Identifying Communication Skills
in a different way

Ever thought of looking at your writing as a means of identifying communication skills?

Try Communication Skills 101 from Handwriting.

One of the most desirable skills in work or social life is the ability to communicate clearly and concisely.

When we say “communication” we usually imagine that we are either writing or speaking, but that is not all it encompasses. It also includes the extremely important and often overlooked (and under-used) skill of listening.

The circle letters (a, o, the circle part of g and d,) show both listening and talking - two major communication skills.

If you think of the circle as being the mouth: when the mouth is closed no speaking is happening, so hopefully listening is.

When the mouth is open words come out – so speaking is happening. “Speaking” on paper, i.e. writing, comes across in the same way as actual verbal speaking in writing, so when the circles are open the writer is speaking, but we don’t know if it’s verbally or in writing.

In most relationships, no matter how personal or how casual, we need both listening and speaking, so the ideal to find is a good balance of both open and closed circle letters.

All open? Watch out! You have a talker, talker, talker.

All closed? Not too communicative.

Of course, in some circumstances anyone will speak more or be quieter, this is a generality as to how the person usually behaves.

Although there it a great deal more to communication that speaking and listening, the person who has a good balance of speaking and listening is the person most of would consider to have good communication skills.

Next you can find out how much feeling will come with the communication.

The farther right the slant the more emotion will be expressed. The more upright / backhand the less emotion will be audible.

Neither is better than the other, but each is better suited to a particular situation.

If an accountant is discussing budgets and balance sheets it is, we hope, totally factual, so a lack of emotion is perfectly fitting … however if that same accountant is with his significant other who wants him to whisper sweet nothings in her ear, cool, calm and calculated is just not going to work!

Great speakers and motivators usually show a right hand slant and it is their emotion that connects and gets others on their side.

This is the communication skill of emotion. Is the information clearly delivered?

For this look at two things: firstly look to see if there are lead-in strokes to the writing, or do the letters just start bluntly?

Blunt starts, with no lead in stroke is clear thinking, straight to the point and … well, blunt!

This can be good when our accountant is giving his budget. There we want fact clearly presented.

But put him again with his significant other who wants to know if she’s the only person in the world he can ever love ……. and does she really want a totally blunt, direct answer?

Bluntness has an upside and a downside.

The other thing to look for in clarity is whether the lines of writing run into each other.

If the tails of the upper line overlap the upper extenders of the lower line, then the trait of confusion of interests is present.

It’s hard to explain things clearly when you yourself have so many things going on you just can’t get a good handle on any of them. This is always a negative trait, so if it’s you, start deliberately spacing your lines farther apart.

This is the communication skill of clarity.

There are several more traits which affect good communication, but we don’t have room for them here.

However the ones discussed above will give you a good start on identifying the good communicators around you.

Understand Yourself and Others Better

Read more about Communication Skills

More about Body Language