Communication is the foundation of healthy social relationships. Whether it is in personal or corporate settings, the importance of communication cannot be overemphasized. It is through effective communication that we inform, influence, inspire, motivate, build relationships, learn, gain inspiration, promote ourselves, negotiate, and improve work delivery. Good communication skills are highly sought after in job candidates. Therefore, it is essential to set communication goals to boost our reputation, strengthen relationships, and improve work delivery.

To set communication goals, we need to identify our areas of deficiency in communication, define what we want to achieve, outline the desired goals and make them SMART. Here are some typical communication goals we can set out to achieve.

1. Improve on Diction
To be an effective communicator, you must develop your diction. Your choice of words should fit into the context in which they are used so that the listener or reader can easily understand the message you are passing across.

2. Be More Engaging When Communicating
The aim of effective communication is to draw in a person or an audience with interesting content or conversation, keeping them interested and engaged.

3. Become An Active Listener
The key to comprehending what is being said is active listening, without distraction or interruption. It is essential to listen actively to ensure effective communication.

4. Manage Emotions
Giving or receiving information comes with many emotions such as excitement, sadness, shock, fear, surprise, anger, elation, depression, or hurt. The expression of emotions can make or mar effective communication. Great communicators learn to put emotions under control.

5. Become Relatable
Build habits and skills that make you a relatable individual. You don’t want to miss out on essential information or the crucial feedback that you can get from people about yourself and your work.

6. Effective Email Communication
Learning how to communicate appropriately and professionally via email can help you get more cooperation from associates and win you more business. Learn how to be courteous and professional when handling email conversations.

7. Be Persuasive
Being able to sell yourself and your ideas is an essential skill. While you don’t have to always have your way when communicating with people, you have to sound convincing.

8. Improve Negotiation Skills
Negotiation is essential in finding common ground with people and avoiding reaching a deadlock in conversations. By learning how to negotiate, you will also be able to win more things for yourself in difficult situations.

9. Be Objective in Conversations
To be objective is to reflect on situations based on facts rather than personal feelings, self-interpretations, or prejudice. When you are objective, you will be able to look at issues with an open mind, leading to having robust conversations.

10. Give Constructive Criticism
Show people what they have done wrong, but also appreciate what they have done right and also show them how they can be better.

11. Be Inspiring
To be inspiring, you need to be enthusiastic, genuinely care about people, and show them how they can be their best.

12. Improve on Team Communication
Always communicate actively with your team to help achieve its goals. Communication is the lifeblood of teamwork. Unnecessary misunderstandings can be avoided if team communication is improved.

13. Understand Body Language
Communication goes beyond what is being said. There are other things to look out for if you want to comprehend the information someone is passing across and discern their intents.

14. Improve on Communication Follow-Up
Most communication encounters don’t end at once. Thus, there is the need to follow up and tie up loose ends, get feedbacks, set reminders, or move on to the next things.

In conclusion, it is essential to set communication goals towards improving or developing our verbal, nonverbal, and written communication skills. Knowing what you need to improve is the first step to becoming a better communicator. Communication is a significant vehicle of progress, and having great communication skills would help you achieve more in your personal and professional life.