Communication skills are one of the most valuable abilities that employers look for, as they are central to many professions and play an important role in most.
Having people skills on your resume shows that you are a team player, a confident speaker, and an excellent communicator, which shows that you are the right person for the role you want.
That’s why, in this article, we’re going to show you:
- How to describe communication skills
- Why communication skills for your resume are important
- 10 communication skills examples
Along with the tips below, you can use our AI resume builder to generate suggestions to easily add communication skills to your application that are tailored to the job you want.
Keep reading to understand how to add the best communication skills that will impress hiring managers.
How to Emphasize Communication Skills on Your Resume
There can be no doubt that good communication skills are very much in demand by employers. In fact, according to a Graduate Management Admission Council survey in 2023, 70% of employers globally indicated communication is an important skill. It was also listed as number 1 in LinkedIn’s Most In-Demand Skills for 2024.
Any examples you can demonstrate will give you a real edge over the competition. That’s why you need to show this on your resume.
There are many ways to back up this claim and to give a more detailed summary of why you’re effective at getting information across. When you’re drafting your resume or cover letter, a few of the following terms can really help you get the attention of the recruiter:
- Emphasize that you are a good listener if possible
- Demonstrate that you have above-average writing skills
- Explain how you’ve facilitated communication in remote or hybrid environments
- Show that you can work effectively with large groups of people
- Provide examples of how you’ve used different tools, such as Slack, Teams, or Google Workspace, to communicate in remote jobs to organize your teams
- Demonstrate your capacity to work with a wide variety of employees and clients
- Give examples of successful presentations and professional speeches
These skills can be added to almost any part of the resume, from the skills section all the way to the work experience section to a segment on your hobbies and interests.
As long as you can back your communication skills up with positive examples such as the ones below.
Top 10 Communication Skills for Workplace Success
If you can clearly show that you have strong communication skills on your resume you will increase your chances of getting a first interview as they are some of the best skills to put on a resume. Think about each point from the following communication skills list and think of examples when you have demonstrated them.
1. Writing
Writing is a daily part of many jobs and it is an important part of communication. Most office jobs and call center jobs involve writing emails and written communication with colleagues. What have you written? Who was it to? What did it achieve? Include this in your resume.
Examples of workplace written communications you have been responsible for could include:
- Performance reports
- Proposals
- Meeting summaries
- Business plans
- Marketing materials
- Memos
- Customer service emails
You could include information about how you have used written communications effectively in your work experience bullet points.
Example:
Crafted professional reports, presentations, and email correspondence to effectively convey complex information to diverse audiences, resulting in a 15% increase in client engagement.
2. Mentoring
Providing one-to-one guidance shows that you have a range of key communication skills, such as listening, empathy, and giving advice and feedback. You can use a bullet point on your resume to highlight the progress of the individual.
3. Negotiating
Aside from the obvious financial benefits, good negotiators offer companies the ability to persuade other people. This involves getting points across clearly as well as reading other people (non-verbal communication). You can include this in a job description or in an achievements section on your resume.
Some types of negotiation skills that you can mention include:
- Salary and compensation negotiations
- Conflict resolution
- Role and responsibility allocation
- Budget and resource allocation
- Vendor and supplier agreements
4. Verbal communication
Verbal communication skills are important in most jobs and are essential in customer service, sales, PR, and any role that involves speaking on the phone. If verbal communication has been featured in your past job roles, you should highlight it, as it shows that you have strong social skills.
You can add these types of verbal communication skills to your resume to show you can effectively deliver a message to your coworkers or clients:
- Conflict de-escalation
- Positive framing
- Providing feedback
- Tailored communication
- Active listening
5. Teamwork
Being an effective team member involves being able to communicate and share ideas with your colleagues. You need to have good listening and verbal skills to cooperate with others. If you have worked as part of a team, you should include it as one of your resume communication skills.
Example:
Collaborated with a cross-functional team of 8 to successfully launch a new product, ensuring clear communication, conflict resolution, and alignment on goals, resulting in a 15% increase in sales within 6 months.
6. Presentations
Giving presentations shows that you can engage with large audiences. It shows that you have a range of skills, including verbal communication. It is an impressive communication skill as not everyone is comfortable with public speaking, and it is important in many jobs.
Example:
Delivered engaging presentations to stakeholders, effectively explaining project updates and securing approval for a $500K budget increase.
7. Empathy
Communicators who are able to empathize with others understand how someone is feeling and the reason for their communication, as well as how to communicate back. Empathy not only helps you to read the room in team meetings, but it also helps you gain perspective and understanding, which helps when communicating.
8. Listening
If you can listen to someone and take in everything they are saying, you can communicate back well. Communicating with people is not solely about talking. In fact, a lot of the time, it is about listening. This applies to both employees and bosses. Communication is a two-way street, and everyone should be open to listening.
9. Confidence
Communicating with confidence will ensure that you are taken seriously (…depending on the point that you’re making) and help to make others listen, as well. If you communicate your idea half-heartedly, others might not listen or take your idea on board. Believe in yourself, be confident, and your communication will instantly improve.
10. Open-mindedness
Communicating with an open mind is the best way to propose ideas, receive feedback, or engage in discussions. Sometimes, when we plan our suggestions and proposals, we imagine our responses.
It is better to approach any communicative situation with an open mind as we don’t always receive these expected responses. Being open-minded also helps us to take on other suggestions and try new things.
How To Improve Your Communication Skills
If you feel you don’t have these skills or that they’re behind your other skills, there are a number of things you can do.
Follow these tips to improve your communication skills:
- Practice active listening: Practice maintaining eye contact, avoiding interruptions, and summarizing what they’ve said.
- Expand your vocabulary: Read more and practice using new words in conversations to convey your ideas more effectively.
- Join public speaking groups: Try joining organizations like Toastmasters to practice your public speaking.
- Ask for feedback: Ask colleagues, friends, or mentors for constructive feedback on how you communicate and work to learn what you need to improve on.
- Practice being brief: Whether writing or speaking, try to use concise statements.
Once you have improved some key communication skills, you can use our resume builder, which can tailor your resume to the job description to help show you have effective communication skills.
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