Clearly and effectively exchange information, ideas, facts, and perspectives with persons inside and outside of an organization.
Ways to Develop Communication
- Take classes in interpersonal communication, public speaking, intercultural communication, world languages & cultures, and writing studies.
- Practice and seek feedback. You are developing your communication skills the more you give presentations, complete formal writing assignments/tasks, and interact with others in formal and informal settings. Seek out feedback from others of what you are doing well and areas for improvement.
- Look at the learning outcomes on your syllabi or talk to your faculty about how you’re developing this skill in your classes and with which assignments.
- Use on-campus resources such as the Academic Writing & Learning Center to help you improve your writing for class assignments.
- Small steps to improve communication skills: participate in class discussions, proofread your emails for typos before sending, introduce yourself to someone new, and listen fully before you respond while in conversations with others.
- More tips for improving your communication skills
Ways to Demonstrate Communication on Your Resume
- Include different ways you communicate (i.e. phone, email, in-person, presentations, small/large group discussion, note taker, social media posts, lab reports, research paper, etc.).
- Communication skills can be demonstrated through: work experience, student club involvement, volunteer experience, music/theatre/art experience, and class projects.
- Embed communication into the descriptions of your experiences with statements such as: “Communicated with customers to…” or “Presented research findings…”
- Use action verbs in your descriptions such as presented, reported, published, wrote, listened, and communicated. More action verb options.
- Resume Resources
Sample Interview Questions to Demonstrate Communication Skills
- Tell me about yourself.
- What methods do you use to build rapport with others? Give an example.
- How have you used your communication skills in your previous work, volunteer, or class experiences?
- How would you go about simplifying a complex issue in order to explain it to a client or colleague?
- Give an example of a successful presentation you gave and why you think it went well.
- What steps did you take to resolve a situation where there was a communication breakdown between you and a work colleague or project team member?
- Interview Resources