Regardless of the profession you belong to, how you communicate with others determines your growth there. For many people, communication is not an issue, but they often find themselves in trouble when their messages are not intercepted in the manner they expected. Be they IT leaders or business professionals, sharing an incredible amount of information with colleagues every day is crucial. To maximise your potential, having flawless communication skills could be the wow-factor to your personality.
The art of mastering how we communicate helps us accelerate our relationships with family, friends, and colleagues. According to reports, poor communication results in 70% of corporate mistakes.
Below is the list of top 10 best books to improve communication skills that you can refer to to gain a better insight.
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Top 10 Books to Improve Communication Skills
Reading books is a magnificent way to work and improve your communication skills. Therefore, to keep your communication skills up-to-date and become a better communicator, you can go through these books.
1. How To Talk To Anyone, by Leil Lowndes
The book is spectacular in every dimension. Leil Lowndes, the author, pins down 92 tricks to succeed in any relationship through communication. “How To Talk To Anyone” is a constructive book that assists you in mastering the art of delivering your message to a larger audience. He covers all the tiny details, including how to master small talk and leave a great impression.
The book contains numerous quotes that make readers more intrigued to scour through the pages. Plus, you get a daily dose of communication booster that refines the way you speak to people.
2. The Science of Effective Communication, by Ian Tuhovsky
The need to continuously work on your communication skills is significant. This is one of the best books to improve communication skills that consists of minute details on verbal and non-verbal communication skills. Moreover, you will also learn about the use of communication in real-life. With the assistance of real-life examples, the author explains several theories about the real world.
3. The Definitive Book of Body Language, by Barbara Pease and Allan Pease
Communication and body language go hand-in-hand. For effective communication, body language contributes by putting your confidence on display. Out of the several suggestions to improve communication skills, this book will teach you how to acquire good body language while speaking.
While communicating, body language speaks on your behalf, and this enlightening book is a must-read to proceed.
4. The Skill with People, by Les Giblin
This book is an all-rounder when we explore the methods to improve communication skills. It is a great teacher that offers ways to nudge your communication skills. If you wish to communicate with your friends or boss, this book is waiting for you.
5. Bringing Out the Best in People, by Aubrey C. Daniels
The next on the list of our books to improve communication skills, “Bringing Out The Best In People”, is a must-read to learn how to conduct effective communication with others especially if you are someone in a leadership position.
6. You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation, by Deborah Tannen
This book magnifies a lot about gender differences and the techniques to up your communication skills. The book explains the conversations between genders that lead to conflicts.
Thus, to buckle up for your business meetings, and improve yourself, take this book out for a read.
7. On Speaking Well, by Peggy Nooman
Speaking fluently exceptionally is an art everyone wants to assess, and this book gives you the insight to build your communication skills. The book contains tons of advice on how to speak, what to communicate, and how to work on your talking, and writing skills. Furthermore, it also elaborates on the easy methods of delivering a speech.
8. Crucial Conversations, by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Al Switzler, and Ron McMillan
Pick this book up from the library to enhance your communication skills. Overall, the book gives you an in-depth explanation of relationships, the human psyche, and interactions.
Moreover, you can also use the advice mentioned in the book with your boss, colleagues, and business clients. You can also inculcate the art of communication when speaking with your friends and family.
9. Simply Said, by Jay Sullivan
“Simply Said” can be regarded as one of the best books to improve writing skills in the workplace. The authors engage in subjects such as business communication rules and strategies to optimise healthy conversation. 80% of employees suffer from anxiety in the workplace due to ineffective communication.
If you wish to improve your communication skills, you should consider this book. Using the best oral and written practices in your workplace, you can showcase your speaking skills within the team. It talks about a lot of subjects, including how to give feedback, the use of clear words, and ways to structure messages. It traverses through the needed skills in corporate communication.
10. How To Speak, How To Listen, by Mortimer J. Adler
Unlike the other books to improve communication skills, this one also provides the needful help to work with your listening and speaking skills. While we communicate, we should focus on our listening skills too. Keeping a balance between the both is mandatory. The author explains how listening is crucial for building strong communication skills in this book.
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Importance of Communication
How you communicate with others is the most important social skill to possess. You are constantly communicating whether or not you are willing to do so in one way or another. Communication is at the heart of any organisation. You will gradually figure out how communication helps you evolve and its importance for individuals, the workplace, interviews, productivity, and motivation during your working tenure.
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Conclusion
Conversation is the beginning of everything. The road to success has many pillars, communication being one of them. You can have intentions to become a better leader, make more friends, or even make an impact; communication will take you forward. One can never deny the power communication has, as it is undeniable. The struggle that many professionals have with communication is real; thus, these books can be of great help throughout your career. Readers can take necessary advantage of these books to maintain the audience’s attention and speak with confidence in the workplace. People spend 23% of their time in one-to-one interactions in a workplace.
To upskill yourself, you can check out the Post Graduate Programme in Advanced General Management Program in association with upGrad. With over 10 subjects to learn, you can transcend your communication skills. The course offers excess best-in-class content through lectures, videos, and recordings. Moreover, industry experts and professionals in the faculty provide all the necessary means to gain industry-relevant knowledge that will advance your career.
What are the three types of communication skills?
Verbal communication acts as one of the most significant communication skills that speak about your verbal ability to deliver a speech. Furthermore, being very specific, concise, and clear with your words is important for verbal communication. The second is nonverbal cues, which is the ability to respond to nonverbal activities like body language, symbols, etc. Visual communication is the last type of communication skill that displays one’s ability to express ideas, conflict, and other concepts taking help from visual tools such as art, infographics, etc.
What are some of the job opportunities one gets exposed to with excellent communication skills?
There are plenty of job opportunities to choose from once you finish your post-graduation programme. The most common ones include management consulting, leadership roles in business development and sales, marketing, growth, and strategy. These sectors automatically open up for you if you possess the needful skills.
What are some of the prominent challenges to good communication?
The notion of communication depends on one’s perspective. One of the biggest challenges that come across is when people think communication is all about what you say versus how you say it. Furthermore, people also focus a lot on being heard instead of listening to others which is another hiccup in communication.
