13 May How Wearing a Mask for 2 Years Improved My Communication Skills

Wearing a mask for the better part of 2 years has greatly improved my in-person communication skills for both personal and business relationships.

I was surprised to discover some bad communication habits that were previously unknown to me and quickly came to light when I’ve been wearing a mask.

Now that I know about them, here are the ways I’ve improved my communication skills:

1️⃣ Better Eye Contact – with others wearing masks, I was surprised to discover I’m typically looking at their mouths, not their eyes. With masks on, looking at another’s mouth isn’t providing any value to me or my conversationalist. I’m now doing a much better job looking at people’s eyes throughout the conversation, mask or no mask.

2️⃣ Upping the Volume – my voice is on the softer side, so it’s always been a challenge to be heard in a loud room or among several people. With my mask on, it’s been even more important for me to increase the volume of my voice, enunciate, and project more. This is a habit I am continuing without my mask.

3️⃣ More Smiling – missing out on seeing smiles reinforced to me how important it is to see other’s reactions, frustrations, and happiness during a conversation. Studies show smiling not only helps fight off our own stress, seeing another person smile activates the reward center of our brain and makes us feel better. So, now I’m more freely giving out smiles to create and pass along good vibes throughout the day.

Have you realized anything new about your communication skills while wearing a mask? What have you discovered about your communication skills in the past 2 years?