Communication, public speaking and presentation skills

By: Chardonnay Henry

1:What are interpersonal skills and why these are important for

personal and professional growth?

Most people know interpersonal skills as social skills and that would be correct, it is the ability to communicate well with people in both a professional and personal setting. These skills will always be necessary, they’re what help you gain and build relationships, resolve potential conflict and collaborate effectively in social and work settings.

Being confident in your soft skills will allow you to resolve conflict in an efficient manner and also be assertive and demanding when needs be.

To ensure that your interpersonal skills are outstanding, practising clear concise communication and active listening will enhance your social skills until it becomes natural.

Most professionals engage in networking events with or without colleagues being able to team up or communicate with a potential client or boss in a natural way will be beneficial long term, that is the importance of working on your interpersonal skills.

2: can individuals enhance their resilience and adaptability in

the face of challenges?

Having a positive mindset helps you to see setbacks and challenges as an opportunity, taking the time to see the set back as a learning opportunity, taking courses and classes in your free time will help you to stay confident, relevant and on top of trends. Having emotional support from colleagues and family will help you with the feeling of being able to overcome any obstacle.

3:What resources such as books, workshops or courses, can

individuals utilise to further develop their communication

Skills?

It’s always a good idea to learn and develop your knowledge further if you can, there are a variety of online events, workshops and seminars that are free or under £20, if you want to learn in a different environment there are more costly ones, we can always go back to the basics and use Youtube as a learning tool. Any topic you’d like to develop you can buy a variety of books in the subject and there are a lot of sites and people willing to sell books for cheap second hand.

There is an abundance of websites like Skillshare, Coursera, Masterclass, they all help you elevate the skills you already have or help you to learn and develop a new skill set.

4:What role empathy play in communication and how can

individuals cultivate this skill?

Having empathy allows you to see a situation from all angles which allows you to understand better. When you’re an empathetic listener you end up paying more attention to the speaker in turn acknowledging their feelings and asking the right questions which makes the flow of the conversation go more smoothly and for the speaker and listener to build trust and a bond.

When doing this you are less likely to get into conflict and any misunderstandings will be a lot quicker to resolve.

Practising active listening by focusing on the speaker, avoiding interruptions, and showing interest in the topic with your body language, although you might not be empathetic to the person looking at you, they can see you are listening fully and are engaging in the conversation.

One way you can cultivate this skill is to work on developing your emotional intelligence. Once you understand and can manage your own emotions you'll be able to recognize the same or similar in others and be able to react in an appropriate manner.

Chardonnay Henry

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