Steven Herman, Ph.D.

You might think that 21st century communication skills refer to understanding how to use technology for communication and collaboration. 21st century communication skills include the technology, but that is only one part. The availability of 21st century communication technology means that people collaborate and work together on solving problems more than ever before. For students to be successful in school and their careers, they must be adept at using the communication technology to work effectively with other people. 21st century communication skills are:

• Critical thinking skills

  • Careful thinking directed to a goal (see Critical Thinking)​

• Writing skills

  • Writing ideas clearly so that a reader understands your thoughts is an essential skill​

• Speaking skills

  • You also have to be able to describe your skills orally, support your ideas with evidence, and be able to answer questions, so that a listener can understand your ideas​

• Design skills

  • In today's world we communicate not only with words, but with images, graphics, videos and objects. ​

• Creative skills

  • The tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others (see Creativity)

• Technological skills

  • Proficiency with collaboration tools (such as Zoom or Google Meet), productivity tools (office applications, spreadsheets, presentation software, creative software), online publishing tools, and social media tools.​

• Emotional skills

  • Emotional intelligence - understanding how other people feel, how your words and actions will affect them, creating an environment in which people feel safe and can collaborate (see Collaboration)​

• Leadership skills

  • Leaders have a vision of what they want to achieve and the communication skills to share their vision with other people​