[Note: This post originally appeared on IABC's Communications World blog.]
One of the questions at last month’s IABC/Washington panel discussion on 2010 trends was on core competencies. What skills do communicators need to have today?
Panelists cited several, including:
- the ability to identify influencers
- knowing how to tell a story
- tech skills and proficiency (including a working knowledge of WordPress)
- thinking more like journalists (accountability and transparency)
And, of course, writing skills.
But are writing skills still important? In an age of fragmented attention spans and 140-character tweets, there’s a battle going on between communicators who believe the AP Stylebook still has its place and those who think grammar rules and style points are so 20th century.
What’s your take? Is writing a core competency? And what other skills must communicators have to succeed?
Photo by karindalziel (Flickr).
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Writing skills are essential – for storytelling, for sharing information, for influencing others. And skill is even more important if people are only skimming for information or are looking for very concise text; you can’t afford to be sloppy or verbose.
Thanks, Penny. Great point about the correlation between writing skill and skimming information. If you can’t make the point clearly, you lose me (and almost everyone else too).