5 Key Communication Skills for Career Success

In a digital world, traditional communication skills are in high demand

While generative AI (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and others are becoming increasingly prevalent in workplaces of all kinds, employees are finding that soft skills like communication are becoming more important and more valued than ever.

It’s not just new employees who are looking for help developing these skills; seasoned workers are as well. I’m frequently asked by audiences of all ages and types what I believe are the top communication skills that can position people for success.

Here are my top five. They’re not newly important. They’re evergreen. Master them and you’ll position yourself for success in whatever field you’re in.

Top 5 Communication Skills  

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Without a Plan Your Internal Communication Efforts May Be Falling Flat

I gave a presentation on employee communications recently to a group of about 80 HR people representing about 60 different organizations. I asked the group, through a show of hands, to indicate how many had an internal communication plan. None. Wow. Conversely, a majority of the group had Continue reading “Without a Plan Your Internal Communication Efforts May Be Falling Flat”

Are You Overlooking Your Most Important Audience?

I’m often surprised that the most overlooked audience when it comes to communicating with key constituents is the internal or employee audience. Companies are generally pretty good about recognizing that they need to communicate with customers and prospects, but employees tend to be an afterthought. This may be because of the assumption that Continue reading “Are You Overlooking Your Most Important Audience?”

Motivating Today’s Employees: When the Carrot Can’t Always Be Cash

I have been interested in remote work for a number of years. Working in corporate communications while also doing freelance writing for a number of years when a company I was working for was going through a merger and planning to relocate its headquarters I thought: “why couldn’t I work for them—or some other company—remotely?”

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Creating a Plan to Improve Corporate Communications

Effective corporate communication has always been important. Now, though, in a hybrid and continuing uncertain corporate environment, it’s more important than ever for organizations to determine how effective their corporate communications efforts are, and what adjustments or improvements need to be made to keep employees engaged, productive, and employed!
What worked pre-pandemic almost certainly doesn’t work anymore. It’s critical that corporate communications and HR staff work together to create a strategy and plan for moving forward.

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Battling Blind Spots to Boost Management and Marketing Effectiveness

Unconscious bias results in bias that can make us miss out on different perspectives to make better marketing decisions.

Blindspots are something we all have based on our past experiences, interactions with others, and the opinions and values we’ve formed over time. I remember learning early in my career about the Johari Window in a leadership seminar I attended. It’s a model designed to help us understand and improve communications through the recognition that we all are impacted by the things we don’t know. Human nature is such that each of us has biases and blind spots that we’re generally not aware of.

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Best Practices for Managing Remotely (You Already Know These…)

Man Working From Home Having Online Group Videoconference On Laptop

Over the past several months I’ve been very interested, even excited, to see how well the forced experiment with remote work has evolved. Since 2008 I’ve been working remotely. Even prior to that, I had several writing clients that I worked remotely for; most I’ve never met. Continue reading “Best Practices for Managing Remotely (You Already Know These…)”

What Your Employees Don’t Know Could Hurt You: How Effective Communication Builds Strong Brand Ambassadors

I’m often surprised that the most overlooked audience, when it comes to communicating with key constituents, is the internal or employee audience. Companies are generally pretty good about recognizing that they need to communicate with customers and prospects, but employees tend to be an afterthought. This may be because of the assumption that since employees are part of the organization they somehow “know” what’s going on. After all, it was in the newsletter or on Slack, wasn’t it? The fact of the matter, though, is that companies can’t leave it to chance that employees are paying attention to the messages they’re sending, or that they understand which are the key messages that they should be paying attention to. Continue reading “What Your Employees Don’t Know Could Hurt You: How Effective Communication Builds Strong Brand Ambassadors”

Capitalizing on the Big Benefits of a Growing Gig Economy

video marketingWho could have predicted the rapid expansion of remote work and the “gig economy”? While the gig economy had already been making the news due to the emergence of companies like Uber and Lyft prior to the pandemic, the pandemic had had a significant impact on how companies are using and will continue to use remote workers in the future.

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How Will Your “New Normal” Impact Your Desired Corporate Culture?

Every organization has a culture whether it has worked hard to establish one or not. Just like brands, cultures exist whether we are deliberate about defining, nurturing, and managing culture or not. In fact, organizations often have multiple cultures just as they may have multiple brands. The process, far simplified, for managing both is the same:

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