According to a book entitled, Business Communication: Strategies and Skills, roughly 75% of all managerial time is spent in verbal one-to-one exchange.

This means that as a business owner and manager, you will be spending most of your time talking to other people – customers, suppliers, employees and others.

But moreover, aside from verbal communication, one will also spend time in doing non-verbal correspondence such as letters, memo and email.

Such is the importance of having proper business communication skills when you want to succeed as an entrepreneur.

Check yourself against these five business communication skills and see which areas you could train yourself to improve on and excel further:

Writing Skills
When you’re planning a start-up, writing a good business plan is an integral part of your success, specially when you’re looking for an investor. Business proposals, concept papers and feasibility reports are just some of the other documents you will be drafting when planning and running a business. As Reader’s Digest would say – “It pays to increase your word power”.

Social Networking Skills
When I was in college, I had a shirt that read: “In life, it’s not what you know, but who you know. So start attending parties and meet influential people.” While the statement is not entirely true, it gives across, however, a very good point. Learn more about this skill in this article: 16 Simple Tips For Business Networking Success.

Presentation and Public Speaking Skills
Public speaking is one of the world’s most popular fears. However, I believe that it is an essential skill that an entreprenuer should have. If you fear giving a speech to an audience, overcome it by first honing your social networking skills. When you’ve become comfortable talking with people you barely know – then learning how to present and speak in public confidently is easier to master.

Sales and Marketing Skills
A product rarely sells by itself. It needs a push and a follow through for it to generate income and profits. And when you’re starting your own business, you have to know the proper way to sell and market your wares. Learning how to sell and market is not as hard as it seems – and the skills vastly improve with practice. And just in case you missed it, here’s the secret of a great salesman.

Negotiation Skills
Personally, I believe that negotiation skills are the most important among these five. Negotiation skills in a business context will allow you to get the most out of your transactions, foster a win-win situation among your colleagues and business contacts and it ensures that you will never go to the losing end of a deal without at least – a good fight.

So, which of these business communication skills are you good at? Which of them do you think you need to improve more on?

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References:
Huseman, Lahiff, Penrose. Business Communication: Strategies and Skills. 1981

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