We often meet our partner via social media or via mutual friends or arrange marriage setup. When we meet them, we get attracted to them and communication increases. Chats turn into call and that continues for every day. We start talking about likes and dislikes and everything that can be communicated in the start, when we start liking that person more, then we start feeling that we are in love with that person and we confess our feeling by proposing them. The problem starts after that, and that is because we only communicate everything that is just enough for each other to like, understand and fall in love with each other. What we fail to do is to communicate effectively with each other.

Here are certain tips that can help you improve your communication:

• Don’t communicate using your own interpretations, just say what you observe and feel
• Know how and what you feel and communicate them clearly with your partner as to how you are feeling
• Express your needs clearly to your partner, it gives them a clear picture of what you need and whether they are ready to meet those needs
• Many times we want or need certain things, we can request those needs to your partner without making it like a statement.
• Know your partner’s style of communication, whether they like more of gifts, or they love your words, or they love spending time with you and just you, or they like to do things with you, etc. and then you both can do things that make each other feel better in a relationship
• Make sure that each other’s needs as well as your needs are met in a relationship. We are different people having different needs and we need our partner to meet those needs too. When you know clearly about your needs, you will be able to let your partner know what you need from him/her.
• Use “I” statements, eg: “I need……” or “I feel….”
• Talk about what is happening and how it affects you
• Listen to your partner to understand them and not to respond to them
• Sit together putting every distraction aside, including mobile phones, television and laptop
• Remember that not always you are right and that there can be differences in the relationship, when such problem or any problem arises, always keep in mind that it’s you two together versus the problem and not the problem versus you both individually.
• When there is a fight, try to stay calm and understand each other’s point of view, don’t jump to conclusion, discuss what actually happened and avoid judging.

These are some things to keep in mind when it comes to improving communication in relationships.