7 ways to Improve your Communication Skills in English

- You may know lots of vocabulary and grammar,

but still be a terrible communicator.

If I had a lot of money,

I'd purchase a majestic mansion

on the rocky coastlines of Spain.

Speaking English well,

and being a good communicator are not the same thing.

Right now keep watching because you are about to improve

your communication skills in English.

(upbeat music)

Hi, this is Keith from the Keith Speaking Academy

and the YouTube channel English Speaking Success.

Also, check out my new YouTube channel,

English Speaking Success Shorts,

short videos focused on English pronunciation practice.

So today I've got seven tips for you

to help you become a better communicator in English.

Remember, I think communication, it's a skill,

it's like a muscle that you need to develop.

A bit like confidence.

Do you remember my last video about confidence?

Well, it's something you need to develop

over time through practice.

A great place to practice, I think is Cambly.

Cambly have got native English-speaking teachers

who can help you practice English

and develop awesome communication skills.

More about that later.

But today the seven tips I've got are the following.

Speed, how fast you should speak.

Emphasis, how to use stress effectively,

Speaking clearly, simplicity, body language,

communicating ideas, and copying others.

Oh, and I've got a great bonus for you.

I'm gonna tell you at the end, the most powerful question,

that all great communicators use.

And this is a really effective question you can use

in the IELTS Speaking Test as well.

So watch out for that at the end of the video.

Let's get straight in with tip number one.

Tip number one, speed.

Don't speak too fast.

Great communicators usually speak slightly more slowly

than the normal speed of a conversation

so that the listener will grasp the main idea

and understand what they're saying,

A problem for many students,

especially if you speak quickly, even in your mother tongue,

is that you think that that's fluency,

Speed and fluency are not the same.

In fact, speaking too quickly is a sign

that your pronunciation is not good,

that you don't control the pronunciation.

So when you're speaking, speak slightly more slowly

than natural conversation speed.

And use the power of pausing.

You should be pausing before you speak

and in the middle of your speech.

Let's take, for example, if I asked you the question,

what would you do if you won the lottery?

You might answer like this.

If I had a lot of money,

I would purchase a majestic mansion

on the rocky coastlines of Spain.

But now let's try and improve that.

We could say, what would you do if you won the lottery?

If I had a lot of money,

I would purchase a majestic mansion

on the rocky coastlines of Spain.

Now, the pause at the beginning,

even for two or three seconds, is very powerful

because it tells the listener that you've heard them

and that you're paying attention.

It helps build trust and respect with the listener,

whether it's a colleague or a friend or an examiner.

So that pause at the start is powerful.

And then phrasing.

The phrasing is where you have a chunk and a pause

in the right place.

If I had a lot of money, pause,

I would purchase, small pause, a majestic mansion,

pause, on the rocky coastlines of Spain.

Powerful use of pausing.

In fact, I just remembered,

I've got a whole course about this.

How to use phrasing correctly.

Go and check it out, Fluency for IELTS Speaking.

Don't go now, go later.

Right now, let's move on to tip number two.

Tip number two, emphasis or stress.

Good communicators are really good at using stress

or emphasis to convey clear meaning.

You need to think about stressing the right words,

the right phrases, and even the right ideas within a speech.

You can do this in different ways.

One of the most common ways is to use adverbs.

Adverbs can really help you

emphasize the meaning of something.

Let's take that sentence from the beginning,

If I had a lot of money,

I would definitely purchase a majestic mansion.

Definitely, you're conveying the meaning of

without doubt, for sure that's what I would buy.

It's a nice way to do it.

In fact, there's a whole video

about how to use adverbs effectively,

go and check it out later.

The second thing to do is to change the volume.

I'm sure if you've been to see some live music,

you'll notice how in Music they use volume,

changes in volume to convey meaning.

You've got the music going de de de

de de de de de de de de de de de de de.

There's a crescendo and then it comes down

and it's such a powerful communication.

It's the same when you're speaking.

You go from being very quiet to then getting louder

and it changes the dynamics.

Particularly with adverbs, if you're stressing,

when you stress something, you can increase the volume.

If I had a lot of money,

I would definitely buy a majestic mansion.

That volume change really good to help with that.

Now another couple of things.

There are some very useful phrases you can use

to help you show emphasis and stress

and communicate more clearly.

The first one is this one what's blah, blah, blah

about it is this?

What's interesting about it is,

or what's amazing about it is.

So if somebody asks me for example,

is Spain an interesting place to live?

I can say, well, yes, it's interesting.

Or, yes, what's interesting about it

is the beautiful scenery.

How much more powerful is that?

We're focusing the attention,

what's interesting about it is,

it's a lovely way of doing it.

What's amazing about it.

What's fascinating about it.

You can have different adjectives in there.

Similarly, another phrase you can use

is what I blank about it is.

So again, if somebody asks me, do you like Spain?

Yes, I do, I like it.

Or, yes I do.

What I like about it is the beautiful scenery.

You see the stress.

What I like about it is dah, dah, dah, dah.

Again, you can change verbs.

What I hate about it,

what I love about it is.

Nice focus, lovely way to emphasize

and stress the meaning you want.

So two great phrases there that you could use

to help convey your meaning and be a better communicator.

Let's move on.

Tip number three is speak clearly.

You really need to enunciate.

Ooh, there's a nice word, enunciate.

It just means to speak clearly.

Open your mouth.

English is one of those languages

where a lot of the sounds come from the front of the mouth.

We use our lips and the shape and the jaw a lot,

a lot more than some languages.

In some languages you can see people speak

almost without moving the lips.

Hello, my name is Keith, nice to see you.

How are you?

Things are good, thank you.

What you need to be practicing is to over-exaggerate.

Practice almost like a muscle gym, like a mouth gym.

Practice moving your lips.

So a very good exercise is to look in front of a mirror

as you're speaking and over-exaggerate the movement.

Let's take that sentence that we've been using in this video

and just watch my lips as I over-exaggerate.

If I had a lot of money,

I would purchase a majestic mansion

on the rocky coastlines of Spain.

And that's it.

Now you over-exaggerate.

When you're in conversation, you just speak naturally.

But when you're practicing, go a bit over the top.

Let's move on.

Now I'm ever so thirsty.

Let's have a drink.

What would you like?

Excellent, good.

Listen, I hope you're enjoying the video so far.

If you are, then do subscribe and turn on notifications

for future videos.

I just like to take a moment

to tell you about developing your communication skills.

In order to do that, you need to practice.

And a great place to practice is on Cambly.

Cambly is an online platform

with native English-speaking teachers,

where you can have one-to-one classes with teachers

and develop your speaking and communication skills.

It's great 'cause you can choose

which teacher you'd like to have,

you study when it suits you

and you even decide what you want to do in the class

or your teacher can guide you if you like.

It's great 'cause you can also record the classes

and then go back later to watch again

and carry on practicing and studying.

Cambly have a variety of different plans

for different needs,

and I'm sure you can find a plan that will suit you.

As you are one of my students

and as Cambly are sponsoring this video,

thank you so much Cambly for that,

then we've got some discounts for you.

If you are a first time user,

you can get a 10 minute class for free

just to practice and try out the platform

to see if you like it.

If you go for the one year plan, that's 12 months,

you get a 40% discount off the regular price.

Great saving.

If you sign up for Cambly,

remember to use the code, keith-yt,

to get your 40% discount on the 12 month plan.

That's Keith-yt.

I think preparing for IELTS

is all about improving your English for the longterm.

English for life.

It's worth investing in a long-term plan, 12 months

and improve your English.

Go and see, you can check out the links below

to go and check out more.

See if it's right for you.

Excellent.

Now, let's get back into those tips

to help you become an even better communicator in English.

Tip number four, simplicity or keeping things simple.

Did you know, there's a huge difference

between spoken English and written English?

I've talked a lot about this.

But if you don't believe me, take a book like this,

"Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English."

I got this in China, but it's the British book.

I mean, look right.

This is a mammoth volume, the differences.

I mean, it's huge.

There are big differences.

Let me do that Blinkist thing

where I summarize this in one minute.

Two of those differences

is that spoken English is generally simpler.

It uses more simple language.

And the second difference

is spoken English has more repetition, which is logical.

Because when you're writing,

you can read things again and again.

You don't need to repeat the words.

When you're speaking words disappear, people forget.

So you need to repeat things again.

Often, in a slightly different way, but a lot of repetition.

So the idea of keeping language simpler is an important one

when communicating effectively.

Do you remember that phrase we had at the start

about purchasing the majestic mansion?

This one, right?

Now, I would ask the person who said this.

If I had a lot of money, that's fine.

Purchase, we would probably say buy,

but you could say purchase.

Majestic mansion, that sounds poetic.

Why did you use majestic mansion?

Oh no, I just looked it up in the dictionary yesterday.

It might be better to say, well, a house or a huge house,

to get the meaning much clearer.

It's about the size of the house, it's a huge house.

Rocky coastlines, why did you say rocky?

Oh yeah, 'cause I looked up rocky

and it was a nice word to show off.

Is it important?

The fact that you're buying a house,

is the fact that it's rocky important?

No. Then out, forget it.

On the coast of Spain.

If I had a lot of money,

I would buy a huge house on the coast of Spain.

That is much more effective communication.

Now I know what you're thinking.

You think Keith, but in IELTS Speaking,

we need to use complex vocabulary, right?

Yes and no.

In fact, not quite at all.

There's nothing in the band descriptors

about complex vocabulary.

The band descriptors talk; about band 8

Uses a wide vocabulary of resource readily and flexibly

to convey precise meaning.

Using vocabulary flexibly.

It's about using the right words, in the right place,

at the right time.

Not necessarily complex.

Now I do agree, there's a bit of a balance

between showing off vocabulary,

but using the right words at the right time flexibly.

So it's not always the same thing.

Just bear that in mind.

Simplicity helps you communicate.

Let's move on.

Tip number five, ready, body language.

Now this includes eye contact, your manner,

whether you're friendly or unfriendly, and smiling.

Communication is far more than words,

We communicate with words,

but actually we communicate a lot without words,

just through our body language.

And it's very important.

Take a simple example.

Let me show you different ways

I can use body language and words to ask for your pen.

First.

Second, pen.

Third, give me a pen.

Fourth, can I borrow your pen, please?

Thanks.

Which one is more effective?

It's not only the words, but it's the manner,

the gestures that we make as well.

I think the last one is a more effective communicator.

Not always, I know it depends on the context

and who you're speaking to.

But generally speaking the eye contact,

having some eye contact, a pleasant manner

and smiling make you a more effective communicator.

And it's especially true in interviews,

job interviews, IELTS Speaking tests.

Let's go back and listen to the first speaker of this video

and notice the body language.

If I had a lot of money,

I'd purchase a majestic mansion

on the rocky coastlines of Spain.

Now let's see if I can improve it.

If I had a lot of money, I would definitely buy a house,

probably a huge house, on the coast of Spain.

More powerful communication.

Great.

What you can do now, practice yourself.

Take the words, try and use your body language,

eye contact manner, smiling to be a better communicator.

Have a go.

That is great.

Keep on practicing while we move on to tip number six.

So tip number six is about communicating ideas.

Communication is all about getting your ideas across.

It's not about speaking perfect English.

In order to communicate ideas,

well, of course you need to have ideas to communicate.

If you've got no ideas, then there's no communication.

But this is a common problem for many students.

And they asked me, Keith, "What do I do in IELTS Speaking

if I have no idea about the topic?"

Well, of course you can say one or two clever things like,

well, I haven't thought about that before,

but you know, it's not very effective.

What you really should be doing is reading

and listening to a wide range of material

on different topics.

Become an avid reader.

Start reading books.

Books about food.

Maybe books about Edward Snowden.

Read magazines, maybe news, maybe others.

Read some interesting websites.

Check out this one, The Conversation,

brilliant website, lots of interesting ideas.

Also be watching things, videos.

I mean you can go to YouTube.

I would recommend Curiosity Stream.

For under $20 a year,

you get access to a wide range of amazing documentaries,

films, very specific topics, really useful for ideas.

Yes.

Another thing you can do

is to be asking yourself this question every day.

What do you think of D D D D D?

Ask yourself that question.

I even, in other languages, write little cards.

I mean, I'm a bit of an old fashioned person.

Call me an old fogy if you will.

But I like flashcards where I write them down.

So I may write down things like,

what do you think of climate change?

What do you think of artificial intelligence?

What do you think of science?

And just each day,

I'll just pick up one and I'll start answering.

And if I can't get an answer,

I'll go and read something

that can help me get some ideas about it.

Become an avid reader.

Great, let's move on.

Tip number seven, copy others.

So I recommend that you watch some great speakers

and communicators and copy or imitate everything they do.

Watch them and notice the speed, the emphasis, volume,

enunciation, simplicity of language, body language,

getting their ideas across.

Watch them and notice these things and then copy them.

You may wanna look at people like, I don't know.

I mean, some people say Winston Churchill possibly,

Barack Obama, for sure.

Jim Rohn, Oprah Winfrey, brilliant.

Richard Branson, another great one.

Tony Robbins, not everybody's cup of tea, but maybe.

Just go and watch them.

In fact, what you can even do

is just take two or three sentences that they say,

break it down and try and imitate exactly what they say

and the way they do it.

Just for two or three sentences.

Record yourself, do this over several days

and to see how you get closer and closer

to being just like them.

It's a great exercise to do,

help build up your confidence

as well as communication skills.

That's it?

Oh, there's still a bonus.

Let's go over to that bonus.

So if you remember at the beginning of the video,

I did say, I would tell you the most powerful question

that great communicators use.

So that question is, what do you mean exactly?

It's a great question.

It's a great question because it makes the other person

think that you're interested in them and their ideas

'cause you're asking them to clarify it.

Maybe you are, but also it helps build trust

because they think you're interested,

you're trying to listen, understand them better.

So it builds trust.

It's great.

In IELTS Speaking, it's a great question.

Because if, especially in part three,

you don't fully understand something or you're not sure,

you just say, what do you mean exactly?

You know, if the examiner says,

"well, do you think consumerism has overtaken our society?"

What do you mean exactly?

"Well, do you think that people buy too many things?"

Ah, okay.

And then you give your answer.

It's a great question to build trust,

to help you become a better communicator,

not just denial speaking, but in any kind of conversation.

Fantastic, that's it?

I hope this helps you see that good communication

is not just about good English.

It's so much more.

Communication is a skill that you need to develop

and it takes time.

Remember, go and check out Cambly

where you can practice and buildup your communication skills

with native English-speaking teachers.

Also, if you're a first time user,

you can take a 10 minute free lesson to check it out.

See if you like it.

And then if you sign up for a whole year, a 12 month plan,

you get 40% discount.

Building communication skills takes time,

sign up for Cambly, sign up for the long term

and get English for life.

It's well worth it.

And I will see you in the next video.

Take care.

Bye, bye.

(upbeat music)