When in doubt, books can be your best friend!

No matter who we are, a student, a job aspirant, a fresher, a team leader or an operations manager, our communication skills help us take the next step forward in every phase. Whether it is writing no-nonsense emails, penning down official text messages, or even verbal interaction (either over phone, video call, or face-to-face), communicating in the right way is of paramount importance.

In my near two-decade long corporate industry exposure, I have seen a lot of people unable to crack a job, or failing to convince a client or a senior, or incapable of firmly saying "No" even when the task assigned to him/her is beyond his/her capacity, simply because they could not communicate properly.
I have personally gone through this at a certain stage of my career, and struggled to find a way out of it. 

That is when I resorted to books to find a solution. I was always an avid reader, but my reading habit had taken a backseat once I gave in to the pressing demands of work and whatever time I could devote to personal life. I started to follow a daily routine of reading books for at least 30 minutes every weekday and a minimum of 1 hour on weekends. Nothing changed overnight, but with time I realized that I was able to come up with better vocabulary and clearer thoughts to express myself, be it verbally or in writing.


With the rapid growth of AI and its usage, today a lot of people rely on technology to get their text/content written instead of trying to write manually. But if one wants to work on his/her communication skills, he/she needs to do it the hard way and not take the technology-enabled shortcut. AI is there to assist you and help you do better, but relying upon it entirely can have adverse effects as you move forward.

And just like practicing manual writing, reading books (or even newspapers, magazines, e-books, etc.) can go a long way to help improve your communication skills. You will have a better grasp over the language and will be able to communicate your ideas/thoughts/questions with clarity. You may not be a book lover, or you may prefer reading only a certain genre of books, but if you consider it as a step to improve yourself in the professional space (and even in personal life), you are bound to gain from this effort.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Critical feedback key to continuous growth

Real respect for women - an enigma?

SKY catch - quick, right, and lucky!