Bridgia

Communication & Persuasion

Industry Skill

Overview of Communication and Persuasion Skills

It is the ability to express yourself clearly in writing, speaking and other forms of conveying ideas and information. It encompasses listening actively, reading with understanding, communicating your thoughts clearly, and articulating your ideas with conviction when needed. All these are necessary to collaborate with and influence others toward achieving a desired goal.

In the industry, you need to share your ideas with colleagues while also communicating with clients, customers, and business partners. You may need to interact with clients or customers—for which you would need to be able to listen to understand their needs and make relevant recommendations.

“As the public relations officer of a campus socio-cultural group, I put my communication and persuasion skills into use by interfacing with the university leadership. I wrote proposals and made presentations which resulted in the university approving the first cultural day on campus.”

The STAR method of communication is one of the most popular techniques used in interviews, responding to essays and most especially for sharing experiences. It follows the Situation (the circumstances), Task (the responsibilities, assignments), Action (what you did in response to the Task), and Result (the outcome of your action) template. Other communication techniques are SOARA, storytelling and repetition for reinforcement.

Be confident to express your opinion in gatherings in class, project meetings, and extracurricular activities. Do not shy away from opportunities to represent your group, class or university at events where individual or group presentations may be required or to be the voice of others when selected to do so. 

This skill is valuable in service industries and career disciplines from the need to interact with people in getting things done.

The top industries of relevance are:

  • Consulting
  • Higher Education 
  • Transport & Logistics
  • Information & Communication Technology
  • Business Services


This skill is valuable in all career disciplines. However, the top career disciplines are:

  • Consulting
  • Finance
  • Design and Engineering
  • Policy and Development
  • Information Technology

Movies

  • Selma
  • Steve Jobs
  • The Pursuit of Happiness
  • Thank You for Smoking
  • The Boiler Room


Books

  • Made to Stick by Dan and Chip Heath
  • Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
  • The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie
  • Everyone Communicates, Few Connect by John C. Maxwell.
  • Enhancement by Guy Kawasaki


Podcasts

  • How Can I Say This
  • Mindful Communication Podcast
  • The Lost Art of Communication
  • Superstar Communicator podcast
  • Talk About Talk – Communication Skills Training

Communication and Persuasion Techniques

Other Industry Skills