How to have the ability to express and articulate ideas: 4 tips
It is common to read about how important communication is in the workplace, both for good professional coexistence and for proposing solutions, being recognized for its professional capabilities. But expressing and articulating ideas , as well as other skills, is something that not everyone masters easily.
However, it can be learned with a set of techniques and concepts that, if practiced, help you to have clarity when making observations, so that your speech is pertinent and appropriate.
The importance of expressing yourself in the workplace
There are few work positions where professionals do not need to communicate. Whether with employees, leaders or clients, we usually talk to several people throughout the workday, with different hierarchies and purposes.
With close colleagues, it is common to use more relaxed language, while with bosses the exchange is more formal. Regardless of who it is, however, having good communication skills has an impact on the work performed and on coexistence. Understand the importance of knowing how to express yourself in the workplace:
Teamwork
Often, conflicts between professionals on the same team end up interfering with everyone’s performance and even the completion of projects. Knowing how to express yourself does not mean saying everything you have on your mind without thinking about the consequences, but rather knowing how to position yourself appropriately, explaining the difficulties and issues that are affected by the other person’s behavior.
This respectful exchange influences the atmosphere and the way professionals interact, working as a team and supporting each other to carry out tasks.
Professional Highlight
Knowing how to express yourself also allows colleagues and leaders to perceive your knowledge about the area of activity, and even allows them to be surprised and recognize your career differentials.
Therefore, it is a way to stand out and even conquer new positions or be selected for new challenges where you can show your potential.
Career opportunities
One factor that is always mentioned when it comes to professional growth is networking, and this will only happen if you work on your communication skills. Having a genuine interest in people, curiosity, and knowing how to listen are all part of good communication and can help you make new colleagues and meet people who can become collaborators.
How to express yourself and articulate ideas?
As we said, there are some techniques that can help you express yourself better, but first of all, you need to work on self-knowledge and understand which habits you already have and which ones you can acquire in this regard. These include:
Develop empathy: being able to listen carefully and put yourself in someone else’s shoes makes the exchange deeper and indicates to the other person that you are present and engaged in the conversation.
Respect other people’s turn: When you don’t listen carefully to what someone else is saying, you may end up interrupting them to give your own opinion. This is rude and prevents effective communication, so wait for the other person to finish their thought before speaking.
Asking questions: The best way to engage in a conversation and show that you are paying attention is by asking questions. This shows interest and allows the person to develop their reasoning skills.
These issues can be observed and worked on in any conversation, and they help improve communication not only at work, but also in your personal life. But, in addition to these habits, there are other tips to help you express yourself better. Check them out:
1 – Practice
If you need to present a undertaking, or even have a tough communique with someone, exercise what you are going to say ahead. Say it out loud at domestic, and get in touch with a chum or family member to concentrate and provide comments.
Often, by hearing ourselves speak out loud, we can identify what is inappropriate, which speeches are too long, and whether the arguments are persuasive. This also helps to build more confidence as we work through the same speech several times and keep it in mind more easily.
2 – Be clear about the message
What is the idea you want to convey? What is the main point? The central objective of the proposed topic? Knowing exactly what you want to say helps you to better articulate what you have in mind, as well as preventing the person from wandering and losing track of the subject in the middle of their speech.
3 – Read
We could mention reading above as a habit that should be acquired, but it is important to highlight this aspect for the simple fact that, when reading, we acquire new knowledge. Reading newspaper articles and articles, for example, helps us understand how to structure a topic, what the main points are, and what aspects are relevant.
Books, whether fiction, biographies or historical accounts, in addition to increasing our knowledge, also offer a better understanding of how to tell a story. After all, even a presentation or suggestion of an idea in a meeting involves a story, and knowing how to tell it helps to make the speech more attractive to those listening.
4 – Keep studying
Taking courses, such as postgraduate or independent courses, studying a new language, attending lectures and workshops help you delve deeper into the topics you work with and increase your repertoire, giving you more confidence to express yourself.