Effective business communication skills

Clear and effective business communication skills are essential for running a successful business, but due to the different experiences and backgrounds of each client, it’s not always easy.

This section provides advice on a wide range of business communication skills including explaining difficult concepts, avoiding business jargon, managing anger and managing difficult conversations. It also looks at specific types of communication including telephone sales techniques and informal business communication.

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Communication skills articles

• Business writing: How to tidy up sentences

  Do you want to express yourself better in your business writing? Then tidy up your sentences. Looking closely at sentence length and structure will help make your words work for you.

  • 11 May 09
  • Mary Morel
  • 3 Comments

• Tips for writing marketing material

  As soloists, most of us have to write our own marketing material whether or not we enjoy writing. Often we’re so busy thinking about what we want to say that we lose sight of our audience. Even experienced writers can fall into this trap.

  • 23 March 09
  • Mary Morel
  • 4 Comments

• Designing written communication

  When working on a piece of written communication it is easy to focus on the words and overlook the design of the message. Here’s how to craft your message perfectly.

  • 30 January 09
  • Zern Liew
  • 5 Comments

• Why good writing skills are important

  Many solo business owners are passionate about good writing skills and the English language. Clients are passionate about this, too, and many will buy elsewhere if the writing is bad.

  • 26 January 09
  • Lucinda Lions
  • 13 Comments

• Styles in modern business writing

  First impressions count and we usually judge a piece of business writing on its visual appearance before we’ve even read a word.

  • 21 November 08
  • Mary Morel
  • 8 Comments

• Punctuation rules: Correct use of apostrophes

  With so many different punctuation rules that need to be followed when writing the English language, it can sometimes get confusing. This article outlines the correct use of apostrophes.

  • 13 October 08
  • Mary Morel
  • 12 Comments

• Tips for self-editing and proofreading

  As most soloists can’t afford to pay a proofreader to edit their writing, the occasional typo is inevitable. However, to make sure your final copy is as good as possible, here are some tips for self-editing and proofreading.

  • 05 September 08
  • Mary Morel
  • 14 Comments

• Business communication styles: mobile vs email

  There’s nothing like an article on mobile phone manners to get people stirred up, as Megan Tough’s piece proved. In this article I look at the mobile vs email debate. Which business communication style do you prefer?

  • 06 May 08
  • Sam Leader
  • 40 Comments

• Communication skills and techniques: Showing empathy

  As part of our lives as solopreneurs, we come across many different people who hold many different view points. To deal effectively with those who have a different opinion to our own, empathy is an important communication technique to develop.

  • 07 December 07
  • Zern Liew
  • 5 Comments

• Ten tips on how to avoid business jargon

  Business jargon can be misleading, confusing and boring, but as a soloist it is a trap we can easily fall into without even realising it. Here are ten tips on how to avoid business jargon and learn to speak a language your clients will understand.

  • 12 October 07
  • Megan Hills
  • 3 Comments

• Writing style guidelines

  I’ve been working on some writing style guidelines designed to help our new contributors write their articles. I thought I’d share some highlights in the hope they’ll assist your own writing.

  • 11 September 07
  • Sam Leader
  • 30 Comments

• What it means to be a good communicator

  Judging by our recent poll results, we reckon we're very good communicators. 70% of respondents describe their ability to communicate as 'higher than average'.

  • 21 August 07
  • Sam Leader
  • 25 Comments

• Clear communication: how to explain difficult concepts

  Do you ever struggle when trying to explain difficult concepts? Clear communication is important in business, but due to the different experiences and backgrounds of each of your clients, it is not always easy.

  • 10 August 07
  • Jess Tyler
  • 5 Comments

• Typos and other errors: Dealing with mistakes

  With delightful regularity, we receive feedback from the solo community offering some form of praise for the work we do here at Flying Solo. Occasionally, though, we'll receive a comment dealing with mistakes where the karma isn't so good.

  • 10 July 07
  • Sam Leader
  • 69 Comments

• Effective Communication: Facing the frustration of "you don't understand!"

  Do you ever get stuck trying to communicate a certain understanding of something? No matter what you say or how hard you try to make yourself plain, the person on the other end is just not getting it. So why aren't you having effective communication?

  • 07 May 07
  • Kath O'Sullivan
  • 7 Comments

• Telephone sales techniques: Preparing for calls to prospective clients

  The telephone is a communication vehicle where you only have one chance to make a first impression and like many aspects of the business development process, preparation can dramatically enhance your telephone sales techniques.

  • 28 March 07
  • Richard Woodward
  • 3 Comments

• How managing anger helps you communicate

  Managing anger enables you to diffuse conflict and open a new way to communicate that’s powerful and authentic and serves all relationships - at work, in love and even with phone operators.

  • 05 March 07
  • Kath O'Sullivan
  • 5 Comments

• Why informal communication styles work

  For years, experts have been telling us it is essential to adopt a formal, professional communication style. But I believe it is way more powerful to drop the formality and add some humanity back into communication.

  • 26 February 07
  • Megan Tough
  • 7 Comments

• Verbal communication skills: Improving your verbal skills

  It's easy for soloists to let their verbal communication skills lapse. If you worry about what to say at a networking event and would rather email than pick up the phone, your verbal skills may be a bit rusty.

  • 19 January 07
  • Sue Currie
  • 9 Comments

• Business communication skills: Throw away your crystal ball

  You don't need psychic powers to work well with your clients, but you do need to be an effective communicator. Here are five steps that will make a huge difference to your business communication skills... and take away the guess work for good.

  • 29 September 06
  • Kath O'Sullivan
  • 6 Comments

• Get personal for effective business communication

  Has modern technology stifled effective business communication and depersonalised our relationships with our nearest and dearest? Is a text message as meaningful as a hand-written note? I think not.

  • 25 August 06
  • Karen Morath
  • 5 Comments

• Effective communication skills: Managing difficult conversations

  Effective communication skills are critical to running a successful business. However, every now and again, we inevitably have difficult conversations. Here are some tips on how to face up to the task.

  • 04 October 05
  • John Raymond

• Client communication skills: The Power of saying 'No'

  One of the most important client communication skills soloists need to master is the ability of saying ‘no’ to certain requests.

  • 06 July 05
  • Sam Leader
  • 2 Comments