What you communicate is directly related to what you read. Your confidence to communicate in English is a function of the quantum and subject diversity of your reading. This blog covers the secrets of how reading plays a pivotal role in improving your communication skills in general and Spoken English in specific.
Search Google for quotes on reading and you will find many. The one which truly strikes a chord with me as being the most relevant for this blog post has been that of the legendary American animator Walt Disney
- “There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”
While books today have taken an electronic form, the emphasis is more on the activity of reading with many tangible and intangible benefits of reading being referred to as the 'treasure'. Let's get down to explore some of these benefits from a communication skill building standpoint.
Fodder for Conversations, Speeches and Presentations
Reading is an activity of amassing knowledge in the form of information, insights and perspectives. These can be shared in the form of expressing views during social or professional conversations. While venturing an opinion, they can be used to support your argument besides opening your mind to presenting new ideas and concepts.
If you see yourself being 'Tongue-tied' or 'Not knowing what to speak' on certain social occasions, then reading the news is the solution to give you the needed talk points to 'break the ice'. Reading induces confidence in speech!
Observe and replicate the 'Art of Story Telling'
Whether it is a work of fiction, a news article, a social media post or even an advertisement; what you read is a story that is published. How information is structured and pieced together to convey something so that it creates the desired action from you - the reader is the 'Art of Storytelling'.
If it is a work of fiction, the objective would be play on your sentiments or emotions. A news article is meant to enlighten you through information dissemination. An advertisement is meant to compel you to realize a need and convince you that the product or service advertised best solves the need for you.
Through conscious observation while reading, you'd pick up the skills of how to build and deliver a story effectively to apply them in your life. The more diverse your reading material, the better would be the variety of stories that you'd get acquainted with. The more unique the story, the more interesting you'd be as a communicator. Lastly, always tailor your story for the intended recipients for greater impact.
Apply Critical Thinking and Empathy in Communication
Unlike a fleeting video, written text affords you more time to comprehend the content better. You can, to borrow a phrase, 'read between the lines' to understand what the writer has not communicated but hinted instead. There is more time to analyse the cause and effect, make inferences, thereby facilitating critical thinking.
By reading differing perspectives on the same topic, you will be able to appreciate the respective arguments and practice empathy while communicating.
Learn the application of English Grammar and Sentence Structure
The more you read, the more you are acquainted with how sentences are framed. While having a strong understanding of English grammatical rules, will help you not only comprehend what you are reading, but later enable you to express yourself in a more compelling and seamless manner; by reading, you will observe the practical application of grammar without getting boggled by the specifics of nomenclature (whether a sentence is in present perfect or present continuous tense).
Reading enables you to imbibe grammar through observation and the more you read, better would be the way you'd construct your sentences.
Build and expand your English Vocabulary
Reading makes you an explorer and sets you off on an adventure where you uncover not just new knowledge, stories and information but also new words and phrases. The more you read, the more the likelihood of you finding more words and phrases that you could use in your day to day conversations.
If you are a student of biosciences, then reading a scientific journal will acquaint you with words and phrases relevant to that subject. Similarly, if you are a salesperson in the field of field of technology, reading tech focused media publications would fine tune your tech parlance and help you ace your client presentations by using trending words and phrases in your domain.
Adding new words and phrases to your vocabulary arsenal through reading will benefit you in the following ways:
- More creativity in expressing yourself (due to vocabulary diversity)
- More confidence in speech (once you master contextual knowledge of what word or phrase to use for what situation)
- More engagement (create greater influence and impact through improved diction)
This is where Glibzter Immersive - English Vocabulary Buildercomes in to assist you as your digital English Vocabulary coach.
About Glibzter Immersive
Glibzter Immersive - English Vocabulary Builder can be used to help you curate and present to you for contextual practice, relevant English words and phrases from the news content you from online news portals such as BBC, CNN, MSN, The Times of India and Scroll.in
Glibzter Immersive is a browser extension and web app that helps you improve your communication skills in English through vocabulary building and expansion. What makes Glibzter Immersive truly unique is its ability to curate or select relevant words and phrases from the content you read in online news articles (from select media portals) as well as the videos with English subtitles/ closed captions that you stream online (on YouTube and Netflix), and present them to you for contextual practice.
Read: How Glibzter Immersive helps you build and expand your English Vocabulary
Glibzter Immersive functions on both Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers on laptops and desktop/PCs.
