Guidance For MBA Aspirants
Every MBA aspirant should know that mastering the communication skills is necessary to perform well in MBA from a reputed B-School and prove his mettle while studying as well as in the corporate world. He should definitely have an edge over the other candidates, if he has excellent and impressive communication skills.
Here are a few tips that help a long way in improving communication skills:
Read a lot. Reading is the vital source for an effective communication. Pick up any magazine, journal, novel or for that matter the daily newspaper and do make it a habit to read it aloud. It has generally been observed that when an individual speaks, he falls short of words. The words are somewhere hidden in his brain and refuse to come out. When you read aloud, after sometime, words automatically fall into your mouth and thus improve the communication skills. If you come across any new word, do check out its meaning and try to add it in your speech the next time you speak. Reading also enhances your general knowledge and makes you aware of what is happening around you. Read anything which interests you.
Television, an idiot box? Not Really. If you are watching any talk show or interview of any great personality don’t just stare at the pictures, try to follow the way participants interact with each other, carefully observe their accent and also learn new words from them. It is okay to watch movies sometimes but not always, an MBA Aspirant must watch some educative channels to improve their general knowledge as well as communication skills. Remember there is no end to learning. An individual can learn new things at any age.
Start with the basics. A child has to first learn alphabets to be able to make new words. In the same way, for an effective communication one should be very clear with the basic concepts of communication. Learn tenses, homophones, homographs, heterographs, vowels, consonants, verbs, phonetics as they are the stepping stones to an effective communication. Ignoring the above things will never let you communicate correctly and effectively. Always adopt a step by step approach.
Be patient. Don’t be in a hurry to hone your communication skills in a day or so. There is no medicine or any magic stick which can improve your communication skills in a day. You have to be patient and give yourself time. Never feel dejected if others speak better English than you, instead learn from them and seek their guidance. It is rightly said” Practice makes a man perfect”. Practice a lot. Whatever language you want to master on, try to interact in the same language with your friends and family for the perfect flow of words. Never feel embarrassed if you are wrong, learn from your mistakes. Stand in front of the mirror and speak to yourself. Ask yourself questions and answer them. Be your own critic, It works.
Coherent Communicator. Haphazard and unorganized thoughts lead to an ineffective communication. Be very clear what you intend to communicate. Don’t just speak for the sake of speaking. Carefully select sensible and relevant words to put your thoughts into a content to be shared with others. Don’t keep half of your words in mouth, speak properly and clearly. You yourself have to be very clear with your thoughts for others to understand it well. Design your content by keeping the audiences in mind and don’t make it complicated. Keep it simple.
Be a patient listener. An individual cannot be a good communicator, unless and until he is a good listener. Never interrupt any speaker in between. The other individual might not be as learned as you, but you should always respect his opinions. Even if the other person is wrong, don’t criticize him; instead wait for your turn to speak. Always listen to the other side of the story and then only give your expert comments.
An MBA student throughout his two years of academics has to do exceptionally well in presentations and seminars. You just can’t escape them. One has to be a very good speaker to fair well in presentations and stand apart from the crowd. Never ever panic and do create a friendly ambience while delivering a presentation. One has to understand the importance of non verbal communication as well. Keep a control on your hands and emotions while speaking. Don’t play with your pen or handkerchief and never smile unnecessarily. Don’t start sweating in between presentations. The audience will never bite you, so please do make an eye contact with them. Do not forget to greet them well with a warm smile.
One might be good in academics, might be very intelligent, but to carve a niche in today’s competitive world, one has to be an exceptionally good communicator. Impressive communication skills coupled with your MBA will definitely take you to the pinnacle of success. Always remember confidence, clarity in thoughts, practice, good listening as well as reading skills are the main ingredients of good communication skills. One has to take good care of all the above to emerge as a winner and rule the world.
