Having effective communication skills is not just an essential requirement of the sales and marketing professionals but is must for workers involved in jobs at all levels and all departments in the organization. Communication involves two major things: listening to other people and having other people listen to you. Below are four ways to make people listen and pay attention to your conversation.
Firstly, to make sure people are listening to you make the conversation engaging. Any person, whether colleague, friend or family member, when talks to you they are looking for entertainment. A news broadcast is not going to keep them involved. Rather a story telling technique will be more useful.
Secondly, consider the human factor. The person you are making a conversation with has to feel that he or she is part of the conversation and the topic under discussion is useful for them.
Thirdly, ask questions to ensure the person is listening to you as well as to get some positive feedback from them. This will make the listener more alert and attentive.
Lastly, use your body language to support your conversation effectively. Smile when required, use eye contact and change the pitch of your voice accordingly.