Communication Skills Guide

Communication Skills Guide for Commerce Students

The School recognises that communication skills are essential for today’s Business graduate. Whether it is writing an industry report for your organisation or giving a presentation to your clients, written and oral communication skills are the cornerstone of any professional. The ability to communicate well can be a deciding factor in determining career success. With this in mind, the School is committed to teaching and assessing professional communication skills across all levels of its undergraduate degrees.

As such, courses are designed not only to develop students’ understanding of a body of conceptual, theoretical, and technical knowledge, but also to build students’ communication skills. An important resource for students in this regard is the Communication Skills Guide. This guide provides students with valuable practical information about the communication skills that are required of them in their studies. For example, information is provided about how to: write essays and management reports; make engaging oral presentations; and correctly cite and reference sources. Every student is expected to use the Guide as a reference for all courses. As well as being available on-line, Business students can collect their free printed guide from the Image and Copy Centre (bottom floor of the Hughes Building).

Students will find that all commerce courses integrate written and/or oral communication skills into their curriculum. Further, communication skills are specifically targeted in stand-alone courses, such as English For Professional Purposes.

The School’s policy of integration (see below) reflects current education research on effective learning. As the linked article indicates, we can’t assume that skills learned in one context are readily transferred to a new context.

Other useful resources

CLPD resources for students: This web-page has many links to valuable communication skills resources, including free workshops and online tutorials. Particularly see the Effective Communication Skills online modules by following the link "Resources for students" to the heading "Study skills web sites". After clicking this link you may see an 'Access Denied' warning: just click the "Login" button and enter your MyUni username and password.

Group assignments

Maps of Communication Skills by Pathway

• Accounting
• Corporate Finance
• Information Systems
• International Business
• Management
• Marketing