Career success and a high income depend on more than technical knowledge and experience. More and more employers and clients pay attention to soft skills, which include the ability to communicate effectively, build relationships, negotiate and find an approach to all kinds of people.

These very skills often become the deciding factor when moving up the career ladder, closing profitable deals and building a reputation as a professional people turn to again and again. At every stage of your career you deal with people: colleagues, management, clients or partners. Understanding their needs, persuading, inspiring and earning trust helps you not only get tasks done, but stand out from the rest.

Here are 30 non-obvious principles that will help you not only improve your communication skills, but also make your interactions with others deeper, more productive and more harmonious.

  1. Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
  2. Give honest, sincere appreciation.
  3. Arouse in the other person an eager want to do something.
  4. Become genuinely interested in other people.
  5. Smile.
  6. Remember that a person's name is the sweetest sound to them.
  7. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
  8. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
  9. Make the other person feel important, and do it sincerely.
  10. The only way to win an argument is to avoid it.
  11. Respect other people's opinions. Never say, "You're wrong."
  12. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and sincerely.
  13. Begin in a friendly way.
  14. Get the other person saying "yes, yes" immediately.
  15. Let the other person do much of the talking.
  16. Let the other person feel that the idea is theirs.
  17. Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.
  18. Be sympathetic with the other person's ideas and desires.
  19. Appeal to the nobler motives.
  20. Dramatize your ideas.
  21. Throw down a challenge.
  22. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
  23. Call attention to other people's mistakes indirectly.
  24. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
  25. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
  26. Let the other person save face.
  27. Praise even the slightest improvement and praise every achievement.
  28. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
  29. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
  30. Make the other person happy about doing what you suggest.

If you want to stand out, grow and earn more, start with these simple but incredibly effective steps!