communication skills quotes

Resist the need to be ‚right‘ all the time or to always have the last word.

Be as polite to the custodian as you are to the chairman of the board.

People generally quarrel because they cannot argue.

I’ve been known to preach.

In retrospect, I can see I couldn’t talk to people face to face, so I got on stage and started screaming and squealing and twitching about. Ha! Like, that sure made sense!

So when I speak in front of thousands, tens of thousands of people, I don’t really get nervous because I know what I want to say and I know what message I want to give.

I really think that there was a great advantage in many ways to being a woman. I think we are a lot better at personal relationships, and then have the capability obviously of telling it like it is when it’s necessary.

I go onstage and I talk, and I remember what I’m saying, and I track it.

A person standing in front of an audience without enthusiasm for his subject and his actions is disconnected from his spirit.

I have been – I have spoken in Bir Zeit a number of times.

A man may speak very well in the House of Commons, and fail very completely in the House of Lords. There are two distinct styles requisite: I intend, in the course of my career, if I have time, to give a specimen of both.

I’m just preparing my impromptu remarks.

I don’t want to spend the rest of my life giving speeches.

The trouble with her is that she lacks the power of conversation but not the power of speech.

I was always taught not to answer no questions. I’m not really good at answering them because I get agitated so fast.

Talkers are usually more articulate than doers, since talk is their specialty.

When Caroline Kennedy managed to say ‚you know‘ more than 200 times in an interview with the New York ‚Daily News,‘ and on 130 occasions while talking to ‚The New York Times‘ during her uninspired attempt to become a hereditary senator, she proved, among other things, that she was (a) middle-aged and (b) middle class.

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.

One of the issues I kept saying to my students is you have to learn to interrupt. When you raise your hand at a meeting, by the time they get to you, the point is not germane. So the bottom line is active listening. If you are going to interrupt, you look for opportunities. You have to know what you’re talking about.

Transforming yourself into a deep listener will not only prove more amusing as you open your mind to their mind, but you will gain the most invaluable lessons about human psychology.

There are some who speak well and write badly. For the place and the audience warm them, and draw from their minds more than they think of without that warmth.

When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred.

I’m not very articulate.

It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book.

The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.

I don’t do meetings.

I don’t even know how to speak up for myself, because I don’t really have a father who would give me the confidence or advice.

Always remember that your calmness under fire is your best defense in any argument or discussion.

I could never give relationship advice to anybody!

Women have to be active listeners and interrupters – but when you interrupt, you have to know what you are talking about.

A master performer like Bill Clinton never lost sight of the fact that as president he had to project confidence and power, but if he was speaking to a group of autoworkers he would adjust his accent and his words to fit the audience, and do the same for a group of executives.

Conflict cannot survive without your participation.

I have learned to interface – what I think would be the contemporary term – with various different lexicons, and people speak very different languages. I’ve learned to speak in a lot of tongues, and I can live with the bellicose language of some fervent, fire-breathing Christians, sure.

You know, you can make a small mistake in language or etiquette in Britain, or you could when I was younger, and really be made to feel it, and it’s the flick of a lash, but it would sting, and especially at school where there’s not much privacy, and so on. You could, yes, undoubtedly be made to feel crushed.

Reacting in anger or annoyance will not advance one’s ability to persuade.

When things haven’t gone well for you, call in a secretary or a staff man and chew him out. You will sleep better and they will appreciate the attention.

You can disagree without being disagreeable.

Eventually you get to this point where you understand what you want to do and get across and sound like.

The most important thing for a director is being able to communicate.

When it comes to knowing what to say, to charm, I always had it.

Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement.

Only the prepared speaker deserves to be confident.

I thought my life was mapped out. Research, living in the forest, teaching and writing. But in ’86 I went to a conference and realised the chimpanzees were disappearing. I had worldwide recognition and a gift of communication. I had to use them.

If one could only teach the English how to talk, and the Irish how to listen, society here would be quite civilized.

Talk low, talk slow and don’t say too much.

Some years ago I became president of Columbia University and learned within 24 hours to be ready to speak at the drop of a hat, and I learned something more, the trustees were expected to be ready to speak at the passing of the hat.

Communication is a skill that you can learn. It’s like riding a bicycle or typing. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of evry part of your life.

If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time – a tremendous whack.

Take advantage of every opportunity to practice your communication skills so that when important occasions arise, you will have the gift, the style, the sharpness, the clarity, and the emotions to affect other people.

Listen with the intent to understand, not the intent to reply.

Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.

I’m not a person that socializes very well.

Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.

Example is leadership.

When you meet with someone and you try to assess whether they’re telling you the truth or not, there’s several things you can do. You judge demeanor and credibility. You look at corroboration.

In the television age, the key distinction is between the candidate who can speak poetry and the one who can only speak prose.

When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.

How can a president not be an actor?

In making a speech one must study three points: first, the means of producing persuasion; second, the language; third the proper arrangement of the various parts of the speech.

It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.