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The Top 10 Communication Skills 1. Emotional Intelligence Emotional Intelligence Is The Ability To Understand and Manage Your Emotions So As To

The document discusses the top 10 communication skills: emotional intelligence, cohesion and clarity, friendliness, confidence, empathy, respect, listening, open-mindedness, tone of voice, and asking good questions. It provides details on each skill and emphasizes the importance of communication skills in various jobs such as teaching, financial services, marketing, and human resources. Good communication involves understanding emotions, conveying messages clearly, setting the right tone, listening actively, respecting others, and asking open-ended questions. Strong communication abilities are essential for most occupations.

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148 views

The Top 10 Communication Skills 1. Emotional Intelligence Emotional Intelligence Is The Ability To Understand and Manage Your Emotions So As To

The document discusses the top 10 communication skills: emotional intelligence, cohesion and clarity, friendliness, confidence, empathy, respect, listening, open-mindedness, tone of voice, and asking good questions. It provides details on each skill and emphasizes the importance of communication skills in various jobs such as teaching, financial services, marketing, and human resources. Good communication involves understanding emotions, conveying messages clearly, setting the right tone, listening actively, respecting others, and asking open-ended questions. Strong communication abilities are essential for most occupations.

Uploaded by

tayyaba
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Top 10 Communication Skills

1. Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage your emotions so as to


communicate effectively, avoid stress, overcome challenges and empathize with others.
It’s a skill which is learned over time rather than obtained.
There are four main strands to emotional intelligence:

 Self-awareness
 Self-management
 Social awareness
 Relationship management

Each of these strands is important in its own way and allows you to communicate confidently
with a variety of people.
2. Cohesion and Clarity

Good communication is much more than saying the right thing; it is about communicating
messages clearly and concisely.
Before you start a conversation, type an email or begin a discussion, have in mind what the
purpose of the communication is and what information you hope to obtain as a result.
Lack of clarity and cohesion can result in poor decisions and confusion.
3. Friendliness

In any type of communication, make sure that you set the right tone. A friendly tone will
encourage others to communicate with you.
Always try to personalize messages, particularly when working with partners or fellow
colleagues.
Wishing the recipient, a good weekend, for example, is a great way to personalize your message.
4. Confidence

In all interactions, confidence (but not over-confidence) is crucial.


Demonstrating confidence will give customers faith in your abilities to deliver what they need,
and that you will follow through with what you have promised.
Conveying confidence can be something as simple as maintaining eye contact during a
conversation or using a firm but friendly tone when speaking with people over the phone.
Be careful not to come across as aggressive, since this will have the opposite effect of what you
are hoping to achieve.
5. Empathy

Within a busy work environment, everyone will have their own ideas about how things should be
done. Even if you have disagreements with your colleagues or partners, their point of view
should be considered and respected.
Empathy is also beneficial when speaking with customers in certain types of customer-facing
role.
The goal here is to understand where the other person is coming from – and respecting their
views, even if they are very different from your own.
6. Respect

Empathy leads into the next communication skill, respect.


If you respect the ideas and opinions of others, they will be more likely to communicate with
you.
Active listening or simply using the name of the person you are speaking to can both be
effective.
Make sure that when you type emails, you don’t write in a way that is insincere.
7. Listening

Good communication is all about listening effectively.


Take the time to listen to what the other person is saying and practice active listening.
Pay attention to what the other person is saying, ask questions and clarify points, and rephrase
what they have said so that you know you have understood correctly.
8. Open-Mindedness

Try to enter into communications without having an agenda.


Strong communications require an open mind and a commitment to understanding other people’s
points of view.
If you disagree with the people you are speaking to, try to reach a middle ground that benefits all
parties.
Approaching a discussion with an open mind is more likely to result in a successful outcome.
9. Tone of Voice

The tone of your voice can set the whole mood of the conversation. If you start the discussion in
an aggressive or unhelpful manner, the recipient will be more inclined to respond in a similar
way.
The tone of your voice will include the level of emotion that you use, the volume you use and the
level of communication you choose.
The same sentence can have a very different meaning depending on which words are emphasized
and the tone of your voice.
In a customer complaint scenario, for example, your tone of voice should be as calm as possible,
since an unfriendly tone of voice will only serve to worsen the situation.
10. Asking Good Questions

Good questions can help conversations flow and improve the outcome.
During a conversation, always aim to ask open-ended questions. These are questions with
prompts which encourage the recipient to speak about certain points and they require more
detailed responses.
If you need further information still, you can use probing questions which request even more
information from the recipient, such as "Tell me the process of…”
During the conversation, include a mixture of questions including clarification, ‘what if’
scenarios and open-ended questions to make sure that you achieve what you set out to do at the
beginning of the call or conversation.
It is likely that you will need to show evidence of your own communication skills during
a competency-based interview.
Questions you may be asked include:

 "Give an example of how you dealt with a difficult or sensitive situation that required
extensive communication."
 "Give me an example of how you dealt with a difficult customer at work."
 "Tell me about a time when you had to explain an issue or process to a colleague (or
colleagues) at work."
 "Tell me about a time when you taught someone else something."
 "How do you explain things to other people?"

Which Jobs Require Communication Skills?

Almost every occupation requires strong communication skills in one way or another.
The job that you are applying for will determine which communication skills you will need and
the extent to which these will be used.
Here are some example careers and what communication skills are most sought after for each:
 Teaching. A teacher will need a range of communication skills, including clarity, active
listening and empathy, to name a few. They will need to use their listening skills to
understand the difficulties that students are having, along with excellent writing skills to
be able to prepare reports and plans for their lessons.
 Financial Services. While written communication skills are essential when drafting
documents or reports, finance folk also need to be good at listening, so as to co-operate
with partners, stakeholders and employees. A financial accountant will require the ability
to ask good questions when they are preparing accounts or conducting company audits,
so they can build a full picture of the business in question.
 Marketing. Within a marketing role, good communication is essential. Not only will
marketers have to communicate with business owners to find out about their clients, they
will also need to ask questions, enter into negotiations with confidence and secure new
business, all of which require a unique combination of good communication skills.
 Human Resources. Human resource staff will need to ask the right questions,
communicate with clarity and draft documents such as contracts and policies. They will
often have to act with discretion and take people into their confidence.

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