What are verbal communication skills?

Verbal communication skills refer to the ability to relay a message effectively through words. In the workplace, verbal communication occurs between coworkers, managers and subordinates, employees and customers and individuals from different departments. Members of your team utilize oral communication skills during presentations, meetings, interviews, coaching sessions, sales pitches and other circumstances.

What are examples of verbal communication?

The following are examples of verbal communication skills in various workplace situations:

Supervisors communicating with subordinates

• Asking follow-up questions to learn more
• Citing specific examples when explaining concepts or discussing disciplinary matters
• Employing affirmative phrases like “I understand” and “yes” to ensure that employees feel heard
• Explaining abstract or difficult concepts in an easy-to-understand manner when training and coaching
• Maintaining a calm tone of voice even in stressful situations
• Providing negative feedback in a constructive manner
• Responding to objections in a respectful and effective manner

Team members communicating with each other

• Asking questions to gather information or clarify concepts
• Maintaining control of emotions when conflicts arise
• Refraining from pointing the blame at other people when discussing wants and needs
• Restating concepts to ensure that they understand
• Soliciting opinions and feedback
• Using concise language to convey messages more expediently

Employees communicating with customers

• Actively listening to customers’ concerns rather than just thinking of what to say next
• Asking probing questions to determine needs or solve problems
• Apologizing sincerely and taking ownership of issues
• Explaining next steps in a clear, concise manner
• Highlighting the benefits of products or services by focusing on customers’ needs and wants
• Picking up on nonverbal cues that indicate a customer is unsure, confused or upset
• Using empathetic language to build rapport

Employees giving presentations

• Engaging the audience through humor and/or energy
• Picking up on nonverbal cues that the audience may no longer be following
• Projecting loudly enough to be heard throughout the room
• Referring to notes rather than reading from them
• Speaking slowly enough to be easily understood
• Tailoring the tone of the presentation to the audience
• Using facts and supportive statements to clarify and show the validity of key points

How to assess a candidate’s oral communication skills

Selecting candidates with strong oral communication skills can contribute to your company’s overall effort to improve organizational communication. To assess skills during face-to-face and virtual interviews, follow these steps:

1. Determine what types of verbal communication the position entails

Before you can begin to assess candidates’ verbal communication skills, you need a clear understanding of how they will put those skills into practice daily. Review the job description and compile a list of duties and responsibilities that involve oral communication skills. Think about who the new hire will communicate with by considering:

• Do they have contact with customers?
• Do they have contact with vendors or other constituents?
• Do they have supervisory responsibilities?
• Are they involved with training other employees?
• Are they responsible for coaching other employees?
• How much collaboration with team members and employees in other departments is necessary?
• Will they be communicating face-to-face? By phone? Through video-conferencing?
• Will presentations be a regular part of their job duties?

2. Identify desirable communication traits tailored to the position

Once you have fully explored the types of oral communication the position involves, identify a list of traits and abilities that might contribute to a new hire’s success. The nature of the expected communication should dictate these skills. For example, being able to read a customer’s nonverbal communication cues won’t be important for a customer service representative in a telephone call center, but the ability to ask open-ended, probing questions and explain next steps are likely to be important.

3. Develop questions that relate to verbal communication skills

Go through your list of key verbal communication skills and develop questions that relate to them. You can use some of these example questions or come up with questions of your own:

• Describe a time when you overcame an objection that a coworker, customer or subordinate had.
• What would you say if you had to deliver bad news to a customer?
• What would you do if you couldn’t understand what someone said because of their volume of speech or an accent?

4. Choose a few unique questions to ask

In addition to questions that relate directly to verbal communication skills, ask one or two unique questions. Imaginative or funny interview questions can give you a feel for how well a candidate communicates in unexpected circumstances.

5. Create an oral communication skills evaluation form

The final step toward preparing for an interview to assess communication skills is creating an evaluation sheet. You may wish to develop a point system to easily compare candidates’ skills side by side. Some things you may want to list on the form include:

• Comprehension
• Clarity and conciseness of explanations
• Evidence of active listening
• Thoroughness of answers