Communication is not only important for a recent graduate but throughout their career and life. There’s a reason you’ll so often see “excellent communication skills” in the job listings you’re looking at.
Communication is all about passing on a concept or idea to another person. You have a doctor’s appointment coming up and you need the day off or you did an internship in this field and here’s an example of what you learned from it. Sharing these ideas effectively is a skill but don’t worry, it’s easy to learn!
In this article we’re going to explain what verbal communication is, why it’s important to you as a recent graduate, and some strategies to improve your communication going forward.
What is verbal communication?
Verbal communication isn’t just the obvious stuff like talking, it also includes written language and even sign language. So yes, that’s right, it’s a skill for all the endless emails and replies you’re getting and a skill we’re using to communicate with you.
So if talking during your interview is verbal communication, but so are your emails and even this article… How are they the same?
The simple answer is they’re not. Most of your experiences with verbal communication won’t be in the form of mass communication (like this article) but instead between people, in group work, or public speaking.
What are the different types of verbal communication?
Interpersonal Communication
Included in one of the most common ways you’ll be communicating interpersonal communication is between two or more people. Talking to who you’re shadowing in the workplace? That’s this. But so is an email to your boss. However, when you move up from a couple of people, and get to a few, it’s now small group communication.
Small Group Communication
When three or more people are talking together, that's small group communication. You might run into this in team discussions, a board meeting, or a group interview. When the job listing reads “can work well in a team” small group communication skills are a part of that.
Public Communication
While you might not run into public communication right away as a recent graduate, if you’ve ever had to do public speaking you’ve had an experience with this kind of communication. Public communication is where one person is sharing information to a large group of people who are listening to the speaker. It might be pitching an idea to a large audience, or someone in a leadership position talking about the pillars of the company’s workplace culture.
Why is verbal communication important and how can you get better at it?
As a recent graduate, verbal communication is important because of how prevalent it is. For better or worse people love to talk. We talk about trivial things like the weather, we talk about important things like our goals, and we talk in order to figure out why you’re the right person for this job.
For that reason you’re going to be using your verbal communication skills from your very first application right through your whole career. It’s a skill you’re bound to practice even if you chose to ignore it, but given you’re reading this you’re not going to do that right? Well, here’s some advice:
Consider your tone
Tone of voice is how you come across to who you’re talking to through word choice, phrasing, inflection, and body language. To improve your tone of voice in verbal communication you can keep in mind throughout the conversation how you’re presenting yourself and the circumstances of the conversation.
For example, if you’re in an interview for a law firm you might talk more evenly and use more formal language whereas use the opposite if you’re interviewing at an alternative clothing brand.
Another way of improving your use of tone is practicing in advance. For an interview you can practice the content of your answer for common questions, how you’re going to say it (your tone of voice), and how you’re going to present yourself during the answer.
Listen carefully
You will have heard it since you were little but active listening is key to good verbal communication. Active listening is where you show you’re listening to what’s being said through verbal and non-verbal cues.
For example, when talking to another person you might give affirmative noises like “mhm” plus maintain eye contact and nod.
But that’s not where listening carefully ends. You shouldn’t just repeat to yourself “go mhm, maintain eye contact, nod”. Listening carefully doesn’t look like intense eye contact, noises, and nodding irrespective of the content of the conversation.
Instead, doing this when appropriate shows to the other person you’re talking to you’re listening in conjunction with thought out responses considering the content of what they have said.
To practice, simply try active listening and thoughtful responses in your day-to-day conversations. After all, practicing in a conversation with a stranger in line is much lower stakes than your next job interview.
Speak clearly
It might sound self explanatory but speaking clearly so you’re understood is key to good verbal communication. It saves others from not hearing what you said or mishearing what you said and getting the wrong idea.
We’re becoming faster and faster speakers and it’s impacting how clear we are due to clipped word endings and missing pauses. In order to speak more clearly, practice your pronunciation and try to stay aware of how quickly you’re talking. Are the words tumbling out or are the pauses as considered as the word choice?
Keep why you’re talking in mind
Communication is all about passing ideas back and forth. To do that effectively you need to know what information you’re trying to communicate in the first place. This will improve how succinct you are and how effective your verbal communication is.
So why were we talking?
Verbal communication is so prevalent that as a recent graduate it’s something you won’t be able to avoid. By understanding what it is, the environments it’s used in, and how you can try to improve your skills you’ll find yourself more able to engage in all social aspects of your life. Not only professionally, but also socially!