Page 72 - Effective Communication Skills Mastery Bible 4 Books in 1 Boxset by Tuhovsky, Ian

interrupted them while showing that you are listening to them

carefully at the same time. As an effective communicator, you

will sometimes have to lead the conversation where it needs to

go.

Comforting Words

There is nothing wrong with comforting someone, at least at

first glance. When we comfort someone, we have good

intentions. We want to show that a certain situation isn’t as bad

as they might think and it will get better. But clichés like:

“Don’t worry, there will be a new day tomorrow,” “Others
may be in a worse situation than you are,” or a very common

saying, “Keep your head up!” usually bring exactly the

opposite effect. These sentences usually show a low level of

communication abilities. Remove them from your list of usual

reactions. What you can do instead is this simple process: first

of all, acknowledge what this person is feeling and why. That
might be, for example: “Really?! That’s a horrible thing to

have to go through!” That’s what people expect to hear rather

than, “It’s not bad,” or, “Don’t worry,” which would mean

they are exaggerating, overreacting or creating an artificial

problem. The next thing you should say instead of using
clichéd phrases is something like: “I just want you to know

I’m here for you and I will be here for you until you overcome

this situation,” or, “Know that you can count on me if it ever

happens to you again.”

Losing Focus

Do you often find yourself distracted when listening to

others? Perhaps it is also difficult for you to stay concentrated

or focus on something for longer periods of time? Maybe you