What are Business Communication techniques?

Business hinges upon communication, and those who communicate poorly are at a huge disadvantage.

business colleagues preparing for business meeting image by Vladimir Melnik from Fotolia.com

Communication is one of the most important tools in business, necessary to success and advancement. According to the University of Wisconsin Business Alumni Update and the National Commission on Writing, individuals who cannot write and communicate effectively in other ways are not likely to be hired, and, if they are, will not last for promotion. To be hired, successful and eventually advance in business, you must be an effective communicator-verbally, non-verbally, and digitally-and be able to integrate communication types in different settings.

Verbal Communication

Businessmen interact verbally with a variety of people every day-equals, subordinates, supervisors, men and women alike. Verbal communication in business often involves expressing opinions, emotions, giving orders and winning over clients. When doing any of these things, it's important that you maintain a level head, ask questions and back up any opinions you give with hard evidence. A good business verbal communicator is delicate but confident.

For example, you wouldn't say, "Our economic climate has gone right down the drain in the past three years, " without backing up the statement with facts, figures and sources. In addition, unless it's essential to winning over a client, controversial opinions like this one should be left out of the workplace. Your personal opinions, if unrelated to daily operations of the business, might isolate your clients and offend people around you. You must always back up any statement you make in a business setting, avoiding controversy but exuding confidence.

In addition, keep a steady, positive tone of voice; ask lots of questions during meetings-have a list of questions written out before the meeting; answer the phone confidently and professionally; and when telling someone to do something, ask them politely and tactfully.

Forms of verbal communication in business include conference calls, video conferences, staff meetings, presentations and daily interactions in the workplace. During in-person interactions, verbal communication is used alongside nonverbal communication-a priceless pairing.

Nonverbal Communication

According to Management for the Rest of Us, nonverbal communication-or body language-makes up 93 percent of our daily communication in the workplace. Everything about you works together to create your physical image. Certain elements are unchangeable, such as age, gender and ethnicity, so it's important to pay extra attention to the elements you can control in the workplace.