Oral and written communications skills

 Oral & Written Communication Skills

In this technological day and age, shooting a quick text to your friends or family may not include proper grammar, which in turn, can result in a decline in your written or oral communication skills. Another way your communication skills may decline is by the lack of face-to-face conversation. While being proficient in digital technology is necessary for many careers, technology should not be used as the only means of communication. This reduces the quality of face-to-face conversations in the workplace. These are also skills that many graduates can improve on. 95.9% of employers find communication skills essential, but they believe only 41.6% demonstrate efficiency in those skills.

Improving Oral Communication Skills

Over-communication is one area of improvement that is relatively simple to overcome. The more simple the message, the more likely the message is to be accurately received. Keep your message short, clear, and concise.

Another method of improving oral communication is by engaging your audience. By not only talking, but also by creating a conversation, you can better communicate your ideas and concepts as well as hear new ideas, questions, or various input.

Lastly, be a listener. To improve your skills and communicate effectively, you first and foremost must be a good listener. By genuinely listening to what others have to say, you are able to provide more thoughtful answers and comments.

Improving Written Communication Skills

In many careers, written communication skills are just as important as oral communication skills. You can start to improve your written communication skills by organizing your thoughts. When you are writing, proofread your work to see if it sounds jumbled, like your rambling or like the thoughts do not flow. If this is the case, try creating an outline for your work first, to make sure your thoughts are in a cohesive order, and then begin writing. This will make your work seem more professional. Another simple issue may just be your own lack of confidence in your writing. If you feel stressed that what you are writing does not sound like quality work, use a program like be a listener or Microsoft’s “readability tool” to see how your work sounds, whether or not you have structural errors, and so forth.

By improving your communication skills, you will not only become a better associate but can become a better leader as well.

Reference: Top 5 Skills Employers Look For: Learn what skills employers look for before you commit to a college degree. Online @ https://newmanu.edu/top-5-skills-employers-look-for. (Accessed: March 2024)