and read or article: What is Empathy? ) Understand Stress Learn to recognise, manage and reduce stress in others and yourself.  Although stress is not always bad it can have a detrimental effect on the communication process. Learning how to recognise and manage stress, in yourself and others, is an important interpersonal skill. (More about stress .) Learn to be Assertive You should aim to be neither passive nor aggressive. Being assertive is about expressing your feelings and beliefs in a way that others can understand and respect.  Assertiveness is fundamental to successful negotiation. (Learn more about Assertiveness | Negotiation and Confidence ) Reflect and Improve Think about previous conversations and other interpersonal interactions; learn from your mistakes and successes.  Always keep a positive attitude but realise that we can all always improve our communication skills . (See our article on Improving Communications Skills ) Negotiate Learn how to effectively negotiate with others paving the way to mutual respect, trust and lasting interpersonal relations. ( Negotiation Skills ) The use of material found at skillsyouneed.co.uk is free provided that copyright is acknowledged and a reference or link is included to the page/s where the information was found. Material from skillsyouneed.co.uk may not be sold, or published for profit in any form without express written permission from skillsyouneed.co.uk . For information on how to reference correctly please see our page on referencing .