Essential Business Communication Skills and Tips for Students

Many workplaces are pure meritocracies in which workers advance through their skills, applied knowledge and hard work. One key component of business success, that many students may overlook, is communication. All types of business communication skills, such as verbal and written forms, serve to provide an impression of your capabilities.

You can set the right tone and convey competence by using effective business communication. You can begin practicing and refining your communication skills while you're a business major so you will be ready to communicate with confidence in the workplace when the time comes.

In This Article:

• Verbal Business Communication Tips
• Be Mindful of Nonverbal Communication Cues
• Business Email Advice
• Social Media Communication Guidance
• Use Professional Communication Skills on IMs

Verbal Business Communication Tips

In the workplace, it’s a good idea to project confidence, provided it’s not false confidence. When discussing with other professionals, know that it’s acceptable to pause for a few seconds before responding to a question. This lets the other person know that you’re giving the question serious consideration. Plus, it gives you time to develop an intelligent response.

You can also project confidence by avoiding filler words. It’s widely known that “um” and “uh” ought to be avoided. However, you might be using more filler words than you realize. Many people overuse the following words and phrases: “actually,” “just,” “to be honest,” and “you know.”

People may not be fully aware of the filler words they overuse. Ask your friends and family to help you identify the filler words you commonly use in conversations. Then, work on cutting them out of your vocabulary.

Another important consideration in verbal communication skills is the directness of your speech. In general, it’s best to be as direct and concise as possible. For example, instead of giving this vague feedback: “Josh, do you think you could work on improving that Flanders proposal?” you might say this: “Josh, will you have time to revise the Flanders proposal this afternoon? I have a list of suggestions I can email to you.”

Although directness is usually desirable, there may be times when it’s best to start the conversation in a less direct manner. For example, let’s say you know that your coworker, Josh, put a lot of effort into the Flanders proposal. However, the client isn’t satisfied.

So, you might start the conversation by saying something like: “Josh, I thought you did a great job on the Flanders proposal. It’s well-written and comprehensive. However, I do have a few suggestions for you.” Josh will be left with the impression that you appreciate his hard work and you understand the task was a difficult one.

You can also try these additional verbal communication tips:

• Ask for clarification when needed. 
• Utilize various communication tools.
• Gain stronger insight by asking open-ended questions.
• Try to understand your audience better by imagining yourself in their shoes.
• Don’t be afraid to use office-appropriate humor when called for.
• Vary your tone of voice and use inflection but embrace an overall tone of voice that is friendly, warm and positive.
• If you must disagree with someone, try agreeing with them first. For example, say: “I definitely see that departmental spending was up last quarter, and that’s something we need to keep an eye on. However, do you think it had something to do with the increased workload?”
• Read more about the power of communication.

Be Mindful of Nonverbal Communication Cues

Not all business communication is verbal. Your nonverbal communication cues will speak volumes about yourself. Nonverbal cues can serve to convey interest and confidence.

Try the following tips to improve your nonverbal communication skills:

• Use body language and facial expressions that suggests you are approachable and open to collaboration. Avoid crossing your arms and instead maintain an “open” posture with your body oriented toward the other person. 
• Stay relaxed but avoid slouching. 
• Show interest and engagement by maintaining eye contact for a few seconds before looking away briefly. 
• During meetings, avoid fidgeting and doodling. Keep your head upright and try to avoid resting your head in your hand.
• Try not to look at the clock, your watch or your phone when talking to others and during meetings.
• Practice active listening when in conversation.

You’ll also want to pay attention to the nonverbal communication cues of others. If you’re meeting with a client who looks at their watch or phone often, then you should assume they are pressed for time and would appreciate wrapping up the meeting as quickly as possible. Similarly, if you’re speaking with someone who appears disengaged with what you’re saying, perhaps it’s time to ask that person a few open-ended questions to steer the conversation toward the issues that matter to them.

Business Email Advice

Email is widely used in all types of organizations. It’s usually best to err on the side of caution and maintain a higher level of formality in your emails. In other words, avoid using emojis, slang and any abbreviations that are not widely used in the industry.

When beginning your email, be sure to use a clear and specific subject line. For example, instead of using this subject line: “Tuesday’s Meeting” you could use: “Agenda Document for Tuesday’s Meeting on Investor Relations.” Professionals are often swamped with many business emails every day, and specific subject lines can help them keep their tasks organized.

Start your email with a formal greeting, such as “Dear Ms. Garcia.” “Hi Jeanette” may also work if you’re emailing a client or colleague with whom you’ve worked in the past. If your initial email results in a lot of back-and-forth emails, it’s acceptable to drop the greeting in these subsequent emails.

The body of your email should be concise and direct. Get right to the point while maintaining a professional tone. After writing the email, set it aside for a few minutes and then re-read it with fresh eyes. Correct typos and grammar mistakes, ensure correct capitalization and determine whether it would be possible for the recipient to misinterpret your tone. If so, revise as needed.

Here are a few other tips for exercising professional communication skills and writing better business emails:

• It’s usually best to avoid responding to work emails immediately, especially if the message is not clear. Let the information percolate in your brain for a few minutes and then ask yourself if you truly understood the content before forming a response.
• Always send work-related emails from your work email account — not your personal email.
• If you’re writing to someone with the honorific “Dr.” always address that person as “Dr. (last name)” as a sign of respect.
• Use a sign-off above your email signature, such as “Best regards” or “Warm regards.” Simply writing “Thank you!” can also work well.
• Double-check the list of recipients before clicking “send.” In many cases, it’s advisable to do a “reply all” if everyone who is cc’d needs a particular update on the project. In other cases, you won’t want to reply to everyone attached to the email.

Social Media Communication Guidance

If you are responsible for managing the company’s social media accounts, you must always follow your employer’s style guidelines when composing posts. Always strive to portray the company in a positive light and to write content that aligns with the company’s brand voice. Avoid potentially controversial statements — whether visual or written.

Outside of the company’s social media accounts, millions of employees have their own personal profiles. You do not need to follow strict grammar rules on your own personal posts. However, be aware that some companies monitor their employees’ personal accounts.

At-will workers and some contract employees may be subject to discipline if they post content that shares proprietary secrets or disparages their coworkers, supervisors or customers. Even if you have privacy settings enabled, it’s possible for your posts to become public knowledge. Always exercise caution and discretion. The same applies to personal websites and blogs.

Follow these social media communication tips:

• Always think before you post. Avoid posting as a knee-jerk reaction to something that upsets you. Instead, set it aside for a few hours or even a few days and then reconsider your post.
• Post in a way that is respectful to others. Follow the golden rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated.
• Remember to maintain confidentiality as needed. If you’ve signed an NDA that protects the identities of your company’s clients, you can’t discuss those clients on your personal social media accounts.
• Similarly, be mindful of the spread of disinformation on social media sites. Avoid participating, however unwitting, as this can reflect poorly on your company.

Use Professional Communication Skills on IMs

These days, many workplaces use instant messenger (IM) apps such as Slack. These apps can make business communication between coworkers more efficient and quicker, particularly for organizations that have remote workers or multiple offices in varying locations. However, apps like Slack tend to encourage informality.

While this is often acceptable (depending on the workplace), you’ll still want to be mindful of these etiquette tips:

• Always be respectful of others. Avoid using language that may be considered offensive.
• Only send messages when communication is needed to avoid causing frequent distractions.
• Keep your messages concise; be mindful of others’ time constraints.
• Try to avoid lengthy blocks of text. Use the app’s formatting features to make text more readable.
• Use threads when called for to reduce the number of message notifications to non-participating channel members.
• If you need to coordinate something with more than one person but not with an entire channel, create a group message.

At Grand Canyon University’s Colangelo College of Business, students are taught how to develop invaluable communication, critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills while preparing for their future career. Choose from a wide array of modern degree programs, such as the Bachelor of Science in Business Management degree.