Using effective language is the easiest “quick fix” that you can apply to your communication skills. Using effective language means saying what you mean with the fewest words possible while still maintaining your meaning and intent.
This is where being a good writer can actually help you become a good communicator. If you're saying something in four sentences that could be said in one, say it in one. If you are saying something in ten words that can be said in four, say it in four.
In conversation and communication quality always wins out over quantity. We would all rather have 30 seconds of amazing communication than 10 minutes of mediocre communication saying the same thing.
It also means removing “um,” “uh,” “ah,” “like,” “you know,” and other fillers from your everyday speaking.
Removing all fillers 100% of the time is often impossible (I still drop an “um” or “you know” occasionally), but the more of these you remove, the more clear and coherent your speaking will be. Nothing screams a lack of sophistication like somebody who sprinkles “like” “umm” and throughout his stories constantly.
Read the following two sentences out loud：
“So, um I guess what I’m saying is like, that I never really felt at home when I lived, uh, out there, you know, in California. The people, uh, just felt kind of like, superficial to me. And I, um, didn’t like really like it a while a lot I guess.”
“I never really felt at home in California. The people felt kind of superficial to me. I didn’t really like it.”
Notice the difference in the two, notice how the second feels much more impactful and to-the-point.
You don’t want to speak like a robot either. You can still use all of the inflections, tonality and pacing on the second sentence without having to drop “um” and “like” all the time.
When you read it, you should be able to feel an immediate difference. The first one feels very casual, lackadaisical, even lazy and uninterested. The second one feels serious, stern, powerful and clear.
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