The media landscape is rapidly evolving.
And the evolution requires comms and PR professionals to develop new technical skills.
But it is also elevating the importance of soft skills.
So, we decided to explore them in more detail during a recent masterclass for members of our learning and development programme for comms, media relations, and PR professionals – The Media Team Academy.
James White, our CEO, was joined by Dan Boniface and Darren Draper, from The BCF Group – who teach soft skills in their executive-level leadership and management training - to discuss the most valuable soft skills and qualities comms professionals can develop.
And they began with a spot of history.
“One of the things that amazed me when we were preparing this masterclass was that the term ‘soft skills’ only emerged in the 1960s,” James said.
Dan added: “It is one of those terms people have heard of, but it is hard to articulate what it means because we demonstrate these skills daily.
“The term emerged from the US Army. It spoke about soft skills being those things that were not directly about using the warfare equipment and machinery.
“So, the human element – leadership skills, how we collaborate and make decisions. And they coined the phrase that hard skills win battles and soft skills win wars.
“60-odd years ago, the importance of those soft skills was starting to be seen.”
These skills gained prominence in the workplace in the 80s and 90s.
Darren added: “What we are seeing today is that hard skills are being replicated by AI and automation.
“And soft skills are being elevated because they are going to be the difference. That human connection is crucial, and these skills are more in demand.”
Our experts began by highlighting 10 critical and better-known ones
This is a skill that shows interest, builds trust, and fosters understanding.
“It is about listening to understand,” Darren said. “You are seeking information and listening to what the other person is saying.
“You are seeking to understand before being understood.”
Darren said: “How can you bring your message or communication to life and engage the audience?
“Stories are crucial for this. They make it relatable, understandable, and memorable.”
This is an increasingly crucial skill in the workplace.
“What works with one person may not work with another,” Darren said.
“Can you adapt your communication to the person in front of you and their experience and understanding?”
How often do you need to persuade others to do something?
“This can be a tricky skill to master,” Dan said.
“You need to be able to build trust and credibility and lead with authority. Clear communication is also vital. Don’t fluff it up. Be clear and direct.”
The PR and comms world can be tough.
And you need to quickly recover from challenges and hard moments.
“This is about how you deal with adversity and being able to move forward from it,” Dan said.
“You build resilience, unfortunately, by going through some form of adversity.
“If you haven’t been through adversity at work, you probably have in your personal life. Think about how you can use that experience and take those skills to the workplace.”
James added: “Resilience can be practiced when you go through something like crisis media management or putting yourself in a situation like this live masterclass, where you have to prepare and practice in case something goes wrong. The more you practice, the more you can cope.”
Forming positive working relationships with others is essential.
“This is a key one for me,” Dan said. “It is the people element.
“I look at relationship building as a bank account. If I need you to do a media interview at short notice, it is hard for me to persuade and influence if there is no relationship in place.
“It takes time to nurture relationships. Small interactions, like passing someone in the corridor and asking about their weekend, are like depositing a little money in a bank account – you are building credit.”
Relationship building leads us seamlessly to collaboration.
“Rarely are we doing something on our own at work,” Darren said.
“Working closely with other people and understanding their skills and expertise comes from relationship building.”
Critical thinking is pivotal for success.
“It is about separating fact from opinion,” Darren said.
“We are in a world where we need to be able to critically think about everything and where we need to be able to challenge people’s facts and opinions.
“It means that if you need to relay that information on to someone else, you are secure about where it came from.”
There is often a debate about confidence, but it is widely considered a soft skill.
“All of these skills we have outlined give us confidence,” Darren said.
“The confidence to have conversations with people we maybe don’t know. The confidence to build relationships. The confidence to relay the message and know it will land the way we want it to.
“The more we practice these soft skills, the better we get at them.”
Last but by no means least is emotional intelligence.
“This is not at the bottom of the list because it is the least important,” Dan said.
“Emotional intelligence is at the forefront of everything we do.
“The two parts to it are understanding and regulating our emotions and then the emotions of others, where we lead with empathy.
“Empathy is a bit of a buzzword. But it is about seeking to understand and then being understood.”
“It is hard if you move on too quickly,” Dan said.
“There is a lot of research out there that suggests becoming a master of something requires 10,000 hours of practice.
“That would be pretty hard. The good news is that additional research says it is not so much about the hours, but about deliberate practice.
“So, let’s say you need to do a performance review with a member of your comms team. You have reflected on your last review with them and feel you lacked empathy.
“Put that at the forefront of your mind so you go into the review asking questions – What’s been your biggest challenge? What’s been your biggest win?
“Whether it is a performance review, a media interview, or crisis media management, go into it practicing these soft skills.”
Developing these skills is an ongoing process.
“You can’t complete empathy,” Dan said. “It is an infinite gain. So, it is about practice, practice, practice and continuing to develop those skills.”
“If you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.”
Our panel loves this Henry Ford quote.
It suggests your beliefs about your capabilities directly influence the outcome of your efforts. And shows the value of mindset.
But mindset isn’t just about waking up in the morning and deciding to be positive. Different situations demand different mindsets.
Darren said: “If you have a growth mindset, you are looking to learn more and get slightly better. The best athletes and footballers are always looking at marginal gains.
“In an audience-first mindset, such as in that performance review conversation we highlighted earlier, you are focusing on the other person, how they are feeling, and how they see the situation, so you gain an understanding of how you can support them.
“We spoke about crisis communication. Understanding you can only control the controllables helps you to stay calm.
“And then there is a coaching mindset, where your focus is on the growth of the other person. How can you use your relationship-building and collaboration skills to help them progress?”
Ready for another list?
Here are the lesser-known soft skills you may not be so familiar with, but that are becoming increasingly crucial
Understanding, respecting, and adapting to different cultural contexts has never been more vital.
“This is particularly important if you work in a global, diverse organisation,” Dan said.
“It is about understanding cultural differences. The more you understand them, the better placed you are to effectively communicate.
“I’m off to Zurich soon to deliver training for The BCF Group. And because I have not been there before, I wanted to do some research.
“I attended a webinar supporting people going into German-speaking countries and found out that punctuality is crucial.
“So, if I say we are having a break at 11am, that is when we are having a break - I can’t run over because I will start to impact on their trust and the relationships I am building.”
Cognitive diversity is also relevant here.
Dan said: “When you have a room of people from different backgrounds and views, it is a good place to be because you will get different perspectives.
“We don’t need to agree all the time. But we can find a way forward by listening to others.”
This is the ability to adapt to different topics, concepts, situations, and audiences.
And see problems from different perspectives.
Dan said: “As a comms professional, you may be speaking to someone in legal, then the CEO, and then the public a few minutes later, and you need to be able to quickly adapt.”
What does this mean?
“It is about knowing when and when not to react,” Dan said.
“It is also about listening to what is and isn’t being said.
“Sometimes, it is best to step back. As a comms professional, if your spokesperson has a 20-second gap between media interviews, is that the best time to offer feedback and share more information?
“There could be a better time.”
This is the ability to function without having all the facts.
“During a crisis media management incident, structural reorganisation, or a long approval process, can you still move things forward?
“Can you support people going through a restructure when you don’t have all the detail?
“Sometimes, it is about being open and honest. Sometimes, it is about sharing the information that you do have. And sometimes, it is about making a decision with the information you do have.”
Before you reach for the dictionary, this one is about making sound decisions quickly.
Darren said: “This goes back to emotional intelligence.
“Let’s say someone has not performed well in a media interview. What do you feel at that moment? Is it the right time to give feedback? Is it the right time for the spokesperson to receive feedback?
“Or should you leave it for another time?”
Sounds a bit naughty.
“This is the skill of disagreeing with others,” Darren said.
“It is about going. ‘You’re not right’ without destroying their confidence or making them feel small.
“In the comms world, you might be telling the CEO they are incorrect.
“You are the comms expert. You are not just there to agree.
“Say, ‘From a comms professional view, I disagree with what we are doing, but this is what I would look to do’.
“Then you are disagreeing but offering a solution. Rather than disagreeing too much and becoming a blocker.”
This soft skill is about seizing learning opportunities.
Dan said: “When you have just been through something, pause and take the time to reflect on what has happened.
“Sometimes with reflection, we think something has not gone to plan, but don’t dig any further.
“But you need to consider the why. Why didn’t it go to plan?
“You also need to consider what went well and how you contributed to that.
“Learn from the wins as well as the things that didn’t go the way you wanted.”
We all know about the importance of body language. But what’s the digital part?
Dan said: “This is about how you come across on email, Teams, Slack, and social media, and how your message is being received and how you are receiving them.
“Are they being taken personally? Are they having an impact?”
James added: “This is all about the optics and tone of voice of what is being said.”
This is another soft skill with close ties to emotional intelligence.
“It is about regulating how you feel and react to situations,” Dan said.
“It is especially key in high-stakes situations.
“Even in those moments, try to pause and regain a bit of composure.”
Let’s look at three of these lessen-known soft skills in more detail, starting with reflective thinking.
Here, Darren highlighted a model called Kolb’s Learning Cycle.
He said: “People watching this webinar would have had a concrete experience – they may have reinforced some of the soft skills they already had. Or learnt some new ones.
“From that, we need a reflective observation. What do you think of the information you have gained from this webinar? There may be areas where you could do better, for example.
“Then we have abstract conceptualisation, which is essentially about what you will do differently. It may be that next time you speak to the CEO and disagree, you will be open and honest, and ensure your opinion is heard.
“From there, we go to active experimentation, which means you do it. You have that conversation with the CEO. And from that, you have new concrete experience and reflective observation, so the cycle continues.
“The crucial part of the cycle, which people often miss, is reflective observation. Give yourself the opportunity to learn and think about what has happened because that’s where your awareness and potential growth grows.”
We know what you are thinking - 'constructive dissent' feels horribly jargony.
It does.
But the skill itself is crucial and worth exploring in more detail.
And to do that, Dan shared one of his “favourite feedback models” – SBI.
Dan said: “Humans don’t like it when others tell us what to do.
“When we lead with an ‘ask first’ approach, we invite the other person into the conversation.
“So, we ask, and then we can get our point of view across.
“When we ask, the other person often knows what needs doing, what should have been done, or what they have done well.
“So, you can either agree with them or offer your view.”
SBI stands for Situation Behaviour Impact.
“Let’s take the example of the performance review again,” Dan said.
“You’ve been helping someone develop a team member, and they told you they wanted to lead with more empathy.
“You could go along the lines of ‘I observed you doing that review. You set the scene nicely and waited for the right moment (Situation).
“’You led with empathy and understanding and were open and honest about not being through that situation (Behaviour).
“’The impact of that was that they feel good about it. They feel empowered and that they can take more responsibility for their action.”
The model also works for negative scenarios.
“It is a good way to frame feedback. The biggest thing that gets missed with feedback is the impact.”
Although it is a feedback model. It works well for constructive dissent.
Dan said: “It is a great way to get your view across.”
And finally, let's explore self-regulation in more detail.
“It is all about controlling the controllables and being familiar with what you are delivering,” Darren said.
“What that means is that if you are going into a performance conversation, you are familiar with the type of conversation and understand the person you are talking to.
“You’ve practiced, and it feels natural.
“Our AI-powered learning tool - Thirty Seven - is based on this methodology of building familiarity, building habits, and creating practice.”
Mindset is also vital here.
“We might go into a media interview feeling nervous,” Daren said. “There are things you can do, like rubbing your thumb and index finger together lightly, to take your mind off what you are thinking.
“And when your mind goes back to the interview, you can then reframe what is going to happen.
“Think about what you need to do to get yourself in the right place to succeed or help someone else.”
“This comes from relationship building, having honest conversations, setting expectations early on, and enabling human connections.” Darren said.
“I think people then understand where the lines are. If they go over them, it is up to you as a leader to say ‘no’ and challenge them, so you get back to the place you have agreed.”
James added: “We have to be careful about being kind. Is it the right time to be kind, or do you need to have a difficult conversation?”
Dan said: “The first step for me is another sort of soft skill – being brave.
“Reach out to people – it is amazing what you can get back. When we started The Sound Leadership Podcast, I didn’t know if we would be able to attract guests.
“But we have had some brilliant ones because we have been brave and reached out to people.”
Don’t forget you can catch up with this masterclass, and all the previous ones, in the video library section of The Media Team Academy hub.