Communication is an important part of business management because it allows business leaders and managers to inform employees of their expectations in regard to meeting the set goals and objectives. To become great business leaders, individuals may want to start by harnessing their communication skills, so that they can effectively pass the intended messages (Olszewski, & Gillam, 2016). In my case, I analyzed my skills by first identifying the elements that best represent my strengths. More precisely, I first identified my strong areas in communication and found that I was strong in emotional awareness and listening. I carried out the assessment by attending business meetings and seminars and, in some cases, I took the center-stage. After assessing my strong areas, the next step was to analyze my weak areas. These I did by watching videos of myself speaking to the audience. I realized that my written communication skills were not good because I struggled to present a written speech.

A communication gap is mainly seen in cases where the speaker’s intended message is not what is understood by the audience. One of the major communication gaps that I have is the relevancy gap. When making a presentation in front of the audience, I realized that, in some cases, I made wrong assumptions of the information they might have regarding the subject of discussion. As a result, I assumed that the audience had background information, only to later find out that they did not any. The problem with the relevancy gap is that it usually cuts my connection with the audience, thus deterring the effective delivery of the intended message (Palttala, & Vos, 2012). Another communication gap I have is knowledge gap. The knowledge gap comes into play when the speaker and the audience have different knowledge levels. All business meetings have people with distinct levels of knowledge. When communicating with these people, I realized that some experienced challenges in understanding and interpreting the message. In the situation when the audience could not completely understand the message, I was unable to communicate with them, implying that the goal of communication was not achieved.

To improve my communication skills, I will need additional training on written communication. More specifically, I will need to improve my skills on how to write down a convincing speech, without leaving out the main message. Additional training is also needed to harness my skills of connecting with people through non-verbal skills. I realized that I was not able to quickly read the moods and emotions of the audience and this prevented me from reading their minds. More training will present the opportunity to understand the expectations of the audience (Olszewski, Panorska, & Gillam, 2016). By meeting the expectations of the audience, I will be able to connect with them and effectively deliver the message.

An effective way of improving my communication skills is by becoming a good listener. I realized that reading and understanding non-verbal cues is a complicated process that requires keenness and patience. Listening carefully will make it easier for me to better understand the communication process. Another way of improving my communication skills is by maintaining eye contact. Looking people directly into their eyes allows the audience to read their minds and quickly understand what they expect from the speech. Eye contact also gives both the speaker and the audience the confidence to engage in the communication process (Constant, 2013). The third way of improving communication skills is allow people to speak. By giving people the opportunity to speak their mind, I will have a good opportunity to understand what they like and consequently have an easy time of connecting with them.