Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

HR practice

Effective communication: 10 top tips

by Personnel Today 28 Oct 2009
by Personnel Today 28 Oct 2009

The ability to communicate effectively is fundamental to any job. Kevin Young (pictured below), vice-president and managing director, EMEA, at e-learning provider SkillSoft, offers his top tips for getting your message across.

When a recent survey asked a range of professionals what was the single most important skill they needed to do their job, the ability to communicate effectively came out top of the list.

The survey, carried out in support of Campaign for Learning’s Adult Learning Week, revealed that almost half of all respondents felt they needed to improve both their written and verbal communication capabilities.

It’s not surprising; a good communicator can help get things right first time, without mistakes, misunderstandings and missed opportunities. No wonder we all wish we were better at communicating.


Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

The good news is that communications skills can be learnt. Of course, the term ‘communications’ has a huge reach â€“ from personal conversations to presentations, from writing an e-mail to creating persuasive marketing copy, from a cold call to a warm handshake.

However, all communications have a few things in common, and as a starter we’ve distilled SkillSoft’s courses and online library on the topic to put together a few key tips:



  1. Are you an aggressive, passive or assertive communicator? The goal is to be the latter. Get to know yourself â€“ maybe assertiveness training would help you hone your communication skills.
  2. Whether you are writing or talking, always tailor your communications to suit your audience and your relationship with them. Use words they will understand and common references they will appreciate. Be warm but respectful.
  3. Keep to the point. There’s no need to be abrupt, but you do need to be concise and direct. Don’t hide the key to your conversation in the middle of inconsequential chatter. Don’t presume your listener has some psychic way of knowing what’s important.
  4. Pay attention to the role body language pays in communicating your message. Be open, not defensive, in the way you stand.
  5. Watch where you position yourself in relation to your client or colleague. Some experts believe our ‘communications zones’ are culturally programmed – but a new business contact may feel uncomfortable if you stand as close to them as you would a trusted colleague. Be sensitive about giving people space.
  6. Listen, listen, listen.
  7. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand or need further details. Remember a conversation is an interactive event, not a one-way dialogue
  8. It helps to end a business discussion by summarising the main points and the decisions reached by the participants. Clarity now will help save much time further down the line.
  9. Plan tricky phone calls beforehand by deciding (but not scripting) exactly what you want to say and the goal of the call. It helps to stand up and smile when making an important call.
  10. Remember to give feedback to show you’ve been listening â€“ even if it means summarising what they’ve said and repeating it back to them. Not only does this reassure the speaker that their remarks have registered with you, it also confirms that you have understood what they have been saying.

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
Default Retirement Age evidence sought ahead of government review
next post
Flexible approach to equal pay

You may also like

What do HR specialists enjoy most about their...

21 Mar 2025

King’s College London get top marks for HR...

20 Nov 2024

Personnel Today Awards 2024: The shortlists in full

13 Nov 2024

CIPD launches HR support pilot scheme for SMEs

7 Oct 2024

Are managers equipped to handle workplace conflict?

24 Sep 2024

Reimagining the employee lifecycle as a public sector...

5 Sep 2024

Employers urged to take action during riots

7 Aug 2024

HR changes save NHS Wales board £740k and...

6 Aug 2024

HR ‘unprepared’ for AI workforce revolution

29 May 2024

Tarantula-pranking train driver reinstated and awarded £40k

28 Feb 2024

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+