Most people think their communication skills are just fine. It's easy to progress through life as a relatively happy and productive person with poor communication skills. It's the type of problem that erodes at your quality of life in subtle, indirect ways.

If your appendix becomes infected and starts to swell, you will know in short order. Before long you'll be in the hospital taking care of a problem that has demanded your attention. Unfortunately for many, poor listening and poor communication skills never grab their attention in the same way. They unknowingly endure the consequences of an ailment they never even recognize.

Once you make a commitment to work on your communication skills the results are immediate.

Every relationship you have will improve. It doesn't matter what relationship it is. It may be a relationship with your boss, a relationship with your closest friend, relationships with the other people on your softball team, or maybe a relationship with the eventual love of your life. Every relationship will get better, and then your own enjoyment of life is going to go up. I have to tell you that any person who is a great communicator enjoys life more.

You have the sense of getting more of the really important innermost stuff from inside of you across to other people. You have the sense of their not only receiving it, but understanding it and liking it, and more than that you have the sense of getting clear about your own inside world for yourself.

Your efforts at becoming a better communicator will straighten out the wrinkles of your life. Most wrinkles in life have to do with poor communication. When you aren't very good at communicating with other people, then all kind of difficulties start occurring.

Four things are needed to be a great communicator:

1. You need to be able to access your innermost thoughts and feelings.