Improve Your Communication Skills

Improve Your Communication Skills will help you keep the interest of a large audience, impress a potential employer or win an argument at an important meeting. It gives vital tips on

• improving conversations
• building rapport with colleagues
• holding interviews and appraisals
• learning skills of persuasion
• giving effective presentations
• writing emails, letters and reports
• writing for the web

With the help of this essential guide you will be able to achieve verbal, vocal and visual success and get your message across every time.

About The Author
Alan Barker is a Managing Director of Kairos Training Limited, a specialist consultancy that works to develop creativity and skilled communication. He is also the author of How to Manage Meetings (published by Kogan Page). 

Table Of Contents

• What is communication?
• The transmission model
• Understanding how we understand
• A new model of communication
• The three levels of understanding
• Conversation: the heart of communication
• How conversations work
• What is a conversation?
• Why do conversations go wrong?
• Putting conversations in context
• Working out the relationship
• Setting a structure
• Managing behaviour
• Seven ways to improve your conversations
• Clarify your objective
• Structure your thinking
• Manage your time
• Find common ground
• Move beyond argument
• Summarise often
• Use visuals
• The skills of enquiry
• Paying attention
• Treating the speaker as an equal
• Cultivating ease
• Encouraging
• Asking quality questions
• Rationing information
• Giving positive feedback
• The skills of persuasion
• Character, logic and passion
• What’s the big idea?
• Arranging your ideas
• Expressing your ideas
• Remembering your ideas
• Delivering effectively
• Interviews: holding a formal conversation
• When is an interview not an interview?
• Preparing for the interview
• Structuring the interview
• Types of interview
• Making a presentation
• Putting yourself on show
• Preparing for the presentation
• Managing the material
• Controlling the audience
• Looking after yourself
• Answering questions
• Putting it in writing
• Writing for results
• Making reading easier
• Writing step by step
• Designing the document
• Writing a first draft
• Effective editing
• Writing for the web
• Networking: the new conversation
• To network or not to network?
• Preparing to network
• The skills of networking conversations
• Following up and building your network
• Appendix: where to go from here