How to become better at communicating: Therapist shares tips

Communication is the art of listening and responding, keeping in mind the situation. Communication also forms one of the foundation blocks of a healthy relationship. A safe and happy relationship is based on the ability to communicate things, being transparent and finding ways to understand each other through healthy communication. Addressing the importance of communication in our lives, Therapist Israa Nasir wrote, "We often think of communication skills as the ability to speak but it’s actually not that at all. It is more the ability to think through, process, understand, empathise, be present and hold space for the other and then speak. Healthy communication is the backbone of a secure relationship, whether it’s a friendship, at work, with your family or a romantic partner."

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Israa further added a few ways by which we can improve our communication skills; they are as follows:

Understanding the difference: Spme situations need us to speak out for ourselves, while some require us to be silent and opt out of things. We need to understand the difference and choose what our actions should be.

Curious: Being curious about others helps us in seeking out to understanding them. This helps in creating the base for healthier communication to follow.

Regulating emotions: Learning to regulate our emotions helps us in controlling our emotions and not being overwhelmed by a situation. This further helps us to empathise with others.

Think before speaking: Before we let the words out, we need to understand the impact that our words can have on someone else, and then articulate our emotions accordingly.

Avoid focusing on winning: Every conversation is not an argument, and we need to understand that. The urge to win a conversation puts us in attack mode.

Let people be wrong: Sometimes the healthy way to leave a conversation is to stop explaining ourselves and giving the liberty to others to things about us, whichever way they want.

Distraction: While communicating, let no distraction come in the way, such as checking the phone or watching the TV.

Listen: The problem with most people is that they listen to respond – instead, we should listen to understand.