1. Clarify ideas before communicating: By systematically thinking through the message and considering who will be receiving and/or affected by it, a professional overcomes one of the major pitfalls of communicating. The more systematically a message is analyzed, the more clearly it can be communicated.



2. Examine the true purpose of communication: One must ask himself/herself this question – what am I really aiming to accomplish with this message? The communiqué can then be properly designed.



3. Take the entire environment, physical and human, into consideration: Question such as, what is being said, to whom and when are very important. Your skill lies in how you say what and, of course the timing are of utmost importance. Adapt you message to the environment



4. When valuable, take advice from others whilst planning communication: Consulting others can give you additional insight regarding how best to handle the communication. Also a third person not being directly involved can provide unbiased inputs.



5. Be careful of the overtones and the basic content of the message: The listener will be effected they way you put across your message. In fact your tone, facial expressions are also to be considered.



6. Use crisp language and be clear: It is very important that the words are well chosen and as much as possible the language is crisp. In other words use minimum words to send across the message and convey useful information.



7. Follow-up on communication: One must solicit feedback in ensuring that the receiver has understood the message.



8. Communicate with the future as well as the present in mind: Most communication happens in meeting with the demands of the current situation. However this should be in accordance with the long-term goals as well.



9. Be a good listener: By concentrating on the receiver’s response you can ensure his extent of interest in you and also if he is concentrating.



10. Exhibit Congruency: Match your words with your body language.