Communication is a core skill involving a wide range of “sub-skills” essential for the workplace and for the hiring process that will get you there.
Here are the top 5 communication sub-skills that are most in-demand in 2021:
#1. Written And Oral Communication
Verbal communication is using words to convey information and it includes both written and oral communication.
Oral communication skills mean that you can speak clearly, concisely, and without misinterpretation. That’s essential even if your job isn’t centered around speaking. Say, you’re the server at a restaurant. Having oral communication skills is a must if you want to establish rapport with your customers and provide a good service.
Written communication is just as important. While there may be a few jobs that don’t require writing a single word, in 90% of cases you’ll need to write when:
- Writing emails to your colleagues
- Drafting a report for your boss
- Communicating with customers via email
If you’re skilled at a particular kind of writing, such as copywriting, or editing, make sure to mention that on your resume or your job interview.
#2. Presentation
No, having “presentation skills” doesn't just mean you’re good at presenting a PPT presentation in front of your colleagues.
Presentation skills are also about how you present your ideas and intentions in the workplace, or about how you present yourself in a job interview. As such, it’s another must-have communication skill for your resume, whatever your field of work might be.
Presentation skills are useful for all sorts of situations, including:
- Software engineers explaining how their code works.
- Statistician presenting their findings to other employees
- Sales manager explaining to a client why they need a product
#3. Active Listening
Active listening requires paying close attention to the speaker by engaging with them to ensure you’re getting the essence of the conversation. It additionally involves removing all other distractions and asking clarifying questions, thus making them feel heard.
Active listening doesn’t come in handy only in jobs like customer service, or design, where understanding and making clients feel heard is integral. Active listening is also needed if you are to successfully interact with your colleagues, succeed in the workplace, or even ace your job interview.
If you ask us, active listening skills give you extra points as a candidate no matter your profession (and you should definitely add it to your resume).
#4. Nonverbal Communication
Communication consists of much more than just speaking. It involves body language, posture, gestures, eye contact patterns, and facial expressions, among others.
This type of communication often helps more in inciting trust among your coworkers, or from clients, than verbal communication. At the same time, it makes it possible for you to see beyond what a person is saying and right into what they mean, or feel.
As you can imagine, nonverbal communication is a skill that comes in handy for the vast majority of professions (especially sales or leadership roles), not just the world of business.
Instead of adding it to your resume, aim to demonstrate your nonverbal communication skills during your job interviews. This includes maintaining eye contact, avoiding hand gestures, or controlling your facial emotions.
#5. Feedback
Feedback - both providing and accepting it - is a skill that goes hand in hand with several other communication components such as active listening, respect, open-mindedness, and teamwork. Truly encouraging feedback isn’t possible without really understanding what the speaker means, respecting their opinion, and keeping an open mind.
So, for example, if you were receiving feedback from a supervisor, you’d listen and accept the evaluation without judgment - even if you didn’t agree. You wouldn’t interrupt them, but you’d wait until the end to ask clarifying questions to make the process as constructive as possible.
On the other hand, if you were the one giving feedback to a colleague, you’d do so through a fact-based evaluation and you’d offer them time to respond. You’d additionally consider their needs and offer negative feedback discreetly.
Being able to give/take feedback is pretty much a guarantee for career success. That’s because it’s tied with the willingness to learn, the ability to adapt, the openness to accept constructive criticism, and the critical reasoning that it takes to provide it.
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