How to improve communication skills

This page gives you 20 exercises for improving communication skills, each with a time and a way to tell it worked. The principle is simple: communication is a set of small behaviours, and behaviours improve with repetition, not with reading. Pick one exercise, do it for a week, then move on. Related pages: communication skills examples and the best communication skills apps.

Listening exercises

1. Summarise before you reply

Time: 1 minute per conversation. In your next conversation, restate what the other person said in one sentence before you add anything. Start with “So you’re saying”. It worked if they say “yes, exactly” or correct you, because either way you now understand them.

2. Count your interruptions

Time: one conversation. Keep a tally in your head of how often you start speaking before the other person finishes. Write the number down afterwards. It worked when the number drops across a week.

3. Ask one follow-up question

Time: 30 seconds. After any answer, ask a question about something the person just said, not something you planned to ask. It worked if the other person’s next answer is longer than the first.

4. Hold a two-second pause

Time: 2 seconds per turn. Wait two full seconds after someone finishes before you speak. It feels long and looks natural. It worked if you stop cutting into the end of sentences.

5. Listen for the feeling

Time: 5 minutes. In one conversation, name to yourself the emotion behind what the person says: worried, proud, tired. Then check with “That sounds frustrating”. It worked if they confirm or refine the word.

Speaking exercises

6. Say it in one sentence

Time: 3 minutes. Before an email, call or meeting, write your main point in one sentence. Say it first, then add detail. It worked if the other person can repeat your point back without help.

7. Record a 60-second voice note

Time: 5 minutes. Explain something you know well into your phone, then listen back. Note filler words, speed and where you trail off. It worked if a second take is clearer than the first.

8. Cut your filler words

Time: 1 minute per attempt. Speak for one minute on any topic and replace each “um” or “like” with silence. Count them on playback. It worked when the count falls between attempts.

9. Slow your pace

Time: 2 minutes. Read a paragraph aloud at what feels like half your normal speed. Then speak normally with a slight slowdown. It worked if listeners stop asking you to repeat yourself.

10. Use the headline-first structure

Time: 3 minutes. Give the conclusion first, then the reason, then one example. Use it in a status update or a story. It worked if people stop asking “so what’s the point?”.

Body language and voice exercises

11. Do the mirror check

Time: 3 minutes. Say your main point to a mirror or front camera. Watch for eyes darting, arms crossing or a flat face. Fix one thing. It worked if the second attempt looks more like the person you are in a good conversation.

12. Hold eye contact for a full sentence

Time: 1 conversation. Look at the person for the whole of one sentence at a time, then look away naturally. It worked if you notice their eye colour or expression changes.

13. Vary your pitch

Time: 2 minutes. Read a short paragraph aloud and lift your voice on the important word in each sentence. It worked if the recording sounds less monotone.

14. Read one person’s body language

Time: 5 minutes. In a meeting, pick one person and note posture, gestures and expression when the topic changes. Write down what you guessed. It worked if you can later confirm a guess by asking.

Difficult conversation exercises

15. Write the opening line

Time: 5 minutes. For a hard conversation, write your first sentence: what you want to discuss and why it matters. Keep it neutral. It worked if you can say it aloud without your voice rising.

16. Swap “you” for “I”

Time: 2 minutes. Rewrite a complaint so it starts with “I”. For example, “You never reply” becomes “I feel stuck when I don’t hear back”. It worked if the sentence describes your experience, not their character.

17. Practise saying no in one sentence

Time: 2 minutes. Write and say aloud a refusal with no apology stacked on top. “I can’t take that on this week.” It worked if the sentence ends without an excuse.

Written communication exercises

18. Halve your message

Time: 5 minutes. Take a message you wrote and delete half the words without losing the ask. It worked if the recipient replies with an answer, not a question.

19. Read it aloud before you send

Time: 1 minute. Read any important message out loud. Stumbling points are where the reader will stumble. It worked if you edit at least one sentence.

Reflection exercise

20. Do a two-minute review

Time: 2 minutes at night. Write one conversation that went well and one that did not, and what you would change. It worked if you spot the same pattern twice and act on it the third time.

How can you practise this before it counts?

Rehearse out loud, not in your head. A free option is to record voice notes on your phone and listen back, or to practise with a friend who gives one piece of feedback. If you want structure, Volo is an iPhone app whose AI roleplays let you type or speak a conversation such as telling your manager you are overloaded, then the coach grades three goals and quotes your own lines back. Its Announcer Studio measures words per minute, filler words and longest pause. The free tier includes one roleplay and one Announcer scene. Volo on the App Store

Where to go next

If nerves are what stop you, start with social anxiety. For a broader look, see communication skills.