7 Better Ways To Say “Communication Skills” On Your CV

“Communication skills” can be a very broad term. It can also be overused, to the point where many employers won’t care much about reading it. So, we want to make sure our CVs stand out from the crowd. This article will show you better alternatives for “communication skills.”

What Can I Say Instead Of “Communication Skills” On My CV?

There are a few really good ways to list that you have “communication skills” in your CV. Rather than those two simple words, try one of these:

• Excellent written and verbal skills
• Articulate and professional speaking abilities
• Empathic listener and persuasive speaker
• Creative writing skills
• Factual writing skills
• Plenty of experience speaking in public
• Excellent presentation and negotiation skills

The preferred version is “excellent written and verbal skills.” This phrase works well because it’s less general than “communication skills.” It allows us to highlight exactly where our skills lie, and we can usually give examples from that to aid our CV further.

Excellent Written And Verbal Skills

“Excellent written and verbal skills” works really well when we want to impress people with our communication skills. Rather than keeping it simple, we use more specific language to show that we can write and speak very well. Often, it helps to give examples for this.

Like many other things in your CV, it helps to provide relevant information. Simply saying you have “excellent written and verbal skills” may not be enough.

Instead, you should make sure to include things that you’ve done that have led you to such skills. For example, if you’ve studied for years at college, you might have picked up these skills. Similarly, you might have got them from a job that had you working the phones all day.

There are plenty of different ways we can get these skills. It would turn your CV into a much more appetizing read for your employer if you can find a good way to list the skills you’ve achieved and where they’ve come from.

Check out some examples to help you understand it better:

• I have developed excellent written and verbal skills from my time working in the office and manning the phones.
• My excellent written and verbal skills have gotten me far in my previous career, and I wish to take it further with you.
• I have excellent written and verbal skills. I attribute these to my time as a customer assistant in my local grocery store.

Articulate And Professional Speaking Abilities

“Articulate and professional speaking abilities” is another great way to specify your communication skills. This time, we’re focusing on our ability to speak. “Articulate” means we do not mumble and are clear, which is ideal for many workers in many industries.

You can use this phrase in the same way as we mentioned above. Make sure that you always include reasons why you have achieved these skills. That will always set your CV one above the rest of every other CV that an employer reads.

Using this is a good way of showing that you are a good speaker. These skills will be translatable to almost any job, though it will definitely benefit you if you’re going into an industry that will rely on your speaking abilities.

Here are a few examples to show you how it works:

• I am an articulate and professional speaker. I have achieved these abilities through my time presenting business meetings to the board.
• I have articulate and professional speaking abilities from practicing my acting skills at my local school.
• The articulate and professional speaking abilities I have achieved from this workplace are unlike any others.

Empathic Listener And Persuasive Speaker

“Empathic listener and persuasive speaker” is yet another way to highlight more specific communication skills. This time, we are showing an employer that we’re particularly good at having conversations. This is a desirable trait for management candidates.

If a manager can listen well to their employees and speak in ways that will persuade others, they’ll have an easy time doing whatever their job is. That’s why these kinds of skills are highly sought after by most of the industry.

Again, make sure you clarify where these skills come from. It’s easy to pretend you have skills that don’t apply to you in a CV, and employers expect that. If you can prove where they came from, you’ll be putting yourself in a much better position.

Check out these examples to see how it works:

• I am an empathic listener and persuasive speaker. I have managed three teams already where I picked up on these skills.
• I am an empathic listener and persuasive speaker because I spend a lot of time talking to others to make sure they are keeping their morale high.
• I think of myself as an empathic listener and persuasive speaker and have proved this time and again in various business encounters.

Creative Writing Skills

“Creative writing skills” is a little more simple than some of the others. It doesn’t require any real stretches, as long as you have the ability to think creatively and write skillful stories based on this. While these skills aren’t useful everywhere, they can still get you great jobs.

Creativity is one of the most desirable traits you can find in a candidate. Someone who is able to think outside the box and come up with fresh, new solutions will always be prime for hiring.

That’s why using “creative writing skills” is a great way to show how you think. Many employers in creative industries (or ones that heavily rely on problem-solving) will look to you as their solution in the hiring process.

You can use it as follows:

• I have developed many creative writing skills and have managed to publish three books under my name.
• The creative writing skills I have developed from my English degree prove that I’m able to think about abstract ideas at a moment’s notice.
• I pride myself on my creative writing skills, which I have developed over a long career writing children’s books.

Factual Writing Skills

“Factual writing skills” are similar to those we mentioned above. However, this time, we are talking about researching facts and figures and writing them down in a concise way that appeals to readers. This is an entirely different skill that can be useful to employers.

Using this phrase will prove to an employer that you’re good at research. It also shows that you’re capable of going out of your way to finding the answer to questions that other people might not know.

We can use this phrase in the following ways:

• I have developed many writing skills based on factual evidence that I’ve studied over my years in the industry.
• The factual writing skills I have acquired from the university course are unparalleled.
• I have many factual writing skills and have even published a research paper detailing all there is to know about this topic.

Plenty Of Experience Speaking In Public

“Plenty of experience speaking in public” is a great skill because “public speaking” is often overlooked. In fact, many people are fearful of public speaking. If you can show that you are not scared of it in a few seconds on your CV, you’ll stand out from the crowd.

“Speaking in public” isn’t something that comes up in every job. However, if you are intending to apply for jobs that might have important meetings in front of a large group of people, you might find that you’ll stand out with a skill like this.

Even if the above situation isn’t the case, you can still list this skill. Many people will look at a skill like this and be impressed even if there isn’t much public speaking available in the job description.

Check out these examples to see them in action:

• I have plenty of experience speaking in public because I was on the school’s debate team.
• I have delivered thirteen different meetings with former companies, and I have plenty of experience speaking in public because of this.
• I have plenty of experience speaking in public because of my time as a presenter in the local theater.

Excellent Presentation And Negotiation Skills

“Excellent presentation and negotiation skills” is one more trait we want to cover. Again, it’s a slightly more specific way of using “communication skills.” This time, we use “presentation” and “negotiation” to highlight very particular skills that can be useful.

Typically, skills like this will be useful to mention in industries where “negotiation” is common. Anywhere where you may need to argue down prices or fight to keep customers on board is a great way to show off this skill set.

These examples will help you understand how it works:

• I have excellent presentation and negotiation skills because of my time working in this industry.
• My excellent presentation and negotiation skills will set me above the rest, and you will find all the things I have done related to this enclosed.
• I have excellent presentation and negotiation skills. Both of which I’m sure you will find particularly useful for this role.

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