What are communication skills?

You’ve probably heard that communication skills are invaluable to your professional and personal life. But what exactly are they? And how do you improve them?

We’ll run through everything you need to know, including:

• Communication skills definition
• Why is communication important?
• Types of communication skills
  • Verbal
  • Non-verbal
  • Written
  • Visual
  • Listening
• Top communication skills that employers look for
• How to improve your skills
• How to describe these skills on your CV

So, what are communication skills?

Communication skills are the ability to share ideas and information effectively. Communication can be verbal, non-verbal, written or visual. To be a good communicator, you need to be a good listener too.

Good communication is a top employability skill.

Communication is crucial when working with others, whatever your role. You can’t work well as a team if you can’t understand each other. Being able to articulate yourself also makes it easier to form professional connections, which will help you in your career.

Common communication issues come from not listening, being indirect when sharing information, avoiding hard conversations or not communicating. Poor communication skills stop you from producing your best work. And that’s one of the reasons why good communication skills are so important to employers.

Developing your communication and listening skills is a great way to improve your chances of success in job applications and interviews and the role itself. While communication is important across all job levels, it’s an even more important skill for leaders. So, if you want to climb to the top, you need to get communicating.

There are five different types of communication skills:

• Verbal
• Non-verbal
• Written
• Visual
• Listening

All are important.

We’ve broken down what you need to know to perfect each element.

Verbal communication is anything that’s spoken, such as delivering a presentation or having a conversation with a colleague.

To communicate well verbally, you need to be to the point and believe in what you’re saying.

Confidence means you talk about your ideas with clarity.

Having confidence is especially important when it comes to public speaking, but it’ll benefit you in everyday settings too.

The best way to improve your confidence when speaking is through preparation and practice. Recite your presentation in front of a mirror or talk to people at social events.

Non-verbal communication is the expression of information and thoughts without using spoken language. It includes posture, facial expressions and eye contact.

Your body language tells people how engaged you are and how well you’re listening. If you look interested, it’ll increase trust and speed up relationship building. We’ve all been there when you’re talking to someone and they’re busy scrolling on their phone. Even if they’re listening to you, it doesn’t feel that way. By understanding how your non-verbal cues look to others, you’ll be able to adjust them so that you come across the way you want.

Standing or sitting with good posture shows confidence.

Crossing your arms makes you appear standoffish. So, keeping your arms by your sides tells people you’re open to communication.

If you slouch down in your chair, it looks like you’re losing interest in what somebody is saying. Sitting or standing upright shows people you’re listening to them.

If you’re struggling, look into posture correction supports or exercises.

Facial expressions are a great way to display being engaged or interested in a topic or task. Your facial expressions show attentiveness and let you respond to what’s being said without interrupting. Think of it like nodding or shaking your head but in a more subtle way.

Don’t worry if your face says it all or you’re less expressive. We’re all different. Consciously starting with a smile before speaking though will project confidence. Smiling also puts other people at ease.

Eye contact improves understanding between people when having a discussion.

When presenting, look at different members of the audience. Making eye contact maintains engagement and makes the listeners feel personally involved. You want everyone in your audience to feel like they’re having a one-on-one chat with you.

Remember, eye contact doesn’t mean staring eye-to-eye. At standard conversation distances, the other person won’t be able to tell if you're looking at their eye, nose or forehead. When addressing an audience, looking in their general direction is enough. There’s a reason why so many people think their favourite pop star looked at them on stage!

If making eye contact makes you uncomfortable, a top tip is to hold it for as long as it takes to see the person’s eye colour. Using this as a basis for timing will let you relax with your natural glance, rather than stare.

Written communication is the way you convey messages through writing.

Strong written communication skills are highly desirable in most corporate environments.

Written communication is essential for complex information (or when it’s simpler but there’s lots of it). Readers need to re-read communication like this.

Strong communication through writing must have clarity, a good tone of voice and correct grammar.

You need clarity to give the right message to the reader.

To achieve this, you need to:

• Know who you’re addressing
• Write in a style that suits your audience
• Define unfamiliar words
• Give the reader clear signposts (ie. if it’s a long read, tell them what they’ll find inside)
• Make sure the piece is easy to follow

Making use of bullet points is also a good idea. See what we did there!

Tone is the writer’s attitude towards the reader, ie. informal, formal, factual, humorous, optimistic, concerned, assertive or respectful.

The tone of voice depends on who you’re directing your writing towards and what your aim is. So, if you’re writing to your boss to communicate an issue, you’ll want to come across as serious. But if you’re arranging a surprise leaving party, you’ll be carefree.

Grammar is a language’s rules while syntax is the arrangement of words. Understanding both is essential for effective written communication.

Getting your grammar or syntax wrong has the potential to change the meaning and tone of your sentences.

While you’ll have written lots at uni, there’s always room to improve your grammar skills. And anyone can make a typo! Run your work through a spell check to pick up any mistakes.

Visual communication is when you use visual elements to present ideas and emotions. It involves images, graphs, charts, diagrams, slide shows and other visual elements.

In some roles, visual communication will be less important. But it’s still worth knowing about. And with creative roles, it’s a critical skill to have.

Think of how adverts come in different forms: print, TV and billboards. All those ads look different even if they’re promoting the same thing.

You also need to adapt. So, the photos you post on your LinkedIn should send a different message to those you’d put on other socials.

If you’re creating visual work, you need to think about its format as much as the audience.

When presenting or designing forms of communication, it’s important to have pleasing aesthetics. People are more likely to take notice of imagery, words or graphics that are visually appealing.

If you’ve got a portfolio, make sure it’s nice to look at. Recruiters will sense a general vibe as soon as they open a file.

If you’re presenting, people are looking at you. So, you’re part of the visuals.

Space is extremely important when engaging an audience. Standing in and moving around your space keeps your listeners responsive to what you’re saying. How much you move around will depend on what you’re trying to communicate.

Listening is a key part of communication.

Effective communication is only possible with good listening skills.

Good listening ensures you understand messages as intended.

Active listening is when you hear the words being said and understand what they mean.

For effective active listening, you must be fully focused on the person speaking. One of the best ways to show active listening is to engage with what’s being said. Give feedback by asking questions and adding your comments while avoiding interrupting.

When you’re listening to someone, pay attention to the words they’re saying and their body language. Give them your full attention and display your engagement through your nonverbal cues.

Giving the correct response when listening to someone defines how successful the communication was. Responding with follow-up questions shows you’ve heard what they’ve said and want to know more.

Good communicators are in demand. To employers, communication is as important as essential traits like time management or hard skills.

While all elements of communication are important, employers often look for specific skills including:

Verbal communication is the main way employees communicate with each other, clients and customers. It’s therefore a key skill.

With good verbal communication, you’ll express information and opinions effectively. This skill is especially valued when it comes to discussing contested topics. So, if your job will involve debating or arguing your case, verbal communication is even more important.

Whether it’s pinging a quick update to your manager or producing a report, you’ll need written communication in lots of different aspects of your job role.

Like other skills, you’ll use it with people inside and outside your organisation. So, adapt your tone depending on who you’re communicating with.

Having presentation skills requires confidence and strong verbal and written communication.

Being able to deliver a clear and concise speech is a highly valued skill by employers. If you’re not confident with presentations, it’s time to get practising.

Interpreting and using non-verbal communication will help you excel in the working environment.

Show that you’ve got these skills by sitting upright and making eye contact with your interviewer. Let them know you’re engaged and enthusiastic from the get-go.

Once you’re in the role, having non-verbal communication skills will make it easier for you to form relationships with your new colleagues.

Active listening increases trust and the feeling of being valued in workplace relationships. Honesty and trust increase the strength of working relationships whether they’re internal or external to the organisation you work at.

Plus, being an active listener reduces your likelihood of making errors due to misunderstandings. No wonder employers value active listening!

There are many ways to improve your communication skills.

Here are some examples:

The first step in getting better at anything is to work out what you need to improve.

Ask those around you for honest feedback. Speak to your university tutors or colleagues and ask them for their thoughts on your communication strengths and weaknesses. Be prepared to hear some things you don’t like, but it’s the only way you’ll get better.

Plan what you’re trying to say before speaking. Sometimes, you’ll realise that what you were going to say isn’t valuable. Other times, you’ll choose to rephrase what you’d like to say so that your message is clearer.

Note-taking is a great way to make your listening more active.

Plus, notes are valuable because they’re always there if you need to refer to them. By reading over your notes, you’ll check that you understood what was spoken about.

Before you share information or thoughts, think about what type of communication you’ll use.

For example, information about an upcoming event is likely best delivered through a message or email. Feedback on a piece of work is probably communicated best in person or on a video call.

One way to improve your communication skills is by watching others and learning from them.

When working in a team, look at who’s communicating effectively.

Think about what aspects of their communication work well and how you’d use them.

The skill of speaking to a whole group is extremely valuable. A lot of people find public speaking daunting, but it gets easier with practice.

Watch other people’s presentations online and use them as inspiration when doing your own.

When you interact with others with a positive attitude, it encourages a positive response. Employers like an enthusiastic, go-getter attitude. Smiling and using positive language increases the strength of working relationships too.

Always make sure that your writing is clear before you share it.

You’re probably regularly writing assignments at uni. Even if writing isn’t a part of your grad role, continue practising once you graduate. Check over your written work regularly and improve it where possible. Look out for the common mistakes spell check picks up on, and make a mental note to avoid them next time.

Top tip: re-read the email you’re replying to before you press send. Re-reading previous messages will prevent you from asking a question that’s already been answered or missing key bits of information.

Sometimes, to communicate effectively, you need to overcommunicate. By doing this, you’ll make sure you don’t miss any details and only share the correct information.

So, you’ve nailed your communication skills. But how do you make employers notice them?

You’ll be able to show most skills during an interview, but the first step is impressing those hiring with your application. A CV will show your written communication, but it needs to tell employers you’re a good overall communicator too.

When writing a CV, the best way to describe your communication skills is by mentioning the times you’ve used them. So, call out your successful presentations or the fact you’re in your uni’s debating society.

Communication skills are the most sought-after skills by employers, so improving them will benefit your career at any stage.

Certain skills will be more important in specific roles, but a strong set of communication skills will set you up well for any role in any industry.