Can Science Careers Overlook Poor Communication Skills?

[brtgreen]

"Good Communication Skills"

Ok well right now I'm doing pretty good in all my EECS and math courses, but the problem is that I have horrendous communication skills. I am trying really hard to improve them but I don't seem to be getting that much better. I'm really frightened because every single job requires "good communication skills." Does anyone know any science careers where my poor communication skills won't be that much of a hindrance?

 

[fss]

Does anyone know any science careers where my poor communication skills won't be that much of a hindrance?

Nope. In fact, I am hard pressed to think of any career in which poor communications skills wouldn't be a serious hindrance to career advancement.

 

[revnaknuma]

academic career in theoretical physics does not require good communication skills.

 

[brtgreen]

Nope. In fact, I am hard pressed to think of any career in which poor communications skills wouldn't be a serious hindrance to career advancement.

uggh. my life sucks :/

i just feel that my degree is useless if I won't even be able to get a job at the end.

 

[Ryker]

Just keep working on it and I'm sure you'll get better at it. Try and see where your fears in regards to human contact lie and work on overcoming them. I figure it's not easy, but no one expects you to have communication skills of a frat boy, so just try and relax when meeting others. Don't try and say things you think you should say, though, but rather stuff you feel comfortable with. Sure, you're going to have to go out of your comfort zone first, but you don't have to get a total overhaul to reach the level of communication skills employers want.

 

[lisab]

Just keep working on it and I'm sure you'll get better at it. Try and see where your fears in regards to human contact lie and work on overcoming them. I figure it's not easy, but no one expects you to have communication skills of a frat boy, so just try and relax when meeting others. Don't try and say things you think you should say, though, but rather stuff you feel comfortable with. Sure, you're going to have to go out of your comfort zone first, but you don't have to get a total overhaul to reach the level of communication skills employers want.

Good advice.

brtgreen, what aspect of communication is particularly difficult for you - e.g., speaking one-on-one to someone, remembering spoken instructions, public speaking, or...? We may be able to give more specific advice.

 

[brtgreen]

Good advice.

brtgreen, what aspect of communication is particularly difficult for you - e.g., speaking one-on-one to someone, remembering spoken instructions, public speaking, or...? We may be able to give more specific advice.

I have trouble finding the right words to convey what I'm thinking. Words just don't come to me that fast.

 

[Null_]

Think of hanging out with your friends as "practice." The more comfortable you get around them, the more comfortable you'll be around lesser known individuals. Then, once you're comfortable talking around your friends, practice talking to others. If you are waiting in line at a restaurant, make a comment about someone's sport hat or school logo sweatshirt. The more comfortable you get at small talk, the more natural it becomes, which are skills easily passed in an interview.

Take this with a grain of salt though..I'm just a semi-social freshman whose only jobs are in fast food and tutoring...

 

[ehilge]

I have trouble finding the right words to convey what I'm thinking. Words just don't come to me that fast.

communication isn't just being able to have an immediate response to every question. Even if it takes you a few moments to formulate an idea, I would argue that that is preferential to someone who just says whatever happens to be bouncing around in their head. Does your school offer mock interviews? I realize this might be a bit intimidating right away. But then you have a person who can give you immediate feedback on how to formulate your words and can help you improve for the future. And remember, it is the job of the mock interviewer to help you improve your skills. There's nothing to lose.

Regardless, kudos to you for recognizing that you have a problem and trying to fix it. Many people wouldn't even go that far.

 

[berkeman]

Ok well right now I'm doing pretty good in all my EECS and math courses, but the problem is that I have horrendous communication skills. I am trying really hard to improve them but I don't seem to be getting that much better. I'm really frightened because every single job requires "good communication skills." Does anyone know any science careers where my poor communication skills won't be that much of a hindrance?

Kudos to you for thinking about this, and asking the right questions.

Communication skills can be learned over time with the right resources and practice. Here are two PF threads that will help to put this in perspective for you:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=182943

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=459782

Honestly, the practice is the main thing. And if you can arrange to have the initial practices in situations where others are learning the same skills (like Toastmasters or presentation skills seminars), that really helps to make the whole learning experience much easier.

.

 

[Pengwuino]

Wow someone who recognizes the need for good communication skills! I like!

One thing I like to do, and this sounds absolutely psychotic, is talk to yourself! For example, I'm a lab instructor. I know I have to explain a certain topic to my students this coming week. So what do I do? I explain it to myself. Out loud and multiple times and in different variations. I guess what kind of questions I might get during the lab and practice responding to them. In fact, as I write this, I'm verbally explaining to myself what I'm trying to say to you as I write this.

As you stated, your problem is words not coming to you in a timely manner. The thing to remember, as others have pointed out, is that you don't want to simply try to blurt something out. Whenever I get a question I usually say "ok..." then look off to the side, and gather what I'm about to say. Then I respond. If it's a complex question, I say "Ok, let me think about this for a second" and I take some extra time to think about it.

While there exists only a handful of jobs in the entire world where communication is unimportant, there are an equally small number of jobs that require you to immediately fire off responses without hesitation. In fact, I can't think of any... outside of being a political or sports commentator.

Although to be honest, I think political commentators are great examples of people with POOR communication skills as I have a feeling they spout off whatever the first nonsensical thought that pops into their head.

Also, I feel I've come a long way in the communications department and I've never had any help. There ARE many resources, as others have pointed out, that help people in this area. Heck, you can even ask friends to help you out. Simply have them ask you a question on something you already know and have them evaluate how you respond. The great thing about communication is that you don't have to be an expert to evaluate someones speech.

 

[chiro]

Ok well right now I'm doing pretty good in all my EECS and math courses, but the problem is that I have horrendous communication skills. I am trying really hard to improve them but I don't seem to be getting that much better. I'm really frightened because every single job requires "good communication skills." Does anyone know any science careers where my poor communication skills won't be that much of a hindrance?

Hey btgreen welcome to the forums and kudos to you for wanting to improve these skills (some techies have a thing that communication is not that important).

Here are my suggestions:

1) Read books written by good communicators

Often techies read only technical books. Problem is that they are written for techies not your average person. So read books that are written for other audiences.

2) Write or speak for other audiences in other fields

One way to do this is join a club like Toastmasters (I am a member myself). You will be asked to do many speeches each with a different focus. You will have to communicate with people that aren't like you and so you will have to do it in a way that they can relate to what you are saying and do so in a way that they can understand.

Other people in toastmasters evaluate you, and the critique that you get is invaluable.

3) Get some good communication resources

There are professions out there that really emphasize good communication skills. One area is politics. Another one is the actuarial profession. Visit actuarial society webpages and look for communication resources. I know for a fact that an American Actuarial Society has an ebook on communication. The country I live in (Australia) has on its societies webpage (Institute of Actuaries Australia) a toolbox of resources specifically targeted for improving members communication skills and hopefully that section of the website should be on the public part of the website.

4) Adapt for your audience and keep it simple

When you are communicating to anybody know the audience. If they aren't as technically minded as you, dumb it down in a way that they can understand it and in a way that is not patronizing.

If you work in a technical profession, you will at some point have to give presentations (often analysis and subsequent advice) based on your work. Management types know very very basic math (in comparison to say an engineer) and also are very busy, and very impatient.

Keep your message simple. Don't waffle on unnecessarily with big words: no-one cares.

One last piece of advice in communication:

1) Brief the audience on what you are going to tell them
2) Tell the audience what you are there to tell them
3) Conclude the speech by telling the audience what you have told them

Good luck!

 

[Pengwuino]

One last piece of advice in communication:

1) Brief the audience on what you are going to tell them
2) Tell the audience what you are there to tell them
3) Conclude the speech by telling the audience what you have told them

Ah, yes! I've heard multiple people say this. It seems pretty universal that people need to be told something 3 times in order for it to really sink in.

If you say something once, it's probably not that important right?.
If you say something twice, "Hmm, didn't they mention that earlier?".
And say it one more time and it's "wow they keep mentioning that, it must be important!".

 

[cristo]

academic career in theoretical physics does not require good communication skills.

I really doubt that this is the case. An academic career requires you to present your work in front of people on a regular basis. If you can't communicate, how are you going to do this, or how are you even going to defend your thesis?

 

[Vanadium 50]

I doubt the case as well, and from past posts, revnaknuma has stated that he is not an academic working in theoretical physics, so I don't understand how he could possibly know this.

Communication is vital for an academic theoretical physicist, even ones who are lousy teachers (the two skill sets have overlap, but are not identical). A successful theoretical physicist needs to write papers, write grant proposals and collaborate with colleagues, both theoretical and experimental. All of these require good communication skills.

 

[ManiFresh]

Some say "excellent communication skills" are required and others say "good". What's the difference?

 

[Shackleford]

Some say "excellent communication skills" are required and others say "good". What's the difference?

Well, I'd say some of those people have "excellent communication skills" are others have "good communication skills."

 

[brtgreen]

Wow someone who recognizes the need for good communication skills! I like!

One thing I like to do, and this sounds absolutely psychotic, is talk to yourself! For example, I'm a lab instructor. I know I have to explain a certain topic to my students this coming week. So what do I do? I explain it to myself. Out loud and multiple times and in different variations. I guess what kind of questions I might get during the lab and practice responding to them. In fact, as I write this, I'm verbally explaining to myself what I'm trying to say to you as I write this.

As you stated, your problem is words not coming to you in a timely manner. The thing to remember, as others have pointed out, is that you don't want to simply try to blurt something out. Whenever I get a question I usually say "ok..." then look off to the side, and gather what I'm about to say. Then I respond. If it's a complex question, I say "Ok, let me think about this for a second" and I take some extra time to think about it.

While there exists only a handful of jobs in the entire world where communication is unimportant, there are an equally small number of jobs that require you to immediately fire off responses without hesitation. In fact, I can't think of any... outside of being a political or sports commentator.

Although to be honest, I think political commentators are great examples of people with POOR communication skills as I have a feeling they spout off whatever the first nonsensical thought that pops into their head.

Also, I feel I've come a long way in the communications department and I've never had any help. There ARE many resources, as others have pointed out, that help people in this area. Heck, you can even ask friends to help you out. Simply have them ask you a question on something you already know and have them evaluate how you respond. The great thing about communication is that you don't have to be an expert to evaluate someones speech.

When I say that words don't come to me, I mean that I even have trouble with just casual conversation.

But thank you everyone for the advice and I'll definitely keep working on them.

 

[chiro]

When I say that words don't come to me, I mean that I even have trouble with just casual conversation.

But thank you everyone for the advice and I'll definitely keep working on them.

Just find people where you can practice and keep practicing. Something like Toastmasters sounds right up your alley. They have a segment called Table Topics which is an impromptu session where you answer questions on the spot.

Toastmasters also make sure that the environment is positive. If there is some ******* who is putting people down or making people feel uncomfortable, then they will likely be voted out of the club by the other members.

The uni I go to has a toastmasters chapter and I'm sure many other universities do as well so maybe you might want to check it out.