Communication is a skill that you can learn. It's like riding a bicycle or typing. If you're willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life. - Brian Tracy

Communication is a two-way exchange. If we just talk and don't get a response from the other party, we call it a transmission. Communication occurs through the responses we receive, whether with eyes, body language or verbally. In today's age, virtual communication is also in our lives. Our style is as important in virtual communication as our body language is in face-to-face communication. There are communication principles that we need to pay attention to in order to carry out communication without errors. For healthy communication, we must first be a good listener. If we can't be good listeners, we become a piece of news about what the other party has to say. Thus, we cause misunderstandings in mutual communication. The conversation should not strain us and should be conducted in a confident manner. Anxiety will divert the subject from its purpose and will make the other party feel it.

Contagious Anxiety

Have you ever felt that anxiety spread to you when you were with someone you noticed to be anxious? This is a common occurrence, Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, calls it 'neural Wi-Fi'. Anxiety and similar feelings that spread to us from the people around us in our social life can negatively affect our communication efforts, thus reducing the quality of the messages we want to give. People tend to be instinctively alert when they don't feel safe.

Body language is the most effective language!

Posture, gestures, facial expressions, eye movements, hand movements and any non-verbal action that directly contributes to the content and effect of the message can be expressed as body language.

Our body language we use during communication can affect the course of the conversation and even the outcome of that speech. Body language is of great importance in the persuasion mechanism. The following points should be considered when using body language:

◦ An upright posture or sitting upright helps us show that we are confident. Low shoulders can make you look insecure.

◦ Smiling is the most effective facial expression, it can remove other people's negative thoughts about us. With your smile, the trust and sincerity you give to the other party will emerge.

◦ Making eye contact is a sign that you are a good listener. Avoiding eye contact is often interpreted as a sign of fear, dishonesty, hostility, or boredom. However, it should be noted that you should not stare into the eyes of the other party. The whole face of the person should be looked at.

How we say it is just as important as what we say.

The attitude we display to the other party, our prejudices in our minds, our assumptions about the person and the unsuccessful communications we have had in the past affects the dialogues we have with people. For effective and healthy communication, it is necessary to listen to the other party well, try to understand and stay away from other stimulating factors that interfere with our minds. We should try to understand the other side and avoid judgments.

If we want to be successful as entrepreneurs, we must learn to express ourselves correctly, communication is in all areas of our life and it is in our hands to use communication effectively.

Dale Carnegie emphasizes that in order to make the image we project acceptable, we should pay attention to the following points:

◦ Rehearsing our conversations in front of a mirror.

◦ To receive honest reviews from our reliable business partners, in short, to be ready for feedback.

◦ Observing the audience's reactions carefully.

◦ Watching and listening to our videos taken while speaking at the meeting.

To be a good speaker, we must be lively, sympathetic, natural and show goodwill. We need to touch on topics that may interest people and get their attention.

We can only capture the attention of the audience with a warm, friendly sympathy. If we are cold, distant, or hostile, we will not be able to keep the attention and distract the audience from the topic.

The style we use is as important as the attitude we adopt in communication. The words we use should not be susceptible to misunderstanding. With the beauty of style and courtesy, we can eliminate the possibility of misunderstanding by the other party.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression - Will Rogers

In order for us to be able to communicate successfully, we must have prepared our presentation well. You should rehearse a lot and feel ready to speak. We must be able to attract the attention of the audience and keep the perceptions alive throughout the presentation. However, it should be clear and concise, and end in a motivating way.

How we start the presentation is important. By summarizing the subject we are going to tell in a single sentence, we convey the basic information about the subject to the audience. After briefly talking about ourselves, we can move on to the presentation with a brief information about the subject of our initiative and the product we have developed.

You should not use technical terms unless necessary. Innovation should be prioritized in the business idea. Others may not be familiar with the technical terms in your project or product. You can tell them about your project in descriptive language.

Talk about concrete elements in your presentation. For example, a prototype or 3D design you produce. This way you can help the audience understand the product.

We need to know our audience well. How well do you know the audience?

We must determine the purpose of our presentation; such as for informational or promotional purposes. We must also be reliable. Our customers or listeners will get their impressions of our company by looking at the competencies we display during the presentation. In addition, the audience should conclude and end the presentation without thinking about when the presentation will end.

If we improve our communication competencies, our ideas; we can present much more effectively to our teammates, our boss, our customers, and even our friends and family.