people like this.
- Excerpt I: How to communicate effectively
- Excerpt II: How to quit Indianisms
- Excerpt III: I get rejected because of my accent
- Excerpt VI: I talk too fast and tonelessly!
Excerpted from You're Hired! (Rs 199) by Nasha Fitter with the permission of publishers Penguin Books.
In this continuing series, we will be featuring excerpts from You're Hired! covering topics such as pronunciation, speech, accent, email, interpersonal communication and professional etiquette. The author, Nasha Fitter, will also address reader queries every Friday at 12 noon. Get useful interview tips at Nasha's blog: http://nashafitter.rediffiland.com. So if you need help with your job search and career, watch this space!
Building business relationships through extraordinary listening
Today, business is more about relationships than products. With intense competition, there will always be companies carrying similar products and people possessing similar skill sets. Each one of us needs to find ways to differentiate ourselves from the competition.
One easy way is to listen and build unique relationships with others. Extraordinary listening is a powerful tool to win in a competitive environment. Take a look at the example given below [alongside]:
The woman in the first store did nothing wrong. She may even have been a good listener. But the woman in the second store was an extraordinary listener. Extraordinary listeners make us feel they are more concerned about us than themselves. They make us feel important and appreciated. Extraordinary listeners tend to have have more friends and are more popular.
The easiest way to get people to like you, to get more business, and to build better relationships, is to become an extraordinary listener.
Excerpted from You're Hired! (Rs 199) by Nasha Fitter with the permission of publishers Penguin Books.
In this continuing series, we will be featuring excerpts from You're Hired! covering topics such as pronunciation, speech, accent, email, interpersonal communication and professional etiquette. The author, Nasha Fitter, will also address reader queries every Friday at 12 noon. Get useful interview tips at Nasha's blog: http://nashafitter.rediffiland.com. So if you need help with your job search and career, watch this space
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