While the most important communication skill you can develop is great listening, sometimes you have got to be the speaker as well. When communicating your ideas, you have the responsibility to be purposeful and respectful of the other person or persons.

RECEPTIVE AUDIENCE

The first thing you want to insure is that you have a receptive audience. If the person you are speaking to is not ready to hear what you are saying, then you will be literally wasting your breath. You might be able to get them interested enough to pay attention eventually, but if they miss the beginning of your message, then they might miss some crucial points. If they have not received your message, then effective communication has not taken place.

Public speakers accomplish this by telling a couple of jokes or stories that segue into their topic. You can do this same basic thing by making a few small related points and gage the person’s response. Once they are giving you listening signals, then you can proceed with your most important topics.

KEEP IT INTERESTING

A person really trying to listen can become totally distracted if you do not keep their attention during communication. I’m sure you have had teachers or speakers that totally engaged you and others that bored you regardless of the subject. History teachers are a prime example. Some make history seem so boring that you wish you could shoot the forefathers. Others take the exact same story and make it engaging and relative.

By changing the tone of your voice, you help keep the other person’s attention.

Include the other person in your examples, so they can become part of the message.

Stopping occasionally to let the other person respond lets them have a chance to absorb each point of the message as you go. 

Using hand gestures and animation, where appropriate, helps stimulate the visual person.  For more info, visit, http://www.communicationessence.com