A List Of Free Courses For Improving Your Communication Skills

Soft skills are sometimes referred to as transferable skills or professional skills. As this term implies, these are skills that are less specialised, less rooted in specific vocations and more aligned with the general disposition and personality of a person. This article focuses on communication as a soft skill.

As with many other professions, the success and effectiveness of business analysis work relies heavily on communication skills. Clarity, conciseness and accuracy are particularly important in getting one’s ideas across and communicating business requirements. Communication can happen in different forms, e.g. verbal and non-verbal, and is one of the underlying competencies BAs (and many other professionals) are expected to have to be successful on the job. As with any other skill, it can be learned with sufficient knowledge and practice.

A key aspect of communication is listening. Listening is an important skill to have, especially in today’s world where multiple activities compete for our attention.

Interested in improving your communication and listening skills this year?

Take advantage of this compilation of courses from Coursera to improve your communication skills. Where a course is not offered for free indefinitely, financial aid is available.

  1. Communicating Business Analytics Results, from University of Colorado Boulder

  2. Business English Communication Skills Specialization from the University of Washington

  3. Improve Your English Communication Skills Specialization, offered by Georgia Institute of Technology

  4. Data Analysis and Presentation Skills: The PwC Approach Specialization

  5. Effective Communication: Writing, Design, and Presentation Specialization, offered by the University of Colorado Boulder

  6. Communication in the 21st Century Workplace, offered by the University of California, Irvine

  7. Engaging in Persuasive and Credible Communication, offered by National University of Singapore

  8. Business English for Cross-cultural Communication, offered by the The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

  9. Effective Communication in the Globalised Workplace Specialization, offered by National University of Singapore

  10. Intercultural Communication and Conflict Resolution, from the University of California, Irvine

  11. Leading With Effective Communication (Inclusive Leadership Training) course, offered by CatalystX,

There are best practices to be aware of in order to become a good communicator. If it doesn’t come naturally to you, the aforementioned resources will help you on your journey to communicating effectively.

Do you know of any other free courses that can help to improve your communication skills? Please leave a comment below.