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11 Best Communication Skills for Your Resume (With Examples)

11 min read · Updated on February 13, 2024

Are you properly conveying communication skills in your resume?

When it comes to employment skills, few are more important than the ability to effectively communicate with others. No matter your profession, chances are that you'll need some level of communication skill to interact with co-workers, managers, subordinates, and customers. As a result, employers who are evaluating potential hires always want to see evidence of communication skills in a resume.

But which communication skills should you include in your resume to make the best possible impression on employers?

In this post, we'll explain why you need to highlight these skills in your resume, examine 11 of the top communication skills, and offer tips to help you demonstrate those abilities. We'll also provide examples that show you how to include this critical information.

Why should you include communication skills in your resume?

While your hard skills - specific, measurable, job-related abilities - typically form the core of any job description's required qualifications, soft skills cannot be overlooked in your resume. In fact, those interpersonal abilities can play a significant role in any hiring decision that involves two otherwise equally competent candidates. If you're competing for a job against someone with equivalent technical capabilities and experience, that difference in soft skills may determine who gets hired.

When you include communication skills in your resume, you're letting an employer know that you have interpersonal abilities that can make you a valuable member of their team. That's an important consideration for any employer, of course. Companies want new hires who can do more than just fulfill their duties; they want team players who fit well within their organization.

Related post : The Essential Steps of Your Communication Process

Types of communication skills

It's important to understand what we mean when we talk about communication skills. For our purposes, we can categorize these skills into three distinct types:

Verbal skills . These communication skills include everything from conveying information or persuading others to public speaking and dealing with customer complaints.

Written skills . Many jobs require the ability to write in a concise and informative manner. These skills can include everything from informal emails to professional briefs, client presentations, and detailed reports for superiors.

Interpersonal skills . The third type of communication skill involves all those abilities that you use to interact with others. They can include things like empathy, active listening, and conflict resolution.

  What are the top 11 communication skills employers want to see?

Below are 11 of the top communication skills for resumes. As you might expect, there are many others that you might want to consider as well. However, these 11 skills are among the most sought-after that employers are looking for in job candidates.

1.     Active listening

Active listening is a prized communication skill. This ability goes well beyond simply hearing what others say, and instead involves the ability to actively understand their message. People with these skills can connect with others, build trust, and participate in collaborative problem-solving efforts.

Active listening includes a host of other skills, including the ability to ask probing questions, provide nonverbal and verbal cues that show that you're paying attention, and paraphrase what you're hearing to confirm your understanding of the message.

Related post : What are the Types of Listening Skills? 8 Types Explained

2.     Empathy

Empathy is a vital interpersonal trait and one of the most important leadership communication skills. People with empathy tend to be more curious and open-minded, have a keener sense of self-awareness, and are less likely to be hostage to their own natural biases and preconceptions. They value other people's perspectives and are willing to entertain ideas that challenge their beliefs.

3.     Conflict management and resolution

Conflict is an inevitable feature of human interaction - including in the workplace. If you have excellent conflict resolution skills, it's important to highlight them in your resume. Employers will be interested in knowing that you're capable of resolving interpersonal conflict in your work setting, since that can have a direct and positive impact on productivity and workplace harmony.

4.     Presentation skills

There are many jobs that require the ability to make presentations to superiors, customers, shareholders, or even coworkers. Good presentation skills enable you to compellingly convey information to others, persuade them to consider your point of view, or simply keep your target audience apprised of relevant developments.

5.     Writing skills

Effective writing skills are important in virtually every industry and a wide variety of roles. Obviously, many jobs will require simple writing tasks like composing emails, but there are a whole host of other writing abilities that employers may be looking for. These can include everything from legal briefs or technical writing to advertising copy, marketing presentations, contract creation, and more. Depending on the job you're seeking, including these important communication skills in your resume could be vital.

6.     Team building

The ability to build and work with teams is another important leadership communication skill for your resume. Whether you're interested in a managerial or executive role, this skill set is something that you'll need to succeed in that leadership position. Effective team builders know how to work with others to solve problems, are skilled in delegating work to competent subordinates, and know how to help team members reach their full potential.

Related post : 20 Key Leadership Competencies for Success (Plus Tips!)

7.     Motivation

Employers also appreciate candidates who possess useful motivational skills. While the ability to set goals, maintain a positive attitude, and rally others to achieve a shared objective is essential for leadership, it can also be an invaluable skill for anyone who works in a collaborative setting. By including these communication skills in your resume, you can ensure that employers recognize your ability to inspire others and drive productivity in the workplace.

Related post : 6 Qualities of Managers Who Practice Inspiring Leadership

8.     Openness to feedback

Hiring managers also want to see that you're capable of receiving feedback, whether it's constructive criticism or praise. These skills reflect a commitment to teamwork and continual improvement, both of which are highly prized by today's employers. It's a bonus if you're also adept at providing feedback to others. That desire to develop as an employee and help others to reach their full potential can make you an attractive candidate for many jobs.

9.     Honesty

You might not think of honesty as a communication skill, but it is. Whether you're an entry-level worker or a manager, it's important for others to know that they can trust your words. Of course, honesty encompasses more than just being truthful. It also includes character traits like trustworthiness, responsibility, accountability, and reliability. Honest people are seen as authentic and confident, traits that all good leaders possess.

10.  Emotional intelligence

As the workplace has grown more complex in recent years, hiring managers have placed greater emphasis on employees' emotional intelligence. That's a fancy term that simply describes your ability to manage your own emotions, understand your own interactions with others, and use that knowledge and insight to control stress, relate to others, communicate in a clear and effective way, and manage conflict.

People with high emotional intelligence often excel at interpersonal relations in the workplace and tend to be competent leaders. Their ability to recognize their own emotions and the feelings of others around them can help them to make more informed decisions. Including examples of your use of emotional intelligence can help to highlight those critical interpersonal communication skills in your resume.

11.  Negotiating

Negotiation skills are also highly prized in most industries, so make sure that you highlight these abilities in your resume too. Successful negotiators are adept at problem-solving, persuasive communication, and conflict resolution - skills that are useful in nearly every industry. Include an achievement in your professional experience section that highlights your negotiation skills, demonstrating how those abilities provided measurable value to a previous employer. 

Tips you can use to highlight these skills in your resume

Of course, being familiar with these different communication skills is just the first step. You also need to know how to highlight them in your resume. The following tips can help you with that process.

Match your skills to keywords in the job posting

Always make sure that you review the job posting to identify specific communication-related skills that are listed as job requirements. Wherever possible, use those exact terms in your resume as you describe various communication skills that you've used in previous jobs. That will help to ensure that your resume is found by an applicant tracking system when an employer conducts a search.

Focus on measurable achievements

Don't just say that you have certain communication skills. Show that you have them by including them as achievements in your resume summary or professional experience section. Make sure that you describe how you used those skills to produce measurable value for your employer. Use real numbers to help the reader understand the type of value you can provide as a potential hire.

Always be brief and to the point

Brevity is important, since hiring managers often sift through dozens or even hundreds of resumes. Make sure that you highlight communication skills and other abilities as concisely as possible to optimize space in your resume. Remember also that your writing skills will be on full display as you create the resume, so you probably won't need to spend much time boasting about them.

Communication skills: resume examples you can use

As we noted, there are several ways that you can highlight communication skills in your resume. You can include mention of them in your resume summary, list several within your core competencies section, and highlight examples of their use in your professional experience section. Below are some examples to show you how this is done.

Communication skills in your resume summary

Detail-oriented Office Manager with 10 years of experience managing office operations and interdepartmental communications. Managed 21-person team responsible for accounts totaling $123 million a year. Researched, drafted, and implemented interoffice communication changes that reduced waste by 22%, expedited internal processing and increased departmental revenue by 19% in the first year.

Communication skills in your skills section

Including these communication skills in your core competencies, or skills, section is a simple matter. Pick the skills that most closely align with the job requirements, and list them in bullet point form alongside other key soft skills and your technical proficiencies. For example:

Copywriting

Email management

Media communications

Presentations

Team building

Training management

Office management

Organization

Time management

Decision-making

Communication skills in your work experience section

When it comes to including your communication skills in a work experience section, you again need to focus on notable achievements. Use real numbers that demonstrate value and create several bullet point accomplishment examples for each job listing in this section. You only need to include a couple of examples of how you used your communication skills, of course, since you'll likely also want to highlight other core job-related skills too. Here are some examples that show how to do this:

Reorganized office information flow to speed up client onboarding and account management, resulting in growth of 12% in client acquisition and an increase of 40% in retention

Created an innovative training program for new office transfers, focused on new skills and employee growth. Program resulted in 60% drop in employee attrition, contributing to a 13% increase in revenues in the first quarter of implementation

Negotiated resolution to client conflict that saved a $2 million project contract and led to a 30% expansion in business with the customer over the next two years

Related post : 47 Accomplishment Examples for Your Resume: Expert Picks

Achieve job search success by including communication skills in your resume

Much of your resume will be devoted to highlighting your job-related skills and experiences, but that's no reason to neglect these important soft skills. Conveying effective communication skills in your resume can be a terrific way to demonstrate that you're the best candidate for any job, and may be just what you need to differentiate yourself from your competition!

Are you still not sure if you've properly included your communication skills in your resume? Get a free resume review from our team of experts today!

Recommended reading:

Soft Skills Explained - and the Top 7 for Your Resume

What Are Skills? (With Examples and Tips on How to Improve Them)

These 14 Leadership Traits Can Fuel Your Career Success

Related Articles:

Do Hiring Managers Actually Read Cover Letters?

How to Create a Resume With No Education

Why You Lose When You Lie on Your Resume: Learning From Mina Chang

See how your resume stacks up.

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50 Inspiring Examples for 7 Communication Skills for a Resume

By Status.net Editorial Team on November 22, 2023 — 6 minutes to read

When crafting your resume, highlighting your strong communication skills is essential. Here are some top skills to consider and examples of how to showcase them on your resume.

• Active Listening: Demonstrate your ability to be receptive and engage in the conversation. For example: Successfully facilitated team meetings by actively listening to colleagues and providing constructive feedback.
• Verbal Communication: Showcase your ability to express ideas clearly and effectively. For example: Presented quarterly reports to the executive board, effectively communicating the sales team’s achievements.
• Written Communication: Emphasize your capacity to create clear, concise written documents. An example may be: Developed and maintained monthly newsletter for the marketing department, reaching over 500 employees.
• Empathy: Understanding others helps foster strong professional relationships. For example: Addressed customer concerns with compassion, resulting in significant improvements in client satisfaction.
• Teamwork and Collaboration: Focus on moments where you contributed to successful team projects. For instance: Collaborated with cross-functional teams to develop and execute a new product launch, achieving a 30% increase in sales.
• Adaptability: Showcase your flexibility and ability to handle change effectively. Here’s an example: Adapted communication style to accommodate remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring a seamless transition for the team.
• Conflict Resolution: Resolving conflicts efficiently benefits everyone. For example: Mediated disagreements between team members, helping to create a more collaborative and harmonious work environment.

Verbal Communication Skills

Public speaking.

Mastering public speaking can be a game changer for your resume. Employers appreciate candidates who can confidently present information to groups. To showcase your public speaking skills, mention specific experiences where you have delivered presentations or speeches. For example:

• Delivered a presentation on sustainable business practices to a team of 30 colleagues
• Facilitated a workshop on effective communication for new employees

Foreign Language Proficiency

Being proficient in one or more foreign languages can set you apart from other candidates. It indicates your ability to communicate with a diverse range of people, which is valuable in a globalized workplace. To highlight your language skills, list the languages you’re proficient in along with your level of fluency. For instance:

• Fluent in Spanish and French
• Intermediate proficiency in Mandarin and German

Related: How to Include Language Skills on Your Resume (Examples)

Active Listening

Active listening is an essential verbal communication skill that demonstrates your ability to understand and engage with others effectively. Employers value employees who can listen attentively and respond thoughtfully in discussions. To emphasize your active listening skills, provide examples of situations where you’ve made a difference through attentive listening. Examples might include:

• Resolved a customer complaint by actively listening to their concerns and implementing a solution
• Improved team dynamics by being attentive during meetings and encouraging open communication among team members

Written Communication Skills

Professional writing.

In the professional world, written communication is a must-have skill. Your resume should showcase your ability to articulate thoughts and ideas with clarity and precision in different formats (reports, emails, proposals, etc.). To highlight this skill on your resume, use phrases like:

• Developed and edited company newsletters, enhancing employee engagement
• Created detailed project proposals, securing client approval and project funding
• Drafted and revised technical documentation, ensuring user-friendly clarity and accuracy

Business Correspondence

Effective business correspondence involves crafting clear and concise emails, memos, and letters tailored to various audiences. Showcasing this skill on your resume can demonstrate your expertise in professional etiquette and the ability to adapt your writing style to different scenarios. Here are some examples:

• Collaborated with international teams, sending clear and concise email correspondence to prevent miscommunications
• Generated persuasive sales emails that contributed to a 15% increase in client conversion rates
• Wrote concise and informative weekly memos to upper management, providing updates on project progress

Interpersonal Communication Skills

Conflict resolution.

When listing your conflict resolution skills on your resume, be specific about the techniques you employ:

• Skilled in using active listening to pinpoint underlying issues and complaints.
• Experienced in mediating disagreements between colleagues to find a mutual agreement.
• Proficient in providing constructive feedback and reinforcing positive communication behaviors.

Collaborative Teamwork

Highlight your ability to work effectively with others by showcasing the following abilities:

• Proven track record of successful group projects and team initiatives.
• Ability to adapt communication style based on team dynamics and members’ strengths.
• Skilled in brainstorming, group problem-solving, and co-creating ideas with diverse team members.

Showcase your ability to understand and relate to others’ feelings and emotions by including these skills in your resume:

• Empathetic and compassionate attitude to foster a positive work environment.
• Demonstrated ability to provide emotional support and encouragement to team members in stressful situations.

Digital Communication Skills

Social media.

Nowadays, social media plays an important role in promoting a company’s brand and engaging with customers. Highlight your experience in leveraging social media platforms to advocate brand values and enhance customer relationships. Include these skills in your resume with statements like:

• Managed corporate social media accounts to establish a consistent brand voice and engage with customers.
• Successfully increased follower count and engagement on various platforms by creating relevant content.

Online Meeting Management

Effectively managing online meetings is a skill that demonstrates your ability to keep participants engaged and ensure productive outcomes. Emphasize your ability to plan, host, and facilitate virtual meetings using platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Here are some examples of how to put those skills on your resume:

• Experienced in scheduling and hosting virtual meetings, ensuring timely starts and focused discussions.
• Skilled in facilitating online meetings with participants from diverse backgrounds, fostering collaboration and decision-making.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some strong examples of communication skills to include on a resume.

Consider showcasing a range of communication skills, such as active listening, clear writing, public speaking, and negotiation. For example:

• Active listening: “Consistently praised for effectively capturing project requirements through attentive listening in client meetings.”
• Clear writing: “Developed company-wide email guidelines to ensure clarity and professionalism in written communication.”
• Public speaking: “Delivered engaging and informative presentations at industry conferences, demonstrating strong public speaking skills.”
• Negotiation: “Successfully negotiated contracts with suppliers, resulting in a 12% reduction in supply chain costs.”

How can I effectively showcase teamwork and collaboration abilities on my resume?

To emphasize your teamwork and collaboration skills, think about the projects you’ve participated in and your role in those projects. Examples:

• Successfully worked on cross-functional teams to complete projects on time and under budget.
• Collaborated with colleagues to innovate and implement improvements, increasing department efficiency by 15%.
• Facilitated open and constructive conversations within a diverse team environment, fostering trust and accountability.

What are some tips for highlighting written communication skills in a resume?

When showcasing written communication skills, focus on the outcomes your writing has achieved. For example:

• Crafted client proposals that consistently resulted in increased contract value and successful project launches.
• Edited and proofread internal communications, ensuring consistent tone and style across departments.
• Authored monthly newsletter with a growing subscriber base, receiving positive feedback for engaging and informative content.

Which techniques can demonstrate strong verbal communication abilities on a resume?

To illustrate your verbal communication skills, highlight situations where your speaking abilities played a critical role. Examples:

• Delivered persuasive sales pitches, resulting in a 20% increase in closed deals.
• Articulated complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders, facilitating successful project rollouts.
• Mediated conflicts between team members, fostering a positive work environment and promoting effective problem-solving.

How can one emphasize active listening skills when creating a professional resume?

To showcase your active listening skills, emphasize your ability to understand and respond to others’ ideas and concerns. Think about instances where your attentive listening has positively impacted projects. For example:

• Acted as a key liaison between departments, ensuring clear communication and understanding of project goals and tasks.
• Routinely sought input and feedback from team members, incorporating ideas into project plans and processes.
• Demonstrated a diplomatic approach in meetings and discussions, fostering open communication and maintaining team harmony.

What are some strategies to showcase problem-solving and leadership skills on a resume?

To highlight problem-solving and leadership skills, focus on examples where your actions led to positive outcomes. You might include:

• Successfully led a team through a challenging project turnaround, implementing targeted solutions to deliver on-time and within budget.
• Mentored junior employees, providing guidance and support that contributed to their successful progression within the company.
• Identified inefficiencies in work processes and implemented process improvements, resulting in a 25% increase in productivity.
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45+ Best Communication Skills for Your Resume (Examples)

Discover the best communication skills for your resume. From verbal to written communication, learn how to list and describe them to make a lasting impression.

When adding communication skills to your resume, focus on tailoring them to the job ad and using specific terms from the job description. Highlight achievements showcasing your communication strengths, whether it's leading a project, resolving conflicts, or using digital tools like Slack and Zoom. This not only aligns you with what employers are seeking, but also boosts your chances with applicant tracking systems. Always back up your skills with examples to show you can deliver results and work well with others.

Soft skills often get a bad rap for being less important. But they hold serious value — these skills are innate and not always teachable. Yet, simply stating “communication skills” in your resume is too vague to show off your strengths to a recruiter.

Solid communication is key to building relationships, expressing needs, and sharing information — it’s everywhere, including the workplace. The trick is to show your communication skills in a way that highlights what you can achieve and the potential you bring to the company. 

And you can do this through your resume. This article will tell you: 

• All the top communication skills to include. 
• How to list your communication skills on a resume.
• The best ways to improve your abilities for future job opportunities. 

What Are Communication Skills and Why They Matter on a Resume?

Communication skills are how you share ideas, listen, and respond to others, whether verbal, non-verbal, visual, or written. We use these skills every day, so I’ll spare you the full textbook definition — it’s basically how you get your point across and understand others. 

Here’s how the main types of communication can translate into a resume: 

• Verbal communication. We all learn to talk early on, but clear and confident communication is a skill that takes practice. On your resume, you can highlight cases where you led a meeting, conducted a presentation, or explained complex ideas to a colleague.
• Non-verbal communication. This includes body language, eye contact, and facial expressions. Ever noticed how a smile can make someone more approachable? That’s non-verbal communication in action. Demonstrate this on your resume by mentioning roles where you engaged with clients face-to-face, showing approachability and confidence.
• Written communication. Writing emails, reports, or even messages in a chat all fall under written communication. If you’ve ever written a LinkedIn post, a persuasive email, or a detailed report, highlight these experiences on your resume. Show your impact with examples of increased engagement or positive feedback. 
• Visual communication. Using visuals like graphs, charts, or slides to communicate is a great way to get your message across. On your resume, you can mention creating PowerPoint presentations or designing infographics to convey complex ideas or data. 

Many communication skills are considered soft skills because they are personal traits that largely come from everyday experience—think active listening or body language. But many others are hard skills because they require specific knowledge and, usually, on-the-job training—for instance, negotiation techniques or even presentation skills.

With that said, all communication skills are precisely that: skills, not talents . And skills you can learn and improve. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a natural-born communicator, you can take steps to get better at both “hard” and “soft” types of communication skills.

Why do communication skills matter to employers?

Employers want candidates who can clearly express themselves and work well with others — would you really want a Dwight in your office? Good communication can prevent misunderstandings and frustration, making the workplace more productive. 

Communication skills are also crucial across many areas of professional life. You can apply them in business meetings, team projects, customer interactions, or those “networking” sessions in the office kitchen. Showing recruiters you’ve mastered the art of communication is showing them your versatility. 

Here’s a round-up of the top communication skills to include  on your resume: 

Top Communication Skills Examples 

Once your resume grabs the recruiter’s attention, be prepared to discuss all those impressive skills during the interview. Make sure you genuinely understand each skill you’ve listed and how it relates to your experience.

Here’s a rundown of the top communication skills and how they play out in the workplace:

Verbal communication

Verbal communication skills are basically about how good you are with the words and sounds that come out of your or other people’s mouths — about how well you articulate your thoughts and how well you understand what others say. These skills include expressing your ideas, dealing with customers, or persuading your boss to upgrade the office coffee machine. 

Strong verbal communication tells employers you can articulate information, suggestions, and feedback. For roles involving customer interactions or leadership, having solid speaking skills shows you can convey messages clearly and lead with confidence. But remember, verbal communication (like any other form of communication) is a two-way street. Active listening is just as important as speaking clearly.

Most of us can hold a conversation, so be specific on your resume. 

Here are some examples of how to list verbal communication on a resume: 

• Interpersonal communication
• Listening skills 
• Outbound calling 
• Body language
• Foreign languages
• Presenting skills 

Written communication

Written communication skills are about how well you convey information through messages, emails, reports, and notes. You don’t need to be a literary genius, but you should be clear and concise to avoid misunderstandings. 

One key thing to note: even if your job title doesn’t immediately bring “writing” to mind, strong writing skills can still be an asset on your resume.

When you write well, you can inform and persuade through your words, whether drafting reports, creating social media posts, or sending emails. And with so many of us working remotely, knowing how to communicate professionally (without overusing emojis or exclamation marks) is always a plus.

Check out these valuable writing skills for your resume: 

• Sending emails 
• Proposal and report writing 
• Spelling and grammar
• Editing skills
• Paraphrasing 
• Translation 

Giving and accepting feedback 

Giving and accepting feedback helps improve performance and productivity by showing employees and managers what’s working and what needs to change. 

Employers want to know you can handle constructive criticism without feeling like you’re under attack. Including this skill on your resume highlights that you’re committed to growth and can push others to do the same, making you a strong collaborator and proactive learner. 

Here’s how to frame those skills on a resume to show you’re dedicated to your development: 

• Constructive feedback
• Active listening
• Accountability
• Willingness to learn 
• Open-mindedness 

Team-building and collaboration

Team-building and collaboration involve working well with others to solve problems and achieve common goals. Effective team builders can delegate tasks, communicate clearly, and help team members grow. 

Teamwork makes the dream work, so being able to share ideas and listen to others tells employers you can work harmoniously in a group. Highlighting team-building and collaboration on your resume also shows you can motivate and support your team toward success. 

Here are some more skills to show you work well in a team: 

• Team communication
• Delegation 
• Goal setting 
• Adaptability
• Taking ownership 
• Inclusivity 

Leadership skills 

Leadership skills involve firing up your team, setting goals, training employees, and running operations. A successful leader can push their team to their full potential while making them feel valued and appreciated. 

Trust is key, and people work better for managers they believe in — so your ability to build rapport and guide teams in a positive working environment is a must. Nobody feels inspired by a micromanaging boss breathing down their neck, right?

Here are some phrases that will make your leadership abilities shine on a resume: 

• Management abilities 
• Employee training 
• Motivational feedback
• Planning and organization 
• Interviewing skills 
• Customer relationship management

Digital communication

Digital communication skills are essential in today’s remote and hybrid work environments. Knowing your way around Zoom, Slack, Asana and Microsoft Teams ensures easy collaboration and interaction.

Nobody wants to be the person who accidentally sends a private message to the entire team. Including this skill on your resume shows your ability to keep up with the times, especially handy for remote workers, or in areas like customer support or social media. 

Consider listing these skills on your resume to show your technical communication prowess: 

• Online meeting etiquette
• Remote collaboration
• Professional branding 
• Customer support 
• Digital messaging 
• Social media networking 

Conflict resolution 

Conflict resolution skills help navigate and settle any disputes to maintain a positive workplace. Whether you’re negotiating tough deals, dealing with customer complaints, or deciding on the office AC temperature, you can apply these skills to a range of situations. 

But it’s not just about settling disputes. Adding conflict resolution to your resume tells employers you value workplace harmony, which can boost productivity. It shows you have solid listening skills and that you consider others’ perspectives and respond thoughtfully. 

Check out these examples of how to frame conflict resolution on a resume: 

• Mediation skills 
• Trust building 
• Employee relations 
• Problem-solving 
• Emotional intelligence 
• Impartiality

Negotiating skills 

Negotiating skills are about reaching mutually beneficial agreements through formal contracts or verbal agreements. Skilled negotiators adapt their communication styles to fit the listener’s requests and avoid misunderstandings.

Pulling off a successful negotiation requires problem-solving, persuasive communication, and reading the room — all abilities that will make you an impressive candidate for future employers. 

Negotiation skills aren’t limited to the bargaining table, though. 

Take a look at some more specific ways to describe them on a resume: 

• Strategic thinking 
• Persuasive speaking 
• Assertive attitude
• Rapport-building 
• Contract negotiation 
• Business negotiation

How to Find the Best Communication Skills to Put on a Resume?

Googling “communication skills” and copy-pasting the first result won’t cut it. Recruiters have seen “listening skills” way too many times.

To make an impression, you need to be smart with your word choice, understand what the employer is looking for, and show exactly how your skills make a difference.

Check the job description

Tweaking your resume to match the job description might seem like extra effort — but it’s an easy way to get inspiration on what skills and experience the employer wants from you. 

Will you be working with a global team? Mention how your remote collaboration skills have helped you build connections. Are they looking for someone with growth potential? Outline your experiences in accepting and acting on feedback.

Using similar terms from the job description shows recruiters you’re the right fit for the role and boosts your chances with applicant tracking systems (ATS) when scanning resumes for keywords. 

Check out this job ad for a product manager position: 

This company’s looking for someone who can communicate in group discussions, so mention times you led projects or regularly contributed to meetings to show you’re a team player. They also emphasized data visualization, so include your knack for explaining complex ideas to non-technical clients. 

You don’t need to quote the job ad word for word — just outline your relevant experiences, and your skills will speak for themselves.

Research skills relevant to your industry

Every industry has its own communication style — whether it’s interviewing in recruitment, content creation in marketing, or interacting with customers in sales. Some working environments require online collaboration, while others have you mingling with your colleagues. 

Recruiters look for candidates who understand the core skills of your chosen industry and can show proficiency in those areas. Doing your homework on industry-specific communication tells employers you have the skills to address the unique challenges and needs of that field. 

Consider your achievements

If your skills list is still looking pretty thin, think about your accomplishments and how you’ve applied your skills in real-world scenarios. 

Look at your past achievements and identify the communication skills that played a key role. Have you successfully led a team project? Emphasize your abilities in team communication, delegation, and even conflict resolution. 

If you’re short on work experience, think about your days in education. Did you navigate a year of online learning during the pandemic? Perfect — you can list skills like remote collaboration, online messaging, and a great deal of patience on your resume.

Still stuck on inspiration? Check out our AI Skill Explorer to dig deeper into any key skills you may have missed.

How to Put Communication Skills on a Resume?

You’ve pinpointed your skills, but you can’t just list them on your resume and call it a day. Recruiters only spend a few seconds on each resume, so your skills must stand out and prove you’re a top-notch candidate. 

Let’s dig into where you should include your skills and how to use them to show off your accomplishments. 

Tailor to the job description

Job postings spell out exactly what they want — so use that to your advantage. 

Start by digging into the job ad and highlighting any specific communication skills listed as requirements. But avoid copying and pasting generic terms like “client support.” These phrases are bland and don’t tell the recruiter what you bring to the table. 

Focus on real wins — if they need someone to handle customer interactions, highlight your successes in customer service. You can also use action verbs, such as “presented” and “collaborated” to make your resume more dynamic and easier to scan by ATS systems.

You don’t need to overhaul your resume completely for each application. Just tweak your word choice and skill selection to match what each employer is looking for, and show how your skills translate into success.

Mention top skills in the resume summary

Your resume summary is your elevator pitch and how you’re going to grab a recruiter’s attention right off the bat. Make it concise, relevant, and interesting by focusing on the communication skills that make you a standout candidate. 

Include the communication skills that are most relevant to the position. If the job requires strong verbal skills, emphasize your expertise in delivering engaging presentations or negotiating with stakeholders. Always aim to link these communication skills to your achievements to show the impact of your abilities. 

Here’s an example of an eye-catching summary with a focus on communication skills: 

Customer service specialist with a knack for effective verbal communication and problem-solving. Skilled in handling customer inquiries, resolving complaints, and presenting product features. Recognized for maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction and maintaining positive client relationships.

Showcase skills via your work experience

Listing skills in bullet points is neat for summarizing, but it’s just that — a summary. Recruiters need to see how you put those skills into action and how they benefit the company. Saying you’re great with phone calls doesn’t mean much if you prefer leaving long voice notes (guilty as charged)!

When describing your work experience , pick specific examples that show how you’ve used your communication skills. Think about times when your communication skills were pivotal and delivered real results. 

Did you lead a successful project meeting? Or negotiate a deal that brought in significant revenue? These are gold for showcasing your abilities. And you can add more weight to your accomplishments by using real numbers to back up your claims. 

Here’s how to show your skills in your work experience section with measurable outcomes:

Administrative Assistant | ABC Company March 2019 — Present • Managed office communications, including emails, phone calls, and scheduling meetings, ensuring smooth day-to-day operations. • Coordinated travel arrangements and itineraries for executives, managing detailed records and expense reports. • Developed and maintained filing systems, boosting data retrieval efficiency by 30%. • Assisted in preparing presentations and translating complex data into clear, concise information for team meetings. • Acted as a liaison between departments, encouraging effective communication and collaboration across the organization. • Organized company events and meetings, ensuring all logistics were handled seamlessly and attendees were well-informed.

Through these experiences, the jobseeker is demonstrating key skills, like conveying complex information, teamwork, and leadership abilities. It's not about cramming “communication” into every sentence, but strategically emphasizing how strong communication skills helped you deliver results. 

Summarize with a list of skills

Once you’ve woven your abilities into your work experience, you can summarize them in your skills section. Including a bulleted list lets recruiters and ATS scanners quickly identify your strengths. 

Here’s an example of how to outline your skills: 

• Presenting data. Excellent at presenting complex information and ideas in meetings and client interactions. • Team Collaboration. Effective in working with cross-functional teams to achieve common goals. • Data Visualization. Adept at explaining data insights to non-technical stakeholders. • Analytical Skills. History of identifying issues and implementing practical solutions. • Project Management. Expertise in planning, executing, and overseeing projects to ensure successful completion. • Technical Knowledge. Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and project management software, like Asana and Trello.

But remember, recruiters will only glance over this section — they might even use it to determine if the rest of your resume is worth investigating. So make sure you tailor your skills to match keywords in the job description. 

While it’s handy to cover the basics, avoid using too many generic terms. Instead, opt for specific skills and tools, such as “Project Management,” “Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software,” or “Digital Marketing Campaigns.”

Spotlight skills using the right format

Many assume that a functional or combination format is the answer to drawing attention to your skills. However, using a functional or combination resume is a risky departure from the standard, recruiter-approved reverse-chronological resume format, which places your work experience front and center. 

Here’s a rundown of the main resume formats: 

• Reverse-chronological format . This widely used format highlights your work history, starting with your most recent position and working backward. Recruiters favor this layout because it clearly showcases your career progression and makes it easy to find key information. I highly recommend this structure to boost your chances of getting noticed. 
• Functional (skills-based) format . The functional format places your skills front and center, but can often lead recruiters to make the wrong assumptions and wonder what you have to hide. This outdated format also doesn’t perform well with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), so I wouldn’t recommend going down this route. 
• Hybrid (combination) format. Combining these two formats can be effective if you want to highlight your extensive skills upfront with extensive work experience. This format is a good choice if you have plenty of work experience, numerous accomplishments, or a diverse set of technical skills. 

My go-to choice would be the reverse chronological format or the hybrid structure, where you place your skills up top with specific examples or achievements that show how you’ve used these skills in real situations. 

Here’s an example from a combination resume: 

Customer Service:

• Resolved an average of 30 customer inquiries per day, with a 95% satisfaction rate. • Implemented a new customer feedback system that improved response times by 50%. • Improved retention rates by over 25% by designing and implementing customized cancellation surveys. • Trained and onboarded 22 Junior Customer Service Representatives.

Organizing your skills like this shows employers exactly what expertise you bring to the table. But you can demonstrate your skills just as effectively using a reverse chronological format — you just need to make sure that your descriptions of past jobs reflect whatever skills you listed in the skills section.

Focus on positive outcomes

You’ve got the gist by now — whenever you mention your skills or experiences, highlight the positive outcomes. So, you wrote social media posts for your company; did they boost engagement? Did your powers of persuasion close any deals?

Focusing on positive outcomes means you’re not just listing responsibilities — you’re showing employers the real impact of your communication skills and your ability to deliver results. Talk about how your clear communication helped finish a project ahead of schedule, or how your presentation skills secured a new client.

Use numbers and metrics whenever you can. Instead of saying you improved customer satisfaction, say you increased it by 20% through adaptable communication strategies.

If you’ve received awards or recognition tied to your communication skills, flaunt them. Mention specific achievements like winning a speech competition or receiving praise for a successful presentation.

Be clear and concise

You can’t claim to be a master communicator if your resume isn’t clear. Your grammar skills, writing style, and ability to tell your story will be under scrutiny — you don’t want to miss an opportunity because of a few typos. 

When crafting your resume, go through it with a fine-tooth comb and remove any unnecessary details or wordy phrases to keep it to the point. Remember, recruiters take less than ten seconds to scan your resume — you want them to focus on the good stuff. 

Space on your resume is precious real estate, so make every word count. Highlight your communication skills and other abilities concisely. Use bullet points to list achievements and skills — it’s easier to read and quickly grabs the recruiter’s attention. 

Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills

You’re probably itching to send out your resume and land that job, not spend more time tweaking your skills. But trust me, sharpening your communication skills is worth it. These skills are versatile and can open up all kinds of doors in any industry you choose. Plus, those improved skills will eventually shine on your resume.

Improving your communication skills is easy. It just takes a bit of self-reflection, a fresh perspective, and a genuine desire to get better. Simple steps that can lead to big results down the road.

Master active listening

The tech boom has made our attention spans shorter — how many times have you glanced at your phone mid-conversation? Start by putting away your phone, closing your laptop, and giving the person your full attention.

Resist the urge to jump in with questions or solutions prematurely. We’ve all been guilty of planning our response before the other person finishes — and people notice. Let them complete their thoughts to show you’re genuinely listening and understanding their message.

Once they’ve wrapped up, take a moment to summarize what you’ve heard. You might say, “So, what I’m hearing is…” This shows you’re paying attention while clarifying any potential misunderstandings.

Show interest and ask questions 

Small talk easily makes it on the list of things I prefer to avoid. You’re not exactly showcasing your communication skills if your go-to topic is the weather. 

Try asking open-ended questions in discussions that get people talking more. Skip the yes or no non-starters and go for open-ended questions like, “How did you tackle that problem?” or “What do you think about this plan?” It shows you’re genuinely curious about their perspective and opens the conversation.

Don't be afraid to dig deeper into topics that interest you or where you need more clarity. Asking follow-up questions shows you’re really processing what’s being said and want to learn more, leading to more engaging chats and stronger connections.

Go out of your comfort zone

Fun fact: Back in my early 20s, I moved to a foreign country by myself — no job, no friends, and no grasp of the language. Did it make me a more confident and self-assured person? Absolutely. 

There’s a reason people tell you to venture out of your comfort zone — and honestly, it’s never as scary as you imagine. 

Challenge yourself with new communication tasks regularly. It could mean stepping up to lead a meeting, speaking up in group discussions, or presenting ideas to a larger audience. Each challenge (whether big or small) adds to your confidence and broadens your skills, making future interactions less daunting.

And you don’t have to dive in headfirst. Let’s say you have a presentation coming up — take some time to outline your points, anticipate questions, and consider how best to get your message across. Practice and preparation are key to making you feel more at ease.

Build relationships

Good communication starts with getting along with the people around you. Take time to connect with your coworkers on a personal level. Ask about their weekend plans or what they do for fun outside of work. 

Approach conversations with a friendly and positive attitude. No one wants to talk to someone who looks like they just had a sour glass of milk. Smile, make eye contact, and use a polite tone to create a welcoming atmosphere where communication flows naturally.

As you build deeper relationships, your confidence will grow, giving you more room to improve your communication skills. Who knows? It might even lead to a promotion or an interesting networking opportunity.

Change your mindset 

Changing your perspective is easier said than done, right? When I first entered the professional world, I wasn’t great at taking feedback. I’d get frustrated and defensive whenever someone pointed out areas for improvement.

But then I realized, how does getting defensive serve me? It doesn't help me learn or grow; it only holds me back. So, I decided to shift my mindset. I started seeing feedback not as criticism, but as valuable insights to help me get better.

Surprise, surprise — once I started embracing feedback and thinking about how I could use it to improve, things got a lot smoother. Those negative feelings I used to have? They faded away.

Feedback is your golden opportunity to learn and grow. When someone gives you feedback, they are ultimately trying to help, so listen with an open mind. Everyone’s got their perspective, so take the time to understand where they’re coming from. And don’t be afraid to challenge your own beliefs — sometimes, our mindset can hold us back without us even realizing it. 

Learn from the experts

We all know someone who can stroll into any room and strike up a conversation with ease. Pay attention to how they talk — their tone, facial expressions, and body language. What makes their communication so smooth and engaging? Reflect on this and apply those techniques to your conversations and presentations.

If your job relies heavily on customer service or client interaction, you can even check out platforms like Coursera and Udemy, which offer a range of courses on communication skills. 

Here are some top recommendations: 

• Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills (edX)
• Finding Your Professional Voice: Confidence & Impact (Coursera)
• The Complete Communication Skills Master Class for Life (Udemy)
• Winning Communication Skills for Telephone & Conference Calls (Udemy)
• Effective Communication: Writing, Design, and Presentation Specialization (Coursera)

Look for courses that align with your interests and career goals. Whether it’s nailing public speaking or polishing your writing chops, structured courses can dish out some great tips and techniques.

But I'd only recommend shelling out for a course if your job hinges on strong communication skills. If not, there are tons of freebies out there, like TED Talks and documentaries on communication styles and tricks. Take notes on how top-notch speakers grip their audience, organize their messages, and use language to get their point across.

Here’s a recap of all the tips and tricks you need to know when adding communication skills to your resume: 

• Don’t just say “excellent communication skills.” Instead, mention specific skills like “negotiation,” or “public speaking,” to add clarity and show recruiters what you can offer the company.
• Match your communication skills to those listed in the job description. If they value teamwork, emphasize specific collaborative skills or your experiences working on successful team projects. 
• Start bullet points with action verbs like “presented,” “collaborated,” “mediated,” or “negotiated” to show practical application and boost your chances with ATS scanners. 
• Include numbers to quantify your positive impact. For example, “increased customer satisfaction by 20% through effective communication strategies.”
• Mention specific situations where your communication skills made a difference, such as closing a deal or delivering a key presentation to clients.
• Focus on positive outcomes of your communication efforts, like “secured a new client” or “resolved conflicts efficiently,” to demonstrate results and achievements. 
• If you have many communication skills under your belt, consider a dedicated skills section to list them clearly — just avoid generic statements. 
• Be clear and concise in your descriptions to keep your resume easy to read and impactful, ensuring it grabs the recruiter's attention. 

How do you describe communication skills on a resume?

First, include your most important skills in the skills section. But don’t stop there. Describe your communication skills by outlining your experiences and any positive outcomes. For example, “Negotiated contracts with vendors, resulting in a 15% cost reduction.” By focusing on your accomplishments, you’re telling the recruiter how your skills have a tangible impact.

What is considered an extensive communication skill?

Extensive communication skills cover a broad spectrum of abilities, including verbal (public speaking, storytelling), written (emails, reports), listening (active listening, empathy), and non-verbal communication (body language, eye contact). Mastery in multiple areas, such as conflict resolution, persuasive communication, and digital communication tools, also falls under this category.

How to say you have good communication skills on a resume?

Simply saying you have “good communication skills” is generic and doesn’t tell recruiters what you can bring to the table. Instead, use specific skills to showcase your achievements. For example, “Authored and edited newsletters that increased readership by 40%.”

What is another word for communication?

“Interaction” or “dialogue” can serve as alternatives for communication. Depending on the context, terms like “correspondence” (for written communication) or “engagement” (for interactive communication) could also be appropriate.

Other synonyms for communication skills include “people skills”, “social intelligence”, and “interpersonal skills”. 

What is a good sentence for communication skills?

A good sentence demonstrating your communication skills should focus on specific abilities and how they contributed towards your accomplishments. You could say, “articulated complex ideas clearly, boosting team productivity through improved understanding and collaboration.

Lauren Bedford

Lauren Bedford is a seasoned writer with a track record of helping thousands of readers find practical solutions over the past five years. She's tackled a range of topics, always striving to simplify complex jargon. At Rezi, Lauren aims to craft genuine and actionable content that guides readers in creating standout resumes to land their dream jobs.

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• Career Blog

30 Effective Communication Skills to Include in a Resume

As job seekers, we often hear the phrase “communication skills” mentioned in job postings, interviews, and networking events. It’s not surprising considering that effective communication is an essential aspect of any job, regardless of the industry.

In today’s competitive job market, candidates must showcase their communication skills on their resumes to stand out from the crowd. Effective communication skills on a resume can demonstrate your ability to articulate ideas, build relationships, solve problems, and contribute to team success.

This article will cover 30 effective communication skills to include in a resume, providing job seekers with valuable insights on how to highlight their communication proficiency. Read on to discover the best ways to showcase your communication skills and get noticed by employers.

Verbal Communication Skills

Exceptional communication skills are essential for success in any profession. Verbal communication skills, in particular, enable us to express our thoughts, ideas, and emotions effectively. In this section, we will discuss five essential verbal communication skills that you should highlight in your resume.

1. Public Speaking

Public speaking is a skill that can intimidate many people, but it’s one that’s necessary in many professional settings, from pitching ideas to presenting reports. The ability to deliver confident and articulate presentations can set you apart from your peers. If you have experience delivering presentations and addressing large groups, make sure to showcase this skill on your resume.

2. Active Listening

Active listening is the ability to listen intently to someone, to understand their message and respond appropriately. This skill requires focus, patience, and empathy. In today’s fast-paced business environment, people are often in a rush to give their opinion and overlook the importance of listening. Highlighting active listening on your resume can demonstrate that you are a team player who values collaboration.

3. Negotiation

Negotiation is critical in many professions such as sales, marketing, and law. The skill to persuade others to a common ground and achieve desired outcomes can be the difference between you and your competitors. The ability to negotiate could also be useful in day-to-day work situations like getting deadlines extended or managing client expectations.

4. Persuasion

Persuasion is the ability to influence others’ decisions or opinions by presenting logical arguments with supporting evidence. This skill is especially useful in sales, marketing, and advertising. Having persuasive skills can help you close more deals, generate leads, and create compelling marketing campaigns.

5. Confidence

Confidence is a vital component of effective verbal communication. It helps you articulate your message with clarity, conviction, and authority. Confidence helps establish trust with clients and colleagues, giving them the assurance that you know what you are talking about. High confidence levels also help when meeting new people or networking.

Verbal communication skills are a critical component of any successful career. Emphasizing these five skills on your resume can help you differentiate yourself positively from other candidates. Make sure you highlight your experiences and achievements in these areas and include any relevant metrics where possible.

Written Communication Skills

When it comes to job applications, written communication skills are crucial. Hiring managers want to know that potential employees can write clearly and accurately. Here are five key skills to highlight on your resume:

Grammar and spelling

Poor grammar and spelling can make even the most impressive content appear sloppy and unprofessional. Attention to detail is important when it comes to written communication. Be sure to review your work for errors and consider using spell check and grammar check tools.

Organizing ideas

Strong writing is well-organized and easy to follow. Before you start, think about the structure of your content. Consider using headings or subheadings to break up large sections of text. An outline can also be helpful to ensure your ideas flow logically.

Writing concisely

In today’s fast-paced world, attention spans are short. To be an effective communicator, it’s important to get to the point quickly. Cut unnecessary jargon and keep paragraphs short. Consider using bullet points or numbered lists to make key points stand out.

Storytelling

Employers want to see that candidates can write content that engages readers. A great way to do this is through storytelling. Include personal anecdotes or case studies when possible. This makes your content more relatable and memorable.

Adaptability to different styles

Different writing styles may be required depending on the job or project. The ability to adapt your writing style is essential. Be sure to read job descriptions carefully and tailor your resume accordingly. Familiarize yourself with different writing styles and be willing to adapt as needed.

Effective written communication skills are important for anyone looking to secure a job. Highlighting your skills in grammar and spelling, organizing ideas, writing concisely, storytelling, and adaptability to different styles on your resume can set you apart from other candidates. Nonverbal communication skills are just as important as verbal skills when it comes to effective communication. In fact, nonverbal communication can play a significant role in conveying a message, sometimes even more so than the words themselves. Here are the top five nonverbal communication skills that you should include in your resume:

1. Eye contact

Maintaining eye contact with your audience is one of the most important nonverbal communication skills. It indicates that you are confident, engaged, and interested in the conversation. Avoiding eye contact can be interpreted as disinterest, discomfort, or even dishonesty. Be sure to practice making eye contact with others when speaking with them, as this will not only help you communicate more effectively but also make you appear more trustworthy and confident.

2. Body language

Body language refers to the way you hold yourself during conversations. Your posture, movement, and facial expressions can all communicate nonverbally to your audience. Good body language conveys confidence, openness, and trustworthiness. Some examples of effective body language include standing or sitting up straight with your shoulders back, nodding your head to indicate understanding and agreement, and leaning slightly forward to show interest.

3. Tone of voice

The tone of your voice can convey a great deal of information about the message you are trying to communicate. The way you speak can signal whether you are confident or unsure, excited or bored, sincere or insincere. When speaking with others, make sure to vary your tone of voice to reflect the message you are trying to convey. Use tone to communicate enthusiasm, concern, interest, or conviction.

4. Facial expressions

Facial expressions can say a lot about your emotions and your intentions. A smile can signal warmth and friendliness, while a frown can indicate displeasure or discomfort. Raised eyebrows can show surprise or curiosity, while a furrowed brow may signal worry or concern. When communicating with others, be aware of your facial expressions and strive to use them consciously to convey your message.

5. Gestures

Gestures are another important nonverbal communication skill. They can be used to emphasize a point, communicate a feeling, or convey information. For example, pointing can be used to indicate direction or highlight a specific object, while hand gestures can be used to express excitement, agreement, or even frustration. Be careful not to overuse gestures, as excessive or inappropriate gesturing can be distracting and detract from your message.

Nonverbal communication skills are an essential part of effective communication. Be sure to include these skills in your resume, as they are highly valued by employers and can be a critical factor in your success in the workplace. Practice these skills regularly, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a master of nonverbal communication.

Interpersonal Communication Skills

When it comes to building strong relationships with colleagues, clients, and managers, interpersonal communication skills are vital. Below are five skills you should include in your resume, along with tips for improving them.

Empathy is the ability to understand others’ feelings, thoughts, and perspectives. It’s a crucial skill for effective communication because it helps you connect with others on a deeper level. To improve your empathy, try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Listen actively, and ask questions to clarify their perspective.

Conflict resolution

Conflict resolution is the ability to resolve differences and disagreements with others in a productive way. This includes finding common ground and compromising when necessary. To improve your conflict resolution skills, practice active listening, and avoid taking sides. Focus on finding a solution that works for both parties.

Collaboration

Collaboration is the ability to work effectively with a team towards a common goal. This requires good communication skills, as well as the ability to share ideas and listen to other people’s input. To improve your collaboration skills, practice active listening, and ask for feedback from others. Be open to new ideas, and make sure everyone on the team feels heard.

Giving and receiving feedback is an important part of effective communication. It helps you improve your performance, as well as build stronger relationships with others. To improve your feedback skills, make sure you’re clear and specific when giving feedback. When receiving feedback, try to be open-minded and non-defensive. Take the feedback as an opportunity to grow and improve.

Understanding cultural differences

In today’s globalized world, it’s essential to understand and respect cultural differences. This includes differences in communication styles, customs, and values. To improve your cultural understanding, educate yourself on different cultures and customs. Be open-minded and respectful when interacting with people from different backgrounds.

Including these five interpersonal communication skills in your resume can help you stand out as a strong communicator and team player. By practicing empathy, conflict resolution, collaboration, feedback, and cultural awareness, you can build stronger relationships with colleagues and clients, and contribute to a more positive work environment.

Leadership Communication Skills

Effective communication is crucial in any leadership position as it helps leaders to inspire, guide, and motivate their team members towards a common goal. In this section, we will discuss the following leadership communication skills that should be included in a resume:

Motivating team members is one of the primary responsibilities of a leader. An effective leader should be able to communicate with their team members in a way that inspires them to achieve their best performance. This can be achieved by recognizing and rewarding team members’ achievements, offering constructive feedback, and creating a positive work environment that fosters growth and development.

Delegating tasks is an essential aspect of leadership communication. Leaders must be able to effectively communicate their expectations to their team members and delegate tasks according to their strengths and weaknesses. A good leader should be able to trust their team members to handle delegated tasks effectively, while still providing guidance and support when needed.

Inspiration

Inspiring team members is another critical leadership communication skill. A great leader should be able to inspire their team by setting a good example, effectively communicating their vision, and creating a sense of purpose that motivates team members to work towards a common goal.

Visionary communication

A visionary leader must communicate their vision to their team members effectively. This involves creating a compelling message that inspires team members to work together towards a common objective. Visionary communication should highlight the benefits and outcomes of the vision, helping team members to understand how their contributions can help realize the vision.

Decision making

A leader must make informed decisions that benefit the entire team. Decision-making skills are critical in leadership communication as they can help teams to avoid roadblocks and stay on track towards their goals. Effective decision-making involves analyzing relevant data, communicating with team members, and weighing up different perspectives before making an informed decision.

Effective leadership communication skills are essential for any leader looking to succeed in their role. By including these skills in your resume, you can demonstrate your ability to lead, inspire, and motivate teams towards a common goal, making you a valuable asset to any organization.

Technological Communication Skills

Technology has revolutionized the way we communicate, and to succeed in today’s workplace, it’s important to have strong technological communication skills. Here are five technological communication skills that will make you a valuable asset to any team.

Email Etiquette

Email is a vital form of communication in the workplace, and mastering email etiquette is crucial. Clear and concise subject lines, proper grammar and tone, and timely responses all contribute to professional email etiquette. Remember to always proofread your emails and avoid using slang or abbreviations.

Video Conferencing

Video conferencing allows for remote collaboration and is becoming more common in today’s workplace. It’s important to know how to set up a video conference, use the appropriate software, and dress professionally for the camera. Pay attention to body language, maintain eye contact, and avoid distractions during the call.

Social Media Communication

Social media is no longer just a platform for personal use. Many businesses utilize social media to communicate with customers and collaborate with colleagues. Knowing how to effectively communicate on social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter can give you an edge in your career. Remember to always maintain a professional tone and represent your brand well.

Mobile Communication

With the rise of smartphones and mobile devices, mobile communication has become a significant aspect of workplace communication. It’s important to know how to communicate effectively on mobile devices, including text messaging and mobile email. Be mindful of your tone and response time when communicating on the go.

Virtual Communication

Virtual communication, including remote work and teleconferencing, requires strong communication skills. It’s important to be clear and concise in your communication, avoid technical glitches, and maintain professionalism. Good virtual communication skills can improve collaboration and productivity among remote teams.

Mastering technological communication skills is essential to succeeding in today’s workplace. By improving your email etiquette, video conferencing, social media communication, mobile communication, and virtual communication skills, you will stand out as a valuable employee and team member.

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• Resume Tips

Communication Skills on a Resume (Examples + Tips)

13 min read

Communication skills are something that almost every employer is looking for – and for good reason. Most jobs require some level of human interaction with coworkers, supervisors, subordinates, customers, or other stakeholders. Employers need employees with these abilities to ensure that their operations run smoothly and productively. It is thus vital to include communication skills on your resume if you want to ensure that you capture an employer’s attention during any job search.

In this post, we will explain why you need to include communication skills on your resume, examine the top five skills you need to highlight and 10 others that you may want to consider, and provide a communications skills resume template you can use to showcase your abilities.

Why should you include communication skills on your resume?

While hard skills will help show that you have the right qualifications for most jobs, soft skills are just as important for success. And when it comes to soft skills, few are as vital as the ability to communicate in a skillful way. By including communication skills on your resume, you demonstrate to employers that you can not only interact with customers, colleagues, and supervisors but also work as part of a cohesive and effective team.

How to include communication skills on a resume

Of course, you need to know how to include communication skills in a resume if you want to effectively convey these abilities to employers. To do that, you need to illustrate these skills in various sections of the resume rather than simply claim that you possess them. The following tips can help you ensure that your inclusion of these skills is as compelling as possible:

Don’t just list “excellent communication skills” in your skill section and assume that you’re done. You’ll need to include examples of how you used those abilities to solve problems, create value, or otherwise benefit your previous employers.

Make sure that your resume includes all the key qualifications you find in the job posting, using those exact terms. If a skill like team leadership is cited as a qualification, use that term in one of the achievement examples that you include in your resume.

Use real numbers to quantify the results your achievements provided for those prior employers. For example, instead of just writing that you used negotiation skills to close multiple deals for your last employer, show real value by quantifying those results: “Successfully negotiated and closed new client deals valued at more than $27 million.”

Communication skills resume template

If you’re wondering how all this might look in your resume, it may be helpful to see a simple template for including communication skills on your resume. Below, we’ve provided an easy-to-follow template that you can use to organize your own resume.

[Your name, phone number, email, LinkedIn URL]

[Headline, including desired job title]

[Summary statement. This should be 3-5 sentences highlighting your key skills and achievements to demonstrate value. Think of it as an elevator pitch that sells your qualifications to employers.]

[Core competencies section. This section should include both hard and soft skills. You can list any required communication skills here but be prepared to also highlight them in achievements in other sections of the resume.]

[Professional experience. This section should list your previous jobs in reverse order, beginning with your current or most recent position. Include the company name, job title, and employment dates for each position. Below each job, include several bullet point achievements – including those that relied on your communication skills.]

[Education. Your educational section needs to include the schools you attended, the years of attendance, course of study, degrees earned, and any relevant coursework. ]

Communication skills resume example

We’ve also put together a sample resume that highlights communication skills that you can use for inspiration or as a customizable guide for your own resume.

John Johnson

555-555-5555 • [email protected] • https://www.linkedin.com/in/JohnJohnson

Lead Corporate Negotiator with 10 Years of Fortune 500 Experience

Proven corporate negotiator and deal-closer with 10 years of success in closing multimillion-dollar client deals in the finance and manufacturing sectors. Organized, managed, and led a 20-person acquisition and merger team that created more than $500 million in value for our clients. Personally negotiated ABCD Corp. merger with EFG Inc, increasing company value by 23% while saving more than 1300 jobs.

Core competencies

Motivational speaking

Team building

Presentation

Copywriting

Computer proficiency

Data analysis

Media relations

Negotiation

Professional experience

ABCD Corp, 2015-2023

Chief Negotiator, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Division

Led teams responsible for identifying M&A prospects to further company growth plans

Oversaw creation of M&A outreach, negotiation, and closure plans

Negotiated deals worth more than $400 million, with 72% M&A success rate

 Alpha, Inc., 2009-2015

Lead strategist, M&A

Created merger and acquisition strategies that successfully led to more than 35 completed deals in a 6-year period

Developed negotiation presentation plans that were used to achieve a 62% success rate by negotiation teams

Created and managed negotiator training program that boosted overall closure success rate for M&A by 29%

  Education

Bachelor of Communications, GoodSpeak College, 2008

Coursework: Digital Communications, Media Relations, Public Relations, Persuasive Speaking, Negotiation Theory

Different communication skills to highlight on your resume

When you’re evaluating your own communication skills, it’s important to remember that they all fall into two main categories. Those two forms of communication include verbal and nonverbal communication. Let’s consider each to get a better idea of how they can help you in your career.

Verbal communication

Most people are intimately familiar with verbal communication, which involves the use of words to convey ideas and messages. Verbal communication can occur person-to-person, in a phone call, during a video conference, or through text, email, and other forms of writing. This type of communication is an effective way to deliver information, share new concepts, and solve problems.

Nonverbal communication

While verbal communication is important, many experts believe that seventy percent or more of all human communication occurs without words. This nonverbal communication includes subtle things like facial expressions, body language, posture, and the tone of your voice. Even something as simple as maintaining or avoiding eye contact can impart useful information to other people.

Top 5 communication skills employers look for

Before you start listing communication skills in your resume, it can be helpful to ensure that you have a better idea of the type of abilities today’s employers are looking for. In the following sections of this post, we will examine some of those key communication skills, beginning with the top five communication skills that most employers always appreciate.

Emotional intelligence is more important than ever before. As the workplace grows ever more complex, employers need to know that each member of their team is cognizant of their colleagues’ emotions and points of view. This is especially true in environments where collaboration and workplace harmony are essential for success.

It is one thing to be able to communicate an idea. It is often quite another to do with the type of clarity that most people need if they are to fully understand your message. Whether you are giving directions or taking them, it is important to be able to do so in a direct and clear way. For example, if you not only provide instructions but offer an example that effectively illustrates those directions, you’re more likely to be understood by others.

Honesty and integrity in your communications are the most important keys to gaining others’ trust. Every employer wants to build a team made up of people who say what they mean and follow through on their word. Honest employees can be relied upon to be both responsible and accountable for their actions, transparent in their actions, and authentic in all their dealings.

Team building is a powerful skill that demonstrates an ability to communicate with others, collaborate as part of a group, and even motivate colleagues to reach new heights of success. Good team builders are adept at things like delegation, inspirational messaging, and problem-solving. This skill is one that is often associated with managers – but make no mistake: employers appreciate seeing it on the resume of any job candidate.

Active listening

Active listening is a skill prized by many employees because those who possess this ability can do more than just hear messages from others. They are also adept at understanding the true meaning of any message because they actively engage in conversations and know how to use questions and reflective listening to ensure clarity.

10 other communication skills to highlight in a resume

Of course, those five critical skills are just a small subset of the full range of abilities you can cite to demonstrate your communication skills. Below, we’ve compiled a list of 10 other communication-related skills that you can include in your resume to illustrate your ability to articulate information to others.

1.      Presentation

Are you experienced in giving presentations ? If so, then turn that skill into an accomplishment in your work experience section. For example:

Supplied superior customer service training and presentations to external and internal stakeholders, reducing training time and costs by 10% over 2 years.

2.     Negotiation

Negotiation skills will benefit you in many different industries including sales, business development, and law. Showing that you successfully negotiated a deal will display your great communication skills. Here is an example of how that might be conveyed in a resume:

Experienced in delivering high-quality work products in a variety of subject matter areas, building effective case strategies, and negotiating high-value, multimillion-dollar contracts for corporate clients.

3.     Coordinating human resources

It is impossible to manage or coordinate other people’s activities without effective communication skills. If you’ve ever managed people at any level of an organization, you can illustrate this ability in your resume through a well-constructed example of a quantifiable achievement.

Managed a team of 26 customer service employees, decreasing staff turnover by 20% with improved morale, and increasing customer satisfaction and retention by 15%.

4.     Written communication

Written communication is a vital skill for writers, marketers, office staff, and many other workers. While your whole resume serves as a testament to your writing ability, you can give more weight to your writing skills by mentioning how they've helped you succeed professionally. For example:

Created headlines, edited copy, and designed graphics and pages for both print and digital platforms.

5.     Conflict resolution

Whenever humans interact, there is always the potential for interpersonal conflict. If you’re adept at resolving these types of issues, you should demonstrate that by citing examples of your conflict resolution skills in your resume.

Regularly called upon to defuse conflicts within the team to reduce distraction and ensure that our combined attention remained 100% focused on our collective mission objective.

6.     Collaboration

As we mentioned earlier in the post, teamwork is essential in many different types of jobs. If your talents include the ability to collaborate effectively with others, then you should make sure that your resume includes that skill. Pick one or more jobs where you relied on this ability for success and include a bullet point example of how it benefited the company.

In collaboration with my team and other departments, successfully reorganized our sales process to increase lead generation by 22%, improve sales conversions by 18%, and increase profits by 19%.

7.     Persuasion

The ability to persuade others can be a vital communication skill that can help you supercharge your career. It is also one of those skills that most employers will prize, especially if you can demonstrate how your persuasiveness can add value to their bottom line. One way to illustrate that persuasive ability is to highlight instances where you’ve been able to persuade others in ways that benefited your employers. For example:

Led acquisition advance team tasked with persuading target company leaders to consider selling their enterprises. Utilized persuasive techniques to achieve more than 19% success rate on first attempts, 52% success rate on second contact.

8.     Open-mindedness

One of the most important communication skills these days involves the ability to maintain an open mind. Are you someone who values other people’s perspectives and ideas? Do you enjoy brainstorming with others to come up with new and creative solutions to problems? If so, then that open-minded approach to new information and points of view is a strength that you should share on your resume.

Led diverse team in collaborative effort to brainstorm new ideas and solutions for needed technological system changes, resulting in implementation of new systems that improved company logistical efficiency by 33%.

9.     Motivational speaking

Your ability to inspire others by using your voice to motivate them to new heights of success can also be an attractive communication skill for many employers. After all, motivational skills are essential for any management or leadership position. If you’ve ever been in any situation where you needed to motivate your colleagues to achieve a goal, be sure to include that as one of your achievements.

As team leader, incorporated daily stand-up meetings to motivate and focus team members, which helped increase productivity by 28% in just 6 months.

10.  Giving and receiving feedback

Employers also want to know that you’re capable of receiving feedback, and even providing it depending on your role. Are you someone who always wants to hear constructive criticism or even negative feedback? That desire to be accountable so that you can continue to improve is something that employers will be eager to know about you. They’ll also appreciate your ability to offer constructive advice to other members of your team.

This is one of those skills that you may want to highlight in your summary statement if you’re focused on receiving criticism. For example:

Dedicated team leader who seeks out constructive feedback to fuel consistent growth and improvement in performance metrics.

On the other hand, if you’re usually the one providing the feedback, you may want to mention that in one of your work history achievements.

Provided monthly, quarterly, and annual performance reviews for team members, as well as more frequent feedback designed to prevent performance issues before they became serious problems.

Your communication skills on a resume can make all the difference

Knowing which communication skills to put on a resume could help determine the type of impression you make on any prospective employer. That’s why it’s so important to understand which skills employers are looking for and make sure that your skills align with those needs. 

So, take the time to assess your key communication skills and pay careful attention to the qualifications cited in any job posting. If you can ensure that those cited skills align well with the communication skills on your resume, you can increase your chances of landing an interview.

Want to ensure that you have the right communication skills on your resume? Head on over to get your free resume review from our team of experts to learn whether your resume has what it takes to help you achieve your job search goals.

Recommended reading:

The Best 10 Skills to Put on Your Resume

Top 15 Skills Employers Are Hiring For in 2023

Interpersonal Skills Can Give You the Competitive Career Advantage You Need

Ken Chase, Freelance Writer

During Ken's two decades as a freelance writer, he has covered everything from banking and fintech to business management and the entertainment industry. His true passion, however, has always been focused on helping others achieve their career goals with timely job search and interview advice or the occasional resume consultation. When he's not working, Ken can usually be found adventuring with family and friends or playing fetch with his demanding German Shepherd. Read more resume advice from Ken on  ZipJob’s blog .

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The Top 10 Communication Skills To Include On Your Resume

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When writing a resume , most of us assume that employees only care about the hard skills . What software can we use? What processes do we know? What machines can we operate?

Believe it or not, though, 61 percent of employers consider soft skills to be equally important when making hiring decisions. 

Perhaps the most important soft skill is communication. Why? Because without strong interpersonal communication skills , you can’t build relationships. You also can’t resolve conflict or achieve common goals. 

Here’s the 101 on what communication skills are, how to include them on your resume, and which ones employers are looking for the most.

Top 10 best communication skills employers look for

1. active listening.

It’s not enough to simply hear what somebody is saying in the workplace – you need to be able to understand and process it too. Active listening involves taking in the whole message, not just the words, and responding accordingly.

• Listen to and understand what people are saying.
• Give your full attention to the speaker.
• Ask questions to clarify information.
• Summarize or repeat back what has been said.
• Show that you’re engaged in the conversation.

To show that you have active listening skills on your resume, try to include examples of times when you’ve used them in the workplace. This could be anything from leading a team meeting to resolving a conflict with a coworker. 

Employers are more eager than ever to find emotionally competent employees. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person.  

• Being aware of other people’s feelings and perspectives.
• Listening with patience and understanding.
• Responding with sensitivity and compassion.
• Asking questions to clarify someone else’s experience.
• Avoiding making assumptions about others’ feelings.
• Never talking down to someone.

Want to highlight your empathy on your resume? Include examples of giving feedback or supporting a coworker. 

3. Confidence

A good communicator is someone who is confident in themselves and their abilities. This doesn’t mean being cocky or overbearing, but rather having a healthy sense of self-assurance. 

• Standing up for yourself and your beliefs.
• Speaking up in meetings and group discussions.
• Sharing your ideas and opinions openly.
• Being assertive without being aggressive.
• Accepting feedback gracefully.

To demonstrate your confidence on your resume, you might highlight a time when you gave a presentation or took charge of a project. 

4. Friendliness

This might seem overly simple for a resume soft skill, but you’d be surprised how many job applicants come across as cold or unapproachable.

Being friendly is important for building strong workplace relationships. Employers value it. 

• Greeting people warmly when you see them.
• Offering help or assistance when you can.
• Asking questions about others’ interests and hobbies.
• Taking an interest in new coworkers.
• Celebrating birthdays and workplace milestones.

Remember, employers want to see your humanity, not just your higher education or long list of talents. 

5. Clarity and directness

This is another soft skill that’s often overlooked but is very important in the workplace. Clear communication is vital at work. This is especially true for giving or getting instructions. 

• Speaking in a clear, concise manner.
• Using “I” statements.
• Avoiding ambiguity or vagueness in your language.
• Giving specific examples to illustrate your point.
• Asking for clarification if you’re unsure about something.
• Listening carefully to ensure you understand what’s being said.

Clear communication is a key part of any successful workplace, so make sure it’s included on your resume with the rest of your work related skills .

6. Choosing the right communication method

Choosing the appropriate method to convey your message is crucial for effective communication. Different situations require different communication methods to ensure the message is received correctly.

• Assess the situation to determine the best communication method.
• Use formal communication for professional settings.
• Utilize informal communication for casual interactions.
• Switch between email, phone calls, or face-to-face meetings as needed.
• Adapt your communication style to the audience.

To highlight this skill, mention times where you used different communication methods to achieve goals.

7. Sharing feedback

Providing and receiving feedback is an essential communication skill in the workplace. Constructive feedback helps improve performance and fosters a culture of continuous improvement.

• Offer feedback that is specific and actionable.
• Deliver feedback in a positive and constructive manner.
• Accept feedback with an open mind.
• Implement feedback to improve performance.
• Encourage a feedback-rich environment.

Show how you can give and get feedback. Share examples of how feedback helped your work or team.

8. Volume and tone

The volume and tone of your voice can significantly impact how your message is received. Speaking in an appropriate volume and tone ensures clarity and avoids misunderstandings.

• Adjust your volume to suit the setting and audience.
• Use a tone that matches the context of the conversation.
• Avoid speaking too loudly or too softly.
• Modulate your voice to maintain interest and engagement.
• Use tone to convey emotions and emphasis appropriately.

Show how you use volume and tone well. Do this by giving examples of good presentations and tough conversations.

Respect in communication involves valuing others’ viewpoints and maintaining a courteous demeanor. It is essential for building trust and fostering positive relationships in the workplace.

• Listen without interrupting.
• Show appreciation for others’ ideas and contributions.
• Communicate in a way that respects cultural and individual differences.
• Use polite and respectful language.
• Maintain a positive attitude even during disagreements.

Show respect by sharing examples. In them, you navigated diverse opinions and kept professional relationships.

10. Responsiveness

Being responsive in communication means addressing queries and concerns promptly. It shows reliability and a commitment to effective communication.

• Respond to emails and messages in a timely manner.
• Prioritize urgent communication needs.
• Keep others informed about the status of ongoing tasks.
• Follow up on requests and promises.
• Adapt your responsiveness to the expectations of your role and industry.

Show how you are responsive. Include examples. In these, quick communication led to success or fixed problems fast.

Our AI-powered resume score checker helps you write the perfect resume.

What are communication skills?

“Communication skills” is a broad term. It covers a wide range of abilities. They include both verbal and nonverbal communication.

Some of the most common communication skills include: 

• Active listening
• Clear and concise writing
• Public speaking
• Persuasion/negotiation
• Emotional intelligence

As you can see, there’s more to being a good communicator than first meets the eye. Employers want to know that you can share your ideas. They also want to know you can understand and respond to others’ ideas.  

Why you need communication skills

So, why are communication skills so important? Let’s take a look at some of the key reasons: 

• Communication is how we build relationships – Strong skills are essential for maintaining good relationships with co-workers, customers, and clients.
• Communication allows us to resolve conflict – Conflict will happen. Being able to talk with those involved is crucial for finding a resolution that everyone can live with.
• Communication lets teams achieve common goals – To work together, we must be able to communicate well.
• Communication is how we give and receive feedback – Feedback is a crucial part of growth, both professionally and personally. You need strong communication skills. They are required for giving feedback that is clear, short, and helpful. You also need them for receiving feedback gracefully.

Communication skills touch on all aspects of our professional and personal lives. They are key for building good relationships. They help in resolving conflict and working as a team. They also aid in growing and developing. 

Verbal, nonverbal, and written communication skills

Communication skills can be divided into two main categories: verbal and nonverbal communication. Let’s take a closer look at each one. 

Verbal communication skills

Verbal communication skills are those that involve using words to communicate. This could be communicating in the form of face-to-face conversation, over the phone, or even in writing. 

• Speaking clearly and concisely – Employers are looking for candidates who can communicate their ideas in a clear and concise manner.
• Listening actively – Active listening is a key communication skill that involves not only hearing what the other person is saying but also taking the time to understand and process it.
• Giving and receiving feedback – This is an important part of communication, and one that employers will be paying close attention to.

Verbal communication is often what people think of first when they think of communication skills. But remember, there’s a whole other side to the story! 

Nonverbal communication skills

Did you know that more than 70 percent of our communication takes place nonverbally? Some experts even estimate that as much as 93 percent of communication is nonverbal.

Nonverbal communication is any type of communication that doesn’t involve using words. This could be body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, or even the way we dress. 

• Reading body language – Being able to read and understand the nonverbal cues of those around us is a key part of effective communication.
• Using facial expressions – Our facial expressions can communicate a lot about how we’re feeling, even when we don’t say a word.
• Maintaining eye contact – Without eye contact, it can be difficult to build trust and rapport with others.

Written communication skills

Written communication involves expressing ideas clearly and concisely through written words. This can include emails, reports, memos, or any other written document.

• Clear and concise writing – Being able to convey your message in a straightforward manner is crucial.
• Grammar and spelling – Proper grammar and spelling are essential for professional communication.
• Editing and proofreading – Ensuring your written communication is error-free shows attention to detail.

But what specific skills or abilities are employers looking for in an interview? How can you explain your communication skills on your resume?

Who needs communication skills?

Just about everyone! Effective communication is a fundamental skill that transcends industries and job roles.

Skills such as clear and effective communication are vital for numerous professions. A software engineer’s skills should include it, just as much as it’s essential among nursing skills . It’s also a key teacher skill , since they have to be able to explain complex ideas to students. Similarly, financial analyst skills include the ability to clearly interpret and present data. Even a project manager’s skills are incomplete without effective communication.

Developing communication skills for future jobs

If you’re reading the communication skills examples listed above and feeling a little lost, don’t worry. These skills can be learned and developed over time. The key is to start practicing now so that you can be prepared for future opportunities. 

1. Join a Toastmasters club : This organization helps its members improve their public speaking and leadership skills.

2. Take a class : Many community colleges offer adult education classes on topics like effective communication, business writing, and public speaking.

3. Get a mentor : Ask a friend, family member, or trusted coworker to help you improve your communication skills. They can give you feedback and offer suggestions for improvement.

4. Self-Assessment and feedback : Seek feedback from colleagues. Use it to find areas to improve.

5. Practicing active listening : Focus on truly understanding the speaker’s message. You should ask clarifying questions and give feedback that shows you are engaged.

It’s never too late to start developing your people skills. By taking the time to improve these important abilities , you’ll be better prepared for success in your future career.

How to highlight communication skills on your resume

A well-written resume is itself a demonstration of strong communication skills. Making sure that your resume has an effective and professional structure and is free of spelling and grammatical errors. Also, you may want to include positive communication skills in your resume’s skills section. This is especially true if the job post calls for them.

• Be specific. For example, say when you successfully communicated.
• Tailor to the job description. Highlight the mentioned communication skills. For example: presenting, influencing, managing, and writing.
• Use strong action verbs. Words like “orchestrated,” “directed,” and “negotiated” show strong communication.
• Provide quantified results. For example, instead of writing “Responsible for communication,” say that you “led a plan that increased team efficiency by 30%.””
• Utilize bullet points: Make your achievements easy to scan.

It’s one thing to know the importance of adding communication skills on your resume, but it also helps to see it. Below are specific examples of great ways to showcase these communications skills to your resume. Using a Power Edit tool is the best way to make sure you’re adding the right skills in the right places.

• I managed international stakeholders in India, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. I did this by hosting daily standups and coordinating weekly status reports.
• I managed team projects and communications across global time zones. I did it efficiently using Slack and Zoom. This led to a 40% increase in project delivery speed.
• Wrote and produced 100+ client prospecting video emails, leading to 50+ leads and landing major accounts.

Adding these skills to your resume will help you land more interviews. But if you want to take your job search to the next level, try a tool like Jobscan’s resume scanner . It uses the latest AI technology to analyze your resume and provide you with a score .

Communication skills FAQ page

1. Active listening 2. Empathy 3. Confidence 4. Friendliness 5. Clarity and directness

1. Active listening 2. Empathy 3. Confidence 4. Friendliness 5. Clarity and directness 6. Using the right communication method 7. Sharing feedback

Good communication skills involve the ability to convey information clearly and effectively, listen actively, empathize with others, and respond appropriately to different communication situations.

1. Be clear and concise 2. Listen actively 3. Use the right communication method 4. Be mindful of nonverbal cues 5. Give and receive feedback

1. Practice active listening 2. Develop emotional intelligence 3. Seek feedback 4. Engage in public speaking opportunities 5. Take communication courses or workshops

Effective communication is the ability to convey information to others in a clear and understandable manner while also being able to listen and understand others’ messages.

Highlight specific examples of your communication skills in action on your resume, cover letter , and during interviews. Use measurable results and concrete examples to demonstrate your abilities.

Communication skills are important because they enable you to build relationships, resolve conflicts, achieve goals, and give and receive feedback effectively.

Content Writer at Jobscan.

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How to list communication skills and examples on a resumé

Good communication skills are great to have – in your personal life and in the workplace. They’re a key ingredient for collaboration and teamwork, and essential if you work with customers or clients. 

Employers want team members who work well together and can support one another, which is impossible without good communication skills. No matter what type of job you’re applying for, including communication skills on your resumé is a good idea.

If you’re applying for your first job with no experience, it’s even more important to list communication skills and examples on your resumé. In this guide, we explore what communication skills are and help you pick the right skills to include in your resumé.

What are communication skills?

Communication skills involve the ability to clearly convey and understand information. Specific to work, it’s how effectively you:

• Collaborate with your teammates
• Interact with stakeholders
• Present data
• Send emails
• Solve problems
• Serve customers or clients 

Effective communication skills are helpful for career progression as they give you the ability to convey thoughts clearly and tactfully and help you build strong work relationships.

On your resumé, communication skills fall into the category of soft skills or transferable skills . They’re different from technical skills , which refer to specialised knowledge and specific areas of expertise. Depending on your profession, they are both highly beneficial to showcase in your resumé. Soft skills, for example, are especially important for roles in sales and hospitality.

Why should you include communication skills in a resumé?

Adding communication skills to your resumé helps give the employer a rounded impression of your abilities and what you can bring to a role. Even if your profession doesn’t involve interacting much with others, the hiring company probably still has expectations for communication. Communication skills can only benefit you at work and in your resumé. 

Quick examples of roles and communication skills in a resumé

There are many different types of communication skills and not all of them are common or required for every job. So how do you know which to add to your resumé? Here are a few examples of communication skills, to give you an idea of how to tailor yours to the role you’re applying for. 

• A manager may highlight their presentation skills, report-writing skills, active listening skills or empathetic communication skills
• A sales assistant may include their problem-solving and persuasion skills
• A designer would want to highlight their collaboration skills and visual communication skills

It’s all about selecting the communication skills that are most relevant and important to the job you’re applying for. Let the individual role and job description be your guide.

How to show communication skills in a resumé

There are a few different ways to showcase your communication skills in a resumé. You can highlight them in a career objective statement along with other key skills and work experience. You can list them in the skills section of your resumé or work them into the experience section. It’s up to you how you include them, but keep these best practices in mind. To best show off your communication skills:

• First assess your professional abilities and see which fall under the umbrella of communication skills.
• Choose two to five key communication skills that best align with the job.
• Show how your skills have helped you achieve an outcome in the workplace, like using effective communication to manage projects or meet deadlines.

The more specific your communication skills are to the job ad, the easier it will be for the hiring manager to align your abilities with what they need. 

Communication skills to include in your resumé

Communication skills come in many forms , like being able to write well, present engagingly or resolve conflicts in the workplace. Some of the top communication skills you can include in your resumé:

• Written communication: this could include creating reports, writing emails, liaising with clients, responding to customers, writing tenders or pitches, etc.
• Verbal communication : this could include delivering constructive feedback , public speaking, MCing events, chairing meetings, etc.
• Interpersonal communication: this could include day-to-day collaboration and teamwork, conflict resolution, serving customers, mediating, etc.
• Empathy, active listening and non-verbal communication : these could be important skills to list for roles in social and public services, teaching and healthcare, etc.

To ensure your skills support your application, choose the ones that best align with the job ad. This will ensure everything on your resumé makes a case for why you’re a great candidate for the job and why the hiring company should call you for an interview.

Communication skills – resumé phrases

Giving your communication skills some context in your resumé gives employers a better understanding of what you bring to the table. It helps them imagine your skills in practice in their workplace. Describe where you have used a specific skill and how it helped your past employer.

For example, include how a specific skill helped you exceed key performance indicators or how your skills help keep customers happy. Some different communication skills resumé phrases you could use include:

• Excellent written communication: wrote and edited my department’s quarterly reports
• Excellent verbal communication: increased average floor sales by 10%
• Presentation skills: required to present to senior leadership every quarter
• Empathetic manager: improved staff retention in 2023
• Public-speaking skills: moderated several industry panels
• Collaboration skills: work effectively with international teams 

Your resumé itself should also show off excellent written communication. Ensure it is concise and typo-free to give the hiring manager a good first impression of your skills.

Communication skills in a resumé – example

How you format your communication skills in your resumé depends on where you put them. If you put them in your skills section, you only need to list them as bullet points. If you include them in your work experience section, write them into the descriptions of your duties. You could also choose to highlight skills in your resumé summary . Here are some examples:

• Highly empathetic and compassionate nurse with a decade of experience in providing the highest level of patient care.
• Persuasive sales manager with strong closing abilities. Maintained a 72% close rate in the top 3% of sales managers in the state.
• Well-spoken student looking for a casual retail role with excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Getting your resumé right is crucial if you want to effectively show off your skills. Choosing your most relevant communication skills can make all the difference when it comes to standing out against other job seekers. Even if your profession doesn’t involve a lot of communication, these skills are always valued in the workplace. They’re the foundations of a good workplace culture, which is something every employer – and employee – wants. 

How do you say good communication skills on a resumé?

A good way to talk about good communication skills on a resumé is to be specific about your particular skills. For example, you could mention or list:

• Good written and verbal skills 
• Strong presentation skills
• Public speaking experience

If your skills are advanced or you have a relevant qualification, you can list them as technical or advanced skills. 

How would you describe your written communication skills?

Some words to describe written communication skills on a resumé include: 

• Professional

You can also show off your written communication skills in your resumé and cover letter, or provide links to any professional writing samples. 

Can communication skills be listed in a separate section in my resumé?

Communication skills are often listed with other soft skills on a resumé or in the objective description. You can also use them in your work experience section to showcase how they helped you achieve specific results. If you are writing a resumé for a writing job or a role requiring formal communication, you should also include a portfolio of work or links to writing samples.

Are communication skills more important than technical skills in my resumé?

While technical skills will help you meet criteria for the role, communication skills help you stand out as a valuable team player. You should include both communication and technical skills on your resumé. 

Should I include communication skills in a cover letter as well?

Your cover letter is a good place to include examples of how you’ve used good communication skills, if they’re relevant for the job. For example, for a customer-facing role, you may highlight being commended for providing great customer service or being known for high satisfaction rates. 

How can I improve my communication skills for my resumé?

Some good ways to improve your communication skills for your resumé include:

• Working on active listening
• Practising speaking skills
• Asking for feedback
• Doing a course
• Joining a special interest group
• Getting a mentor

You can practise communication skills at home by reading more, watching instructional videos, taking online courses or role-playing work situations with family and friends. Communication skills are abilities that will evolve naturally over time through experience as you interact with different people in new situations.

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Over 20 Effective Communication Skills (Good for a Resume)

Which Communication Skills Should You List on Your Resume?

Acing the interview: what to do before, during, and after, frequently asked questions about communication skills.

Employers understand good communication is key to increased productivity, effectiveness, and overall efficiency. Regardless of your occupation, demonstrating interpersonal skills on your resume will show that your qualifications extend beyond technical expertise. This guide provides expert tips and a list of over 20 communication skills you can use to build a well-rounded resume that presents you as a versatile candidate.

Employers are looking for candidates with soft skills . Emphasizing your effectiveness as a communicator is a great way to show hiring managers you have the emotional intelligence to succeed.

But what do employers mean when they require someone with “good communication,” and how do you list that on your resume? Let’s explore strategies you can employ to showcase your interpersonal skills in a compelling manner.

What are communication skills?

Communication is conveying knowledge of or information about something. We do this every day without thinking much of it. But communication skills allow you to convey information effectively in various contexts.

No matter the industry you work in, you’ll be required to communicate with others. However, the types of interpersonal skills you’ll need will vary. Interactions with patients, customers, colleagues, and leadership all require different abilities within the umbrella of communication. Let’s look at some of those skills below.

Which communication skills do you have?

The soft skills you’ll need to include on your resume will depend on the job description and function of your role. Below, we’ve compiled over 20 resume skills and their related abilities to give you a good idea of what you may need to demonstrate to potential employers.

How should you list communication skills on your resume?

When demonstrating communication skills on your resume, there are a few options to choose from, but it’s often best to do a combination of the following:

• Cover letter: Including a cover letter not only demonstrates your communication in action, but gives you more space to elaborate on your resume skills. The only caveat to this approach is that some hiring managers don’t read cover letters in-depth, if at all.
• Key skills list: Create a simple bulleted list of technical and soft skills that match those of the specific job you’re applying for. This makes it easy for the reader by providing a quick overview.
• Professional experience section: In the job descriptions of your past positions, describe how you applied your skills to provide hiring managers with a clear picture of your abilities. This is a great way to go in-depth on your soft skills, but may not be fully captured if readers only do a quick scan of your resume.

An interview is likely your first direct interaction with potential employers. This is the perfect place to prove your communication skills in real-time, as the interviewer will be taking note of what you say and how you say it. So, let’s discuss how you can come to the interview ready and able to communicate effectively.

Be prepared to back up your skills with your experience

If you list a skill on your resume, be ready to explain it further to employers. Before your interview, have a few examples prepared that demonstrate how you’ve used communication in the past. This gives the hiring manager confidence that you can transfer your skills seamlessly to the new position.

How do you showcase communication skills during your interview?

Whether you’re interviewing on Zoom, over the phone, or in person, here are a few communication skills you can intentionally demonstrate during an interview:

• Active listening: Engage in the conversation by being a good listener. Nod your head, paraphrase (restate their thoughts in your own words), and ask follow-up questions.
• Clarity and conciseness: Respect the interviewer’s time and show that you can stay focused on the topic at hand. Avoid unnecessary details and long explanations.
• Nonverbal communication: Be aware of your body when you’re speaking and listening. Make eye contact and sit up straight to convey your interest and professionalism.
• Positive tone and attitude: Be mindful of the way you’re speaking and how you describe past experiences. Keep things positive even when speaking about challenging subjects.
• Verbal communication: Speak clearly and confidently. Don’t talk too fast or too slow, and avoid filler words such as “um,” “uh,” and “like.”

Following up after the interview

Express your gratitude and reinforce your interest in the position by sending a thank you note after your interview. This also serves as another way you can highlight the soft skill of professionalism to hiring managers.

Aim to send this note by email 24 to 48 hours after the interview. If you’re not sure what to say, see our thank you note examples guide for inspiration.

How do you quantify communication skills? -

In your professional experience section, use numbers when describing how you used communication to achieve results. You can do this by including things such as:

• Customer satisfaction and patient satisfaction scores
• High client retention rates
• Increase in social media engagement
• Number of people trained, positive impact on team performance
• Revenue increase resulting from successful negotiations

Is communication the most important soft skill to put on a resume? -

According to a 2022 LinkedIn survey , employers agree that resume skills like communication are a top priority. However, always look at the job description of the position you’re applying for to determine which skills are most important for you to highlight. There is likely a select set of communication skill requirements listed in the job posting, so tailor your resume to include those keywords mentioned by the employer.

How do I develop my soft skills and communication skills? -

Identify the specific abilities you’d like to work on and create a few goals for yourself. If you’re not sure where to start, ask for feedback from trusted colleagues or mentors. People who interact with you regularly can provide great insight into what they’ve observed and experienced.

Once you have a clear picture of what to develop, start practicing. The only way to improve is to jump in and give it a try. Make a conscious effort to practice these skills at work, at home, and as you go about your day. If you need more help leveling up your interpersonal skills, look to books, training, and role-playing for extra insight and practice.

Frank Hackett

Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW)

Frank Hackett is a professional resume writer and career consultant with over eight years of experience. As the lead editor at a boutique career consulting firm, Frank developed an innovative approach to resume writing that empowers job seekers to tell their professional stories. His approach involves creating accomplishment-driven documents that balance keyword optimization with personal branding. Frank is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PAWRCC).

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Top Communication Skills for Resume

In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing job market, having strong communication skills is essential for success in any industry. In fact, according to recent research by Salesforce, 86% of employees and executives cite insufficiency of collaboration and communication as the main reason for workplace failures.

Whether you are just starting out in your career or looking to make a change, highlighting your communication skills on your resume can set you apart from other candidates.

In this blog post, we will explore the top communication skills that employers are looking for and provide tips on how to effectively showcase these skills on your resume. From active listening to written communication, we’ll cover the key skills you need in order to succeed in the modern workplace. So, let’s dive in and learn how to make your communication skills shine on your resume!

Table of Contents

What Are Communication Skills?

Communication skills refer to the ability to effectively convey and receive information through various channels, such as verbal , nonverbal, and written communication.

These skills include the ability to listen actively, express ideas clearly and coherently, ask questions, provide feedback, and adapt communication style to different audiences and situations. Additionally, communication skills may involve being able to negotiate, persuade, resolve conflicts, and collaborate with others effectively.

Good communication and networking skills are essential in both personal and professional contexts and are highly valued by employers.

Top 10 Communication Skills for a Resume

Written and oral communication: Both verbal and written communication skills are essential in almost all industries and job roles. Good communication skills enable individuals to convey their ideas effectively, build relationships with others, and ultimately achieve their professional goals.

• Active listening: Paying attention to what others are saying, asking clarifying questions, and responding appropriately.
• Nonverbal communication: Being aware of and using body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice to effectively convey messages.
• Empathy: Understanding and acknowledging the perspectives and feelings of others.
• Adaptability: Adapting communication style to different situations and audiences.
• Respect: Showing respect for others’ opinions and ideas, and communicating in a professional and courteous manner.
• Conflict resolution: Resolving conflicts in a professional and constructive manner.
• Persuasion: Using effective reasoning and communication to influence and persuade others.
• Public speaking: the ability to deliver an effective speech or presentation to a live audience. It involves the ability to articulate ideas clearly and confidently, engage and persuade the audience, and adapt to different speaking situations.
• Feedback: Giving and receiving feedback constructively and effectively.

Written and Oral Communication

Verbal communication involves the use of words to convey information, and it can be either oral or written. Strong oral communication skills are crucial, even in jobs that don’t involve public speaking. For example, as a server in a restaurant, being able to speak clearly and establish a rapport with customers is essential for providing good service.

Additionally, written communication skills are vital for most jobs, as you will likely need to write emails, reports, or other forms of correspondence. If you have expertise in a specific type of writing, such as copywriting or editing, it’s important to highlight that on your resume or in a job interview.

Here’s how to demonstrate written and oral communication on a resume:

“Exceptional written and oral communication skills with a talent for conveying complex information in a clear and engaging manner.”

“Demonstrated ability to adapt communication style to diverse audiences and contexts, from technical reports to marketing materials.”

Active Listening

Active listening is a communication skill that involves paying full attention to what someone is saying and demonstrating that you are engaged and interested in the conversation. Active listening requires more than just hearing the words that are being spoken. It involves being fully present in the conversation, asking clarifying questions, and providing feedback to ensure that you understand the message accurately.

Active listening can help build rapport and trust between communicators, and it can help prevent misunderstandings or miscommunications. Additionally, active listening can help individuals understand different perspectives and gain insight into other people’s experiences and ideas. Some specific techniques for active listening include making eye contact, avoiding distractions, paraphrasing or summarizing what the other person said, and acknowledging their feelings or emotions. Active listening is an essential skill for effective communication in both personal and professional contexts.

Here’s how to demonstrate active listening on a resume:

“Conducted regular one-on-one meetings with team members to actively listen to their concerns and provide guidance on professional development, resulting in a 20% increase in employee satisfaction.”

“Collaborated with cross-functional teams to gather and synthesize customer feedback through active listening, informing product development decisions that led to a 15% increase in customer retention.”

Nonverbal Communication

Effective communication involves nonverbal cues such as body language, posture, gestures, eye contact patterns, and facial expressions, which can foster trust and reveal underlying emotions.

Nonverbal communication is crucial in various professions, including sales and leadership. In fact, the power of nonverbal communication was the subject of the research of the renowned behavioral psychologist Dr. Albert Mehrabian. His research resulted in the 7-38-55 rule , which indicates that only 7% of all communication is conducted via verbal communication, whereas nonverbal communication (tonality and body language) accounts for 38% and 55% respectively.

During job interviews, it’s advisable to showcase your nonverbal communication skills by maintaining eye contact, controlling facial expressions, and avoiding excessive hand gestures.

Here’s how to demonstrate nonverbal communication on a resume:

“Implemented effective communication strategies, including active listening and nonverbal cues, to manage high-pressure situations and diffuse conflicts in a team environment.”

Yes, empathy is a communication skill. It involves the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. Empathy can help establish a connection with others, foster trust, and create a safe space for effective communication. It is especially important in situations where people may be experiencing strong emotions, such as during conflict resolution or when providing support to someone in distress. By demonstrating empathy, you can show that you care about the other person’s well-being and are willing to listen and support them.

How to demonstrate empathy on a resume:

“Developed a reputation for being approachable, patient, and attentive to the needs of clients and colleagues”

Adaptability

Adaptability is a communication skill that refers to the ability to adjust your communication style and approach to fit the situation and audience. It involves being flexible and responsive to changing circumstances, such as the needs, expectations, or preferences of different people.

Adaptability is particularly important in diverse environments where people have different backgrounds, cultures, or communication styles. It enables you to build rapport, avoid misunderstandings, and communicate effectively with people who have different perspectives or preferences.

Examples of adaptability in communication can include modifying your tone, word choice, or nonverbal cues based on the situation or audience, listening actively and responding to feedback, and being willing to change your approach when necessary.

How to demonstrate adaptability on a resume:

“Adaptable team player with a proven track record of thriving in fast-paced, dynamic environments.”

“Able to pivot quickly in response to changing priorities and maintain a positive attitude in high-pressure situations.”

Respect is a crucial element of successful communication and an essential skill to demonstrate during job interviews. It involves active listening, patience, and appropriate initiation and response in conversations. Demonstrating respect through simple gestures, such as staying focused, being polite, and minimizing distractions, can go a long way in building relationships with colleagues and recruiters.

During job interviews, interrupting the recruiter or going off-topic is considered rude and may harm your chances of getting the job. Therefore, showing respect by being attentive and focused during the interview can make a positive impression and increase your chances of success.

How to demonstrate respect on a resume:

“Skilled in effective and respectful communication with diverse audiences, from team members to clients and stakeholders.”

“Demonstrated ability to navigate complex conversations with empathy, tact, and professionalism.”

Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is an important communication skill on a resume because it demonstrates an ability to effectively manage and resolve disagreements or disputes in the workplace. This skill is highly valued by employers as it can lead to increased productivity, improved morale, and stronger relationships among team members. In addition, the ability to handle conflicts in a calm and professional manner can showcase a candidate’s leadership potential and ability to work well under pressure.

Here’s how to demonstrate conflict resolution on a resume:

“Skilled in conflict resolution, with a proven track record of successfully navigating challenging conversations with tact and empathy.”

“Experienced in using active listening, problem-solving, and negotiation skills to find win-win solutions in high-pressure situations.”

Persuasion is an important communication skill in the workplace because it can help individuals influence others and achieve their goals. Effective persuasion skills can help individuals sell ideas, products or services, negotiate contracts, motivate employees, and convince stakeholders to support a particular course of action.

This skill is particularly valuable for individuals in leadership, sales, marketing, and customer service roles, as well as for those who need to work collaboratively with others to achieve common objectives. By mastering the art of persuasion, individuals can become more influential and successful in their careers.

Here’s how to demonstrate persuasion on a resume:

“Adept at crafting persuasive arguments and delivering compelling presentations to diverse audiences.”

“Proven track record of using data-driven insights and compelling storytelling to influence key stakeholders and drive business results.”

Public speaking

Public speaking is an important communication skill in the workplace because it enables individuals to effectively communicate their ideas, expertise, and vision to their colleagues, clients, and stakeholders. It is a crucial skill for professionals in a wide range of fields, from sales and marketing to education and politics, as well as for those in leadership positions who need to inspire and motivate their teams. Effective public speaking can help individuals build their credibility, establish themselves as thought leaders, and connect with their audience on a personal level. It can also lead to career advancement opportunities, as those who are able to deliver compelling and persuasive presentations are often seen as more capable and competent by their superiors.

Here’s how to demonstrate public skills on a resume:

“Experienced public speaker with strong presentation and facilitation skills for audiences of all sizes.”

“Adept at developing and delivering clear, concise, and engaging presentations that drive knowledge transfer and inspire action.”

Providing and accepting feedback is an essential communication skill that requires active listening, respect, open-mindedness, and teamwork. To encourage constructive feedback, it is necessary to truly understand the speaker’s meaning, respect their opinion, and remain open-minded. When receiving feedback from a supervisor, it is important to listen and accept the evaluation without judgment, and ask clarifying questions at the end to make the process as constructive as possible. When giving feedback to a colleague, a fact-based evaluation should be used, offering time for them to respond and considering their needs, with negative feedback provided discreetly. The ability to give and take feedback is essential for career success, as it reflects a willingness to learn, adapt, accept constructive criticism, and engage in critical reasoning.

Here’s how to demonstrate feedback on a resume:

“Experienced in giving and receiving constructive feedback to drive personal and team development.”

“Adept at creating a culture of feedback that fosters open and honest communication and continuous improvement.”

How to Describe Communication Skills on a Resume

When describing communication skills on a resume, it’s important to be clear and specific about the types of communication that you excel in. Here are some tips for effectively describing communication skills on a resume:

Tailor your language to the job description: Look at the job description and identify the specific communication skills that the employer is looking for, such as public speaking, active listening, conflict resolution, or persuasion. Use similar keywords and phrases to describe your skills.

Use concrete examples: Provide specific examples of how you have used your communication skills in past jobs or other experiences, such as leading a team meeting, giving a presentation, or resolving a conflict. Use metrics or other data to show the impact of your communication skills on the organization.

Be concise: Keep your descriptions brief and to the point, using bullet points or short sentences to convey your skills and accomplishments. Use action verbs to describe what you have done, such as “collaborated,” “negotiated,” or “facilitated.”

Highlight your soft skills: Soft skills such as active listening, empathy, and emotional intelligence are highly valued by employers, so be sure to include these in your description of communication skills. Provide examples of how you have used these skills in the past to achieve results or build strong relationships.

Proofread: Ensure that your descriptions are error-free, well-organized, and easy to read. Use a clear, legible font and avoid cluttered or complex formatting.

20 Phrases for Describing Communication Skills on a Resume

• “Excellent verbal and written communication skills”
• “Strong interpersonal skills “
• “Exceptional listening skills”
• “Articulate and clear communicator”
• “Comfortable speaking in public or presenting to groups”
• “Effective at communicating complex ideas to diverse audiences”
• “Skilled in facilitating group discussions or meetings”
• “Proficient in professional email communication”
• “Experienced in negotiating and persuading”
• “Active and engaged listener”
• “Comfortable working in a team environment”
• “Accustomed to adapting communication style to meet various audiences”
• “Skilled in conflict resolution and problem-solving through communication”
• “Experienced in giving constructive feedback and criticism”
• “Knowledgeable in nonverbal communication cues”
• “Effective at communicating empathy and understanding”
• “Fluent in multiple languages”
• “Adept at creating and delivering effective presentations”
• “Experienced in active listening and paraphrasing”
• “Proficient in using various communication technologies and tools.”

Communication vs. Effective Communication

Communication in the workplace refers to the exchange of information or ideas between individuals or groups.

Effective communication, on the other hand, means conveying messages clearly, accurately, and in a way that is easily understood by the receiver, leading to a desired outcome. According to a study by Pumble, teams who master effective communication can increase their productivity by as much as 25%.

Effective communication involves not only the transmission of information but also the ability to actively listen, provide feedback, and adjust communication styles as needed to ensure the message is understood.

Why You Need Communication Skills

Communication skills are essential in the workplace for several reasons:

• Collaboration and teamwork: Effective communication skills enable individuals to work together and collaborate effectively as a team, share ideas, and work towards a common goal.
• Better productivity: Good communication reduces misunderstandings and errors, thereby improving productivity and efficiency.
• Improved customer relations: Communication skills are critical in customer service, ensuring that customer needs are understood, and their issues are addressed promptly.
• Career advancement: Effective communication skills are often a requirement for leadership positions in organizations. Strong communicators are often considered for promotion as they can effectively convey their ideas to colleagues and management.
• Building relationships: Communication skills are essential for building relationships in the workplace, including networking , negotiating, and managing conflict.

How to Improve Your Communication Skills?

There are several things you can do to improve your communication skills. Namely:

Practice active listening: Pay close attention to what others are saying and respond appropriately.

Use clear and concise language: Avoid using complicated or jargon-filled language and focus on being straightforward and to the point.

Be aware of your body language: Nonverbal cues such as eye contact, posture, and facial expressions can impact how your message is received.

Be empathetic: Try to understand the perspective of the person you are communicating with, and respond in a way that shows you value their thoughts and feelings.

Practice, practice, practice: The more you communicate, the better you will become. Seek out opportunities to practice, such as in public speaking or social situations.

Get feedback: Ask for feedback from others to help you identify areas where you can improve your communication skills.

Read and write: Reading and writing can improve your vocabulary and help you communicate more effectively.

Take a course or workshop: Consider taking a course or workshop in communication skills to learn new techniques and strategies.

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How Should you Show That you Have Communication Skills on Your Resume?

Here are the top ways to show your Communication skills on your resume. Find out relevant Communication keywords and phrases and build your resume today.

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In This Guide:

What are communication skills, why are communication skills important on your resume, what skills, activities, and accomplishments help you highlight your communication skills, communication skills: key takeaways for your resume.

Did you know that around 85% of employees and executives believe that the lack of effective collaboration and communication is the main reason for workplace failures? Or that employees who communicate effectively could increase their productivity by 25%?

Effective communication is all about having your ideas and understandings heard and doing the same in return. That, plus the ability to convince people to act upon your ideas.

Having communication skills means that you are not just exchanging information with a partner, but rather understand the emotions and intentions behind everything you hear.

Yes, this sounds intrinsic, but it actually requires a lot of situational awareness and emotional intelligence. Being an effective and respectful communicator would save you the trouble of dealing with misunderstandings and frustration.

The reason why employees are after candidates who stand out as good communicators is that effective communication is directly related to business performance.

Just imagine having a team of impatient employees who are not able to listen and negotiate well, lack a sense of humor and cannot express their ideas and position with confidence.

Well, this is the ideal recipe for project failure. Usually, business tasks require the participation of more than one person. No matter how easy or complex such a task is, the successful implementation depends on the communication skills of the responsible team.

So, employees who have communication skills are not only preferred by the managers of a company. They are the preferred colleagues, mentors, and points of contact by clients.

It’s not enough to mention that you are an attentive listener, confident speaker, or team player. Instead, to showcase your communication skills, focus on highlighting specific situations where your excellent communication has played a crucial role.

Saying the right thing at the right time can really make the difference and turn the tide in your favor. Here are some examples of skills and personal qualities that would demonstrate that you are adept at having productive and meaningful conversations.

• Positive attitude & Confidence: being able to dominate a conversation does not mean that you have to be pushy and impatient. Instead, to reach your end goal, you can rely on your charisma, confidence, and friendly attitude.
• Focus & Control of emotions: staying present in the moment of the conversations and focused on your and your partner’s objectives is essential. In addition, you should be able to stay calm even if things don’t seem to go your way.
• Non-verbal communication & Body language: while in a conversation, you can improve the way you express your ideas and goals by relying on body language. This helps the other party connect with you better and understand your viewpoints.

How to demonstrate communication skills on your resume:

• Explain how your friendly and positive attitude has boosted the levels of teamwork and has helped increase organizational productivity.
• Give examples of times when you have sought feedback from your superiors and have given constructive feedback to colleagues and interns.
• Mention some occasions when you have kept an open mind during a brainstorming session, which resulted in a better group discussion.
• Explain how your negotiations skills and empathy have helped you reach a specific goal in your workplace.
• Mention some achievements connected to collaborating with colleagues from other departments and new employees.

As much as we might think that communication skills are a natural human trait, they are not. And that is why it is important to convince your future employer that you actually possess what it takes to work in a team or to be in charge of a team.

This can be done by taking this big and vague notion of “communication skills” and breaking it down into smaller and more specific abilities and situational examples.

If you need some inspiration, take a look at the following snippets from Enhancv users who found a way to demonstrate their effective communication skills.

Just make sure that you take the time to consider what it personally means to you to be a good communicator. From then on, the examples will follow intrinsically.

Example 1: Demonstrate communication skills in the experience section

Job situation: Junior Project Manager applies for the position of a Marketing Specialist

• • Collaborated with a team of 10 fellow Junior Project Managers and 5 Senior Managers.
• • Received a small promotion within six months due to positive feedback from the business clients that I was in communication with.
• • Was in charge of managing the relations with 40 business clients, understand their needs and translate that to deliverables for the marketing team.
• • Delivered monthly presentations in front of the Senior Management team to report on progress.

These examples demonstrate that the candidate for the position of Marketing Specialist is a very emotionally intelligent and confident person.

He/she is clearly not afraid to take a lead on some projects but is also open to receiving feedback.

The fact that the candidate mentions being in charge of leading the communication with clients speaks that he/she is well able to have up-to-the-point conversations while keeping an upbeat attitude.

Being the bridge between external and internal stakeholders, meaning clients and the team, the Junior Project Manager appears as a good listener and negotiator.

Example 2: Demonstrate communication skills in the resume summary section

Job situation: Financial Analyst applies for the position of Junior Portfolio Manager

This resume example communicates determination, hard work, and resourcefulness. The fact that the applicant has been working in a small startup team highlights that he/she has successfully gone through a lot of communication and organizational challenges.

Example 3: Show your communication skills in your achievements sections

Job situation - PR Specialist applies for the position of Head of Communication

Make sure you build yourself an image of a professional communicator. Not only one that communicates effectively in the office but one that is confident to speak under the spotlight and in front of big crowds.

Example 4: Demonstrate the skill through other sections of your resume

Effective communication is something that one learns through experiences. So, include in your resume examples of hobbies and group activities. Topple that with organizations that you have been part of as well as volunteering initiatives.

If you are the kind of a public speaking person, mention some of the occasions that you have presented in front of an audience.

Last, but not least, you can include any relevant courses and certifications that you have completed. For example, a soft skills training course or a negotiations class.

It’s all about the soft skills: show that you are empathetic, understanding, and open-minded, build an impression of a person that is pleasant to talk to. Don’t forget to stress how important feedback is to you and that you proactively seek it.

Balance out between confidence and compromise: effective communication requires that parties compromise, so you should demonstrate your readiness to step back if needed. On the other side, show that you are also confident in yourself and pursue your goals.

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Communication Skills on Resume: What Do Recruiters Look For?

Need to demonstrate communication skills to land a job? Copy these examples and follow these practical tips for showing those skills on your resume.

3 years ago   •   8 min read

"This role requires excellent written and verbal communication skills."

If this line looks familiar, that’s because it’s on nearly every job description. It’s kind of a no-brainer — nearly every job requires some form of communication, so employers want to see evidence of those skills on your resume.

The question is, how do you convince a hiring manager you have what it takes based on your resume alone? How do you show you have great communication skills without simply stating that you’re “great at communication.”

In this article, we’ll discuss how to show your strong communication skills through detailed examples, the best competitive communication skills to highlight on your resume, and what recruiters are really looking for when they ask for good communication.

Why is communication so important

Communication is a hidden skill — you use it all the time, but rarely notice it. In some jobs, the need for clear communication is obvious, like if the position involves a lot of writing or public speaking . In others, it’s more subtle, but things like taking direction, working with clients, and conflict resolution are all clear forms of workplace communication. Every position, no matter the field, can benefit from good communication, hence why it’s a must-have for your resume.

How to demonstrate communication skills on your resume

Here are the top tips for listing communication skills on your resume:

• Remove vague words like “communication skills”, and instead, list detailed, specific examples of times you’ve communicated well.
• Review the job description to identify the kinds of communication skills the job is looking for, such as presenting, influencing, managing, and written communication, and detail your experience with these particular skills.
• Use strong action verbs and quantified results to create memorable statements. For example, instead of writing “Responsible for communication,” state that you “orchestrated a communication strategy that increased team efficiency by 30%.”
• Use bullet points to make your points easy to scan.
• Highlight relevant hard skills like languages that show your ability to communicate well.

Now, let’s dive into what skills recruiters are really looking for when they ask for “good communication” and the best examples of communication skills to include on your resume.

What recruiters mean by “good communication skills”

When recruiters ask for candidates with good communication skills, they’re not just looking for people who know how to chat around the office. They’re looking for candidates who can effectively communicate with colleagues and clients, discuss performance, resolve conflicts, and have experience communicating in their particular professional setting - be it a team environment, a remote workplace, social media, or delivering presentations.

The best way to determine what type of communication each particular role requires is to look at the job description. Here is a list of commonly sought-after communication skills you’ll likely see listed in a variety of job postings:

• Speaking and listening
• Negotiating
• Teamwork and relationship building
• Sales and pitching
• Business writing
• Social media
• Visual communication
• Marketing copy
• Giving and accepting feedback

If you’re looking to get more specific, check out our list of skills and keywords , broken down by your industry and job title.

Where to list communication skills on your resume

Communication is a soft skill, which means the do’s and don’ts of listing it on your resume are simple:

• Don’t list communication in your skills section or write that you have “excellent communication skills.” When it comes to communication, you need to show, not tell!
• Do describe accomplishments that involve good communication throughout your resume, in your work experience, resume summary, and education section.
• Do mention hard skills related to communication in your skills section, such as language proficiency and digital tools like Slack or Teams.
• Do use your resume itself as an example of good communication. This means proper grammar, no spelling mistakes, and good punctuation.

How to describe communication on your resume

The first step in highlighting good communication skills is to avoid repeating the same word or phrase over and over. When building your bullet points, try these action verbs instead:

• Interpreted
• Corresponded

Top communication skills to put on your resume - with examples

Here are the top communication skills to list on your resume that are relevant to almost all industries, with examples of how to showcase these skills through quantified bullet points.

Conflict resolution

Whether you're negotiating million-dollar contracts or resolving customer complaints, conflict resolution is a critical skill in any workplace. It involves handling disputes effectively, mediating between parties, and arriving at mutually beneficial solutions. On your resume, illustrate these skills by explaining an issue, how you resolved it, and what benefits your company gained. For example:

• Supported management with handling and resolving human resources issues, decreasing employee complaints by 70%.
• Resolve customer disputes and enhanced customer satisfaction ratings by 25%.

Digital tools and social media expertise

In today's digital environment, proficiency in modern communication tools like Slack, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams is essential, while social media expertise is increasingly in demand for marketing and customer-facing roles. Demonstrating your ability to effectively use these tools can set you apart in a competitive job market.

Describe your skills by detailing what particular tools you’re proficient with, and include results-based data, such as social media campaigns you’ve run or the number of teams you've collaborated with on Slack. For example:

• Efficiently managed team projects and communications across global time zones using Slack and Zoom, leading to a 40% increase in project delivery efficiency.
• Directed 10+ social media campaigns for RSP clients on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Leading meetings and team collaboration

Discussing leading meetings and team projects highlights your ability to convey ideas, engage with audiences, and facilitate group interaction. These skills reflect not only good communication but also leadership and management skills. To show this, describe an accomplishment demonstrating your ability to manage personnel, host meetings, or coordinate reports and other correspondence. For example:

• Managed international stakeholders in India, United Kingdom, and Hong Kong by hosting daily standups and coordinating weekly status reports.

Verbal and written communication skills

Highlight both your verbal and written communication skills by mentioning presentations, reports, emails, or projects. Include hard numbers — like the number of marketing emails you wrote, new leads generated, or major accounts you landed — to show the positive outcome of your involvement. For example:

• Wrote and produced 100+ client prospecting video emails, leading to 50+ leads and landing major accounts.

Delivering education and training

Training others is an invaluable skill that showcases leadership, communication, and conflict resolution. If you've led training, mentored new staff, or guided clients through a complicated process, highlight these accomplishments. For example:

• Directed and advised 10+ business partners through annual talent assessments, discussions, and proactively pipelining for future openings.

Communicating with clients

Building relationships with clients is another soft skill closely related to communication. Creating a positive atmosphere, maintaining client relationships, and reaching out to community partners are all valuable skills. Including metrics elevates your bullet points from subjective to objective. For example:

• Established and maintained positive internal and community relations through on-site recruitment and telecommunications, ensuring 93% community acceptance.

How to show communication skills in different sections of your resume

As mentioned above, you can showcase great communication skills throughout your resume, as well as in your cover letter, online profiles, and during any professional correspondence. Here is how to showcase different communication skills in various sections of your resume:

Under professional work experience

The work experience section of your resume is the best place to list communication skills. You don’t need to have worked in a communication-heavy role to do this — every job uses communication skills. Using the job description as a starting point, identify what kind of communication skills the position requires and address each one with a bullet point accomplishment.

Once you’ve done that, use the tool below to search for skills for the job you’re applying to. You also have the option of adding in your resume — the tool will quickly scan it and tell you which skills are missing and which you need to add.

Through education, projects, and activities

If you don’t have a lot of paid work experience, or you’re struggling to find examples of good communication, that’s okay. Personal or academic projects and extracurricular activities can be used to show excellent communication skills, especially if you’re a current student or recent graduate.Use action-focused bullet points for these, too, and include metrics wherever possible.

In your hard skills section

You shouldn’t list communication in the skills section of your resume, but you can list hard skills that demonstrate strong communication. Language proficiency , is a great skill to inclide here, as well as particualr digital communication tools, such as Slack, Zoom, Trello, or Microsoft Teams.

In your cover letter

Showing most soft skills on a resume is difficult because there’s no way for hiring managers to evaluate those skills for themselves. Communication is an exception to this rule — Your resume itself, and in particular your cover letter , is a direct example of your written communication skills. Make sure your application, and any other communications, are well-written, succinct, and error-free by always proofreading to catch any errors.

Common mistakes to avoid when showcasing communication skills

Here are some key pitfalls to watch out for when trying to showcase good communication skills on your resume:

• Overusing generic phrases : Avoid vague language and overused terms like "excellent communication skills" or "strong communicator." These phrases are too general and don't provide a clear picture of your actual abilities.
• Lacking specific examples : Failing to provide concrete examples where your communication skills made a positive impact is a common mistake. Employers want real-world examples that demonstrate your skills in action.
• Not tailoring your examples to the job : Not tailoring your communication skills to the specific job you're applying for can be a missed opportunity. Highlight aspects of your communication that align with the job description.
• Neglecting digital communication skills : In today's digital world, not showcasing your proficiency with modern communication tools like Slack, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams can be a significant oversight.
• Overstating your abilities : Be honest about your level of proficiency. Overstating your skills can lead to challenges if you're unable to meet the expectations set by your resume.

Top-Tip: Create personal branding through good communication

One crucial aspect often overlooked when showcasing communication skills is the role these skills play in personal branding. Personal branding is about how you present yourself to potential employers and the unique mix of skills and experiences that make you an ideal candidate. Think of it as your USP, or unique selling point.

When you describe your communication skills, think about how these skills have helped you achieve results and how they reflect your professional brand. For instance, if your selling point is that you’re an effective team leader, highlight instances where your communication skills facilitated team success or resolved conflicts. Or if your brand is about being innovative, highlight how your communication skills have been pivotal in driving change or adopting new technologies in your previous roles.

Ensuring that this theme, or “personal branding”, is reflected throughout your resume can transform a list of job duties into a compelling narrative, painting a picture of a dynamic and capable professional.

Find out how well you score on communication skills

The most important thing to remember when listing communication skills on your resume is show don’t tell . An easy way to check if you’ve actually shown hiring managers your strong communication skills is to upload your resume to the tool below. It’ll tell you if your resume has shown enough communication skills, as well as other soft skills like leadership or problem-solving skills.

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50+ communication skills and how to improve them

It helps to be able to communicate effectively with those around you. Not only can this help to create better and happier workplaces and stronger relationships with colleagues, but it can also be effective when speaking with customers, clients, patients, or family. 

But there’s much more to communication than simply speaking with people. The art of communication can be broken down into dozens of individual aspects, from the way you move your hands, your listening abilities, tone of voice, ability to deliver feedback and criticism, and conflict resolution skills, too. 

Those who wish to improve their communication skills and understand how to communicate effectively in the workplace need to take the time to work on the individual skills and aspects that may be lacking in their approach. And even skilled speakers and effective communicators can benefit from practise and improvement in certain areas. 

Below, we’ll take a look at dozens of unique workplace communication skills, explaining what each one means and sharing some tips and tricks to help you improve. 

Communication skills in the workplace 

• 8 verbal communication skills  
• 7 non-verbal communication skills  

7 written communication skills

• 7 interpersonal skills

List of 50 communication skills for your resume

When we talk about ‘communication skills’ this term simply refers to the many skills and abilities that are involved in exchanging information with other people. It’s all about how you interact with others. The most obvious example is through speech, but communication can also take written and nonverbal forms. 

All of those different forms of communication are important in the workplace and can play a part in helping you reach your career goals and get ahead professionally, as well as helping your company or organisation reach its goals and objectives, too. For example, clear communication regarding a company’s strategy or in management can help to boost productivity and improve worker morale. 

At the same time, poor quality communication can have negative effects both on individuals and the workplace as a whole. Workplace morale and productivity can suffer when messages aren’t delivered clearly and miscommunications occur. Individual workers can struggle to move on in their careers without effective communication skills. 

Understanding different communication styles 

There isn’t just one communication style. In fact, there are many, and you can meet all sorts of people who will have different ways of communicating. There are some who communicate much more outwardly than others, expressing themselves more via body language and gestures than speech. Others will be more assertive with their communication skills. 

It’s important for you to be able to adapt your communication approach and style to suit the situation. In fact, a big part of how to communicate effectively at work is to be able to identify other ways of communicating from the people you encounter and then adjust your own approach to get through to them more efficiently. 

Identifying and managing different communication styles at work isn’t always easy, but practice, repetition, and trial and error are key processes to help you improve. It will take time, as communication improvement is a lifelong process, but active listening and regular practice will help anyone get better at communicating with others. 

8 verbal communication skills

Verbal communication skills are the skills you use when you speak with other people. These are some of the most important skills for good communication at work, as so much communication between colleagues happens through speech. 

1. Articulation and pronunciation 

Articulation is about the manner in which a person speaks and how they say the individual syllables of the words they use, while pronunciation is more focused on the correct and proper way of saying certain words. Having strong articulation and clear pronunciation can help to make you a more confident speaker.  

Various online tools and resources can help you learn the proper way of pronouncing difficult words, and if you find you have trouble with articulation, speaking more slowly is a good way to get around it. 

2. Tone of voice 

Tone of voice concerns the way in which words are spoken or delivered. By speaking in certain ways, emphasising certain syllables, speaking at different volumes, or using a higher or lower tone, we can convey very different feelings and have totally different impressions on our audience. It’s important to adjust your tone of voice to suit each situation, with friendly tones when conversing with colleagues and more professional, respectful tones when speaking with clients or bosses. 

3. Active listening 

Active listening is not just listening to what someone is saying, but concentrating on the words, the tone, and the message they’re trying to share. Active listening can help you learn so much more about what a person is saying, giving you more information to formulate an appropriate response.  

One way to work on this is to listen more closely in future conversations and put yourself in the other person’s position, thinking about how and why they chose certain words or speak in a particular tone. 

4. Empathy 

Empathy is all about understanding other people and being able to see where they’re coming from. It’s one of the most effective communication skills that can help with conflict resolution and negotiation. To work on this, it’s important to take time to put yourself in someone else’s position. Try to imagine what it’s like in their place and develop your understanding and compassion for them. 

5. Clarity and conciseness 

Clarity is all about being clear and to-the-point in your verbal communication, while conciseness is about keeping your communication short and effective. Both of these communication skills can be invaluable in the workplace. Without clarity, people might not understand what you want to say.  

And without conciseness, you may waste time with unnecessarily wordy and confusing messages. Try to get in the habit of saying only the most important things, cutting out any unnecessary content to make your messages sharper and more direct. 

6. Confidence 

Confidence is another huge part of verbal communication, and confident people tend to be better communicators all around. When you’re confident, it’s easier to speak clearly, to articulate your words, to listen and understand others, and to get your message across to the people you speak with. Confidence can be tricky for those who are naturally shy or anxious, but there are ways to improve your self-belief. 

7. Assertiveness  

Assertiveness is about remaining firm in your ideas and getting your points across without being interrupted, overwhelmed, or coerced. This often goes hand-in-hand with confidence, and confident speakers also tend to be quite assertive.  

Assertiveness can also be really useful for situations like negotiation and resolving conflicts. To improve your assertiveness, try to get into the habit of defending your ideas, rather than backing down or changing your mind too easily. 

Humour is all about being able to make people laugh and smile, lightening the mood or easing the tension. This can be useful when delivering criticism or feedback to a colleague, for example, or when giving speeches or resolving conflicts.  

Knowing how and when to use humour is key for effective communication in the workplace. Be mindful, listen actively to those around you, and read the mood of the room or situation to determine the best moments for a bit of humour. 

7 non-verbal communication skills 

Along with verbal skills, there are also nonverbal communication skills. These skills allow people to communicate to others without speaking, simply through expressions of their face, body language, hand gestures, and so on. Here are some nonverbal communication skills examples: 

1. Body language 

Body language is simply the way we express ourselves with our bodies. It can include the way we sit or stand, how we hold ourselves, the way we walk, whether or not we keep eye contact with people when speaking with them, and so on. Body language can say so much about a person’s mood and mental state, and you may inadvertently give off an impression of being disinterested purely through bodily gestures or posture. You can work on this by being more mindful and aware of your body and make active choices to sit up straight and keep eye contact. 

2. Eye contact 

As stated above, eye contact is a big part of body language and nonverbal communication skills. When someone keeps eye contact with us, we tend to feel that person is more engaged with conversation or more interested in what we have to say when compared to someone who is looking down at their feet or off into the distance. It can be tricky for naturally shy people to maintain eye contact, but this is something you can actively practise and improve. 

3. Facial expressions 

A person’s face and expressions can also say a lot about their mood and how they’re feeling. Smiles, frowns, and furrowed brows all denote different emotions, and some people don’t even notice some of the expressions they make during a conversation or how those expressions might be interpreted. Again, mindfulness and actively considering your facial movements is key to improving in this area. As you become more aware of your facial expressions, you can use them to have better and more effective conversations. 

4. Posture 

Posture is how we sit and stand. A person with poor posture may hunch themselves over and look at the ground when standing or sit down in an awkward and casual way. Poor posture can be read as a sign of disinterest or lack of enthusiasm, as well as an absence of confidence. In short, it’s not a good thing. Those wanting to appear more confident and assured should try to improve their posture, tucking their shoulders back, lifting their head, and straightening their back when seated or standing. 

5. Gestures 

Along with posture and facial expressions, one other nonverbal way in which we can communicate to others is through gestures. Many people like to raise and move their hands around while speaking to emphasise certain points or ideas, for example. Gestures can be effective for showing confidence and belief in what you’re saying, but it’s also important to not overdo them. Try to be mindful of your hands and how you move them as you speak to get more control over your gestures. 

Physical touch can also be a part of nonverbal communication. Hugs, handshakes, and pats are all examples of how we might physically interact with someone else as part of our communication with them. Of course, in the workplace, touch is something to be careful with, as some people may not desire certain kinds of physical interaction or any touching at all. It’s therefore important to use touch with caution and use it appropriately. 

7. Appearance 

A person’s physical appearance is also a powerful form of communication. Someone dressed up smartly with clean, well-groomed hair will naturally tend to be seen as more approachable, professional, and confident compared to someone who arrives at work with messy hair and a casual outfit.  

Obviously, this will vary from workplace to workplace, but taking pride in one’s appearance is a great way to have better conversations and produce stronger first impressions, both at work and in one’s personal life. 

Another of the many methods of communication in the workplace is written communication, in the form of letters, emails, notes, and messages. As more and more people have shifted to working remotely, written communication is an increasingly important aspect of workplace communication skills. 

1. Spelling and grammar  

Spelling and grammar are the basics of writing. It’s important to be able to write in a way that is legible and error-free in order to ensure that your reader or audience understands the message you want to deliver. Error-free writing also denotes a sense of professionalism, while a letter or email with lots of mistakes can lead to negative impressions. There are various software tools, such as Grammarly and ProWriting Aid, that can help you fix little mistakes or typos with ease. 

2. Clarity and brevity 

One of the common mistakes people make in written communication is rambling or being too wordy, using 100 words to say something that could be said in 50, for example. In the hectic modern workplace, brevity and clarity are greatly appreciated, so try to get into the habit of condensing your messages down to the basics, cutting out any unnecessary sections. 

3. Tone and style 

It’s important to be able to adjust your tone and style when writing to different people. A quick email to a friendly colleague, for example, will have a much more informal and casual tone when compared to a newsletter that you’re writing to send out to your clients or leads. There are various online resources that can help you improve your understanding of tone and style, and you can look at different examples of messages in your own inbox to see how the tone is different. 

4. Audience awareness 

Whenever you’re writing any piece of content, be it a letter, email, newsletter, or brochure, it’s essential to keep the audience in mind at all times. Think carefully about who they are and what kind of content they’re looking for. Adjust your tone to suit their needs and always ask questions like “Is this relevant to the audience?” and “Will the audience understand this?” 

5. Persuasion and influence 

Often, when writing content like marketing newsletters or sales copy, you’ll need to be able to persuade and influence your audience to take an interest or invest in whatever product or service you’re trying to sell. Even when emailing colleagues about a plan or project, persuasion is a key part of an effective written message. One way to work on this is to focus on using more persuasive and evocative words and phrases in your messages to incite positive responses in your readers. 

6. Emotional intelligence 

Emotional intelligence is all about being able to understand and manage one'’s own emotions in appropriate ways to provide clear and effective communication, and this applies to both written and verbal communication. It'’s a mixture of empathy, self-awareness, and social skills to understand both yourself and others. Getting into the habit of observing your own feelings and considering how your words can impact others is a good way to improve your emotional intelligence . 

7. Active reading and comprehension  

As well as being able to write effectively, you also need to be able to read and comprehend messages and pieces of text you receive. The tone, style, and depth of messages you receive may vary greatly, and it’s crucial to be able to read and understand each one fully. The best way to improve with active reading is through practice and repetition. Read and reread messages you receive at work and think about what the writer was trying to say and why they made certain word or phrase choices. 

7 interpersonal communication skills 

Finally, there are interpersonal communication skills. Anyone wanting to learn how to communicate effectively at work needs to focus on their interpersonal skills, especially those in positions like managers, HR professionals, and team leaders, as these skills usually involve aspects like conflict resolution or negotiation between multiple people. 

1. Conflict resolution 

Conflicts often occur in workplaces, and even in happy working environments, it’s common for workers to disagree or for employees to have issues with the way certain situations have occurred or been handled. Being able to resolve conflicts peacefully is a crucial interpersonal skill. A good way to work on this is to improve your active listening and empathy, making sure to understand both sides and show compassion as you work towards a resolution. 

2. Negotiation 

Negotiation is another of the most important interpersonal communication skills in the workplace. You might need to negotiate the terms of a sale or contract with a client or prospective business partner, for example. To be a good negotiator, it’s important to be assertive and read people well, understanding how far to push negotiations and when to settle. 

3. Networking 

Networking is the skill of making connections in and out of work, potentially forging strong relationships with people in your industry who might help you get another job or take the next career step in the future. This skill often incorporates other communication skills mentioned earlier, like articulation, confidence, clarity, and humour. A great way to improve networking is to attend more conferences and events and put yourself in positions to talk with strangers. 

4. Relationship building 

Relationship building is all about strengthening the bonds and connections you form with other people, whether that be fellow colleagues, key clients, bosses, or others. To build a strong and stable relationship, it’s important to be an active listener, understanding what the other person thinks and feels and taking their needs into account, rather than just your own. 

5. Feedback and criticism 

Feedback and criticism are often beneficial elements that help to improve workplace morale and productivity, but it can be tricky to hand out criticism or provide feedback in the most effective way. If you make the wrong move, you could hurt someone’s feelings or knock their confidence. A gentle yet firm approach is needed to get the message across while also balancing any constructive feedback with some positives. 

6. Mindfulness 

Mindfulness is all about becoming away and in-tune with one's feelings and emotions. It's an increasingly important skill in the modern world, and it can be so beneficial to every other aspect of our communication. Some useful mindfulness methods to try include guided imagery, controlled breathing, and meditation. 

7. Cultural sensitivity  

It’s common to find oneself working in a multicultural workspace with colleagues of different backgrounds and beliefs. Cultural sensitivity is all about being sensitive to different cultures and ways of looking at the world. Research and communicating with people from other backgrounds is a good way to work on this, and it’s essential to think carefully before making any comments that could be judged or interpreted as cruel or insensitive. 

• Verbal communication 
• Active listening 
• Nonverbal communication 
• Written communication 
• Persuasion and negotiation 
• Public speaking 
• Conflict resolution 
• Interpersonal skills 
• Leadership 
• Collaboration 
• Clarity and concision 
• Professionalism 
• Presentation skills 
• Facilitation 
• Relationship building 
• Customer service 
• Time management 
• Active questioning 
• Adaptability 
• Articulation 
• Attention to detail 
• Coaching and mentoring 
• Consensus building 
• Cross-cultural communication 
• Cultural competence 
• Customer relations 
• De-escalation 
• Emotional intelligence 
• Expressive skills 
• Flexibility 
• Giving and receiving feedback 
• Interpersonal relations 
• Interviewing skills 
• Listening comprehension 
• Managing expectations 
• Negotiation and compromise 
• Networking 
• Open-mindedness 
• Organisation 
• Relationship management 
• Storytelling 
• Stress management 
• Transparency 
• Verbal and written rapport-building 
• Conflict management 
• Critical thinking 

There are dozens of different aspects of communication, from your tone of voice to the way you move your hands to how attentively you listen to people. By breaking communication down into separate skills, it becomes easier to work on improving. An improvement in just one or two of these skills can help boost your ability to communicate, in and out of the workplace.

What are communication skills?  

Communication skills are simply the skills that are oriented or focused on the concept of speaking or interacting with other people, whether that be fellow workers, customers, or others. This can include everything from empathy to assertiveness to body language and more. 

Why are communication skills important in the workplace?  

Communication skills tend to be highly-prized in the workplace, as so many jobs involve communication, either among colleagues or between workers and clients/customers. Effective communication is a great way to get ideas across, make sales, and so on. 

How can I improve my communication skills?  

There are many ways to strengthen your communication skills, such as by practising key skills you feel you're lacking, listening and observing great communicators at your workplace to follow their example, and asking for feedback from colleagues and bosses. 

What are some common barriers to effective communication?  

Issues like social anxiety or lack of experience in effective communication can impact a person's ability to communicate effectively. Other barriers include disinterest with one's job, a clash of communication styles, or conflicts and lack of trust in the workplace. 

What are some examples of nonverbal communication?  

Examples of nonverbal communication can include the likes of eye contact, body language, hand gestures, and facial expressions. 

How can I communicate effectively with people from different backgrounds?  

In general, it’s all about adjusting your approach to suit the situation. You may have to include more or less nonverbal communication when speaking with certain people, for instance. Regardless of a person’s background, clear and efficient communication will always be effective.  

What are some tips for giving effective presentations?  

For a presentation to be effective, the presenter should show passion and interest in their subject. Delivery is really important, and the presentation should be delivered with confidence, facial expressions, potentially a bit of humour, and an understanding of the audience's needs. 

How can I improve my active listening skills?  

One simple way to improve your active listening is through practice. Take the time to speak less and listen more to those around you, and really think about what they're saying. Try to avoid distractions and focus on the words and meaning behind them. 

What are some techniques for managing conflicts through communication?  

Staying calm and collected is a good way to help resolve conflicts, rather than raising your voice or contributing to the drama in any way. Also, be sure to listen actively to both sides and show compassion and empathy. 

How can I tailor my communication style to different audiences? 

The best way to tailor your communication is to understand your audience's needs and expectations. You can use a range of tools to find out more about your audience and then adjust your communication style accordingly. 

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