What are communication skills?

3 Ways to listen/share

• Talking
• Active listening with no interrupting
• Writing
• Digital (e.g. formal emails)

Communication confidence

• Social situations
• Presenting yourself to others
• Persuading and negotiating

You have been communicating since you were born. Babies cry to get their parents’ attention, and as we grow we develop more sophisticated ways of letting people know what we want, as well as listening to others.

Most of us know how to communicate, but not everyone is good at communication in work and beyond. However, you can grow your communication skills over time.

To be a good communicator you need to get across your ideas and opinions well, but also listen to others and take their ideas into consideration. Effective communication means that everyone is on the same page.

Build communication skills

Communication Skills For Students

4 important communication skills to work on as a school, college or uni student are:

• Reading
• Writing
• Expressing yourself well
• Listening carefully

Building communication skills in school will help you:

• Understand and take in what’s been said and taught
• Present your work in a clear way to teachers, from homework to reports
• Make presentations and speeches with more confidence
• Ask questions that help you improve your understanding
• Share your ideas or thoughts in a way that makes people want to listen to them.

Can You Name 10 Communication Skills?

Communication Skills For Work

In work, communication skills are important for getting the best results at meetings.

Good communication skills help everyone at the meeting feel informed, because they know what needs to be done and why. Communication skills can also make people in the meeting feel good about taking on responsibility to help a project.

Building communication skills at work will help you:

• Do presentations and reports with increased confidence
• Have a great phone manner for customer service AND job interviews
• Send professional emails with no typos
• Get on with your manager and co-workers
• Listen carefully to what you need to do, so you understand what’s needed
• Share your ideas in a way that employers and co-workers love
• Network to find new opportunities.

Good communication is important in the world of work. It helps you network, get along with people, understand what you’re meant to do, and helps you share your own great ideas and suggestions. It can help you move forward and shine.

Volunteer to give a presentation

Public speaking might seem daunting but it is a great way to develop confidence. Look at TED talks for good examples.

Write a blog

Writing articles or blogs is a great way to develop written communication skills.

Watch and learn from the body language of others

You can often tell if people get on or not by watching their body language.

Contribute ideas to a team project

It might seem hard to speak up but if you have a good idea to share then speaking up can help the project and help you build confidence, too.

Do practice job interviews at home

If you have a job interview coming up, practice with someone you know first so you can think about questions being asked and how you come across.

Practice online meetings

The pandemic made online meetings an everyday thing in student life and the world of work. Those are really important communication skills you’ve been picking up!

Creating a good CV

Your CV is a communication tool, so it’s important to show your written communication skills at their best.

Your CV personal statement is a few lines expressing your personal strengths and achievements. It’s a great chance to communicate to your employer why YOU are PERFECT for the opportunity – in a way that is short and sweet!

Writing emails

When writing emails or talking to people, ensure you use appropriate language and tone.

Communication is a life skill. You can grow it over time.

There are so many different methods of communicating, and also many ways you can strengthen your communication skills.

Job interviews

Body language says a lot about you. To be a great communicator you need to be aware of how you come across even when you’re not speaking, not just in job interviews but in day-to-day life and work situations.

When you’re at a job interview or writing a covering letter you have already shown a prospective employer your communication skills. Make sure you are prepared and take some time to think about what exactly you want to communicate about yourself. If you’ve practised answering common interview questions, you should be well on your way to showing off great communication skills!

In a job interview you may also be asked about specific types of communication. For example, if you’re going for a role where you will deal with customers you will probably be asked if you’ve dealt with customers in the past, or dealt with difficult people in general, and how you handled it. It’s good to have a think before the interview about some examples where you’ve communicated well in different settings and with different types of people.

Try This Exercise!

See if you can think about the questions below. It’s useful to you to come up with actual examples. It’s especially useful to come up with examples from your own life and work experience.

• What are the main types of communication? Name three.
• How could you develop your communication skills? Give an example.
• How can you demonstrate good communication skills? Give an example.
• Apply the STARRS method to a past situation where communication was important. What did you do well? How could you do better next time?

Your Next Steps

From writing great emails to delivering fantastic presentations, take the time to practise, especially in the areas you’re less confident in.

Try asking a friend, teacher, or family member how well they think you communicate in different ways like writing, speaking, body language, etc. and if they have any pointers to help you improve.

Remember, some of the best communicators weren’t naturally great at communicating but they took the time to learn and build their skills. You can do that too.

Preparing For Your Future

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