Communication Skills Training
Our communication skills training is a live, customized half-day or full-day workshop for employees at any level. Employees learn to get a message across to coworkers and customers, listen until they understand the whole problem, and give and receive feedback people can use.
We deliver the course onsite anywhere in the country, at our training center, or in a live virtual session. Class size is typically from a few people up to 25. Virtual sessions can take larger groups.
Whole teams get the most from this course because they practice with the people they work with every day. Each participant takes a DiSC assessment, a short questionnaire about how they communicate. The group uses the results to see how coworkers prefer to work.
What Employees Learn in Communication Skills Training
Employees practice with role-playing, group discussion, and case studies based on the conversations they have at work. Before training, we assess what your organization needs and recommend which topics to focus on. We also check whether a communication problem has another cause, such as unclear roles or broken handoffs.
- Match words, tone, and body language to the message, so a coworker or customer hears what you meant.
- Spot your own communication style in your DiSC results and adjust to the styles of the people you work with.
- Open a conversation with a process that gets the other person talking and sharing more.
- Use active listening to keep the discussion going and reach an outcome both people agree on.
- Give a complete message with a four-part model, whether you want someone to keep doing something or change it.
- Check feedback you receive against the same model, so you can spot what’s missing from an unclear message and ask for it.
- Apply business etiquette and social norms when you work with colleagues and clients from different cultural backgrounds.
- Write an action plan for building working relationships across those differences.
Communication Skills Training Options for Employees and Teams
A single course for your group
A team or department works on the same skills in one half-day or full-day session, in person or live virtual.
A public virtual session
For one or two employees, we run a shorter, 90-minute live virtual Communication Skills session with participants from other organizations. Dates are on our events calendar.
Training built for managers
Communication Training for Managers focuses on the conversations managers have with their direct reports. Supervisors who need more than communication can take Communication Skills with DiSC as one course in our Supervisor Training series.
Communication Training for a Team Offsite
An ERC communications trainer can come to your team offsite and lead this communication skills course in person, at your retreat location or in your office.
What to tell us
How many people are coming, how much agenda time you have, and where communication breaks down.
How teams use the time
Team members compare their DiSC results, then practice conversations and feedback with each other.
What the team leaves with
A common language for how each person prefers to communicate and a process for starting hard conversations.
Who Should Attend Communication Skills Training
Whole teams and departments
Teams that depend on each other for handoffs, including across shifts, or that keep clashing over personalities.
Customer service employees
Employees who handle questions, complaints, and upset customers. For a full series on customer service, see the Customer Service Pro Series.
Small companies without an HR department
Companies where the owner ends up sorting out every misunderstanding.
What Drives the Cost of Communication Skills Training
Pricing for this course depends on how many people attend and how you set up the session. Send us your group size, format, and timing. We’ll reply with a quote and options. You can handle it all by email.
Session length
Half-day or full-day. A full day leaves more time for practice.
Topics and sessions
The course runs as one session. You can add topics or more sessions.
Delivery
In-person or live virtual.
Pre- and post-tests
Optional.
Who Teaches Communication Skills Training
Tom Ault
Senior Solution Consultant and Trainer. More than 30 years at Diebold in finance, organization development, and Lean Six Sigma; a Master Trainer who facilitates DiSC.
Chris Powers
ERC Trainer and Keynote Speaker. 23 years in the U.S. Navy, including Training Facilitator at the Naval Nuclear Power School, where he was named Instructor of the Year; has worked with more than 500 organizations.
Nada Djordjevich
ERC Trainer. 18 years of training and development experience, with 17 years at Ohio Savings Bank and KeyBank before starting her own training consulting business. Holds a master’s in applied communication theory and methodology, is certified in the DiSC behavioral model, and has supervised a call center team.
Damon Linder, PhD
ERC Trainer. More than 15 years training individuals and teams, including communications and presentation skills, after roles in engineering, sales, project management, and quality in the automotive, medical device, and construction industries; adjunct professor at Tiffin University’s School of Business.
Questions About Communication Skills Training
Yes. Before training, we assess what your organization needs and recommend where to put the emphasis across the four topics. We can also build the role-plays and examples around the situations your employees face.
Yes. Managers and their employees can attend the same session and practice together. If managers mainly need practice on the conversations they have with direct reports, Communication Training for Managers fits better.
One. The course runs as a single half-day or full-day session. You can add a session on a related topic, such as conflict management, business writing, or presentation skills.
Yes, as a live virtual session taught by an ERC trainer. Virtual sessions suit larger groups and employees spread across locations. We also teach the course in person for groups who can meet in one room, typically up to 25 people.
A needs assessment before training, a DiSC assessment for each participant, and the live session. Pre- and post-tests are available if you want to measure what participants learned.
Register for a public virtual Communication Skills session on our events calendar. If no date works, use the form on this page and we’ll suggest the closest fit.
DiSC describes how a person tends to communicate. In the session, employees use their results to adjust how they talk with each other. We don’t use DiSC to rate or sort people. For a course built around the assessment, see our DiSC Personality Assessment Training.
Training helps when employees lack the skills. If the cause is unclear roles, broken handoffs, or too little staff, a course alone won’t solve it, so our needs assessment looks for those causes first.
Yes. We can deliver the course onsite at each location or run live virtual sessions that bring employees from different sites together. Tell us how many groups you have and we’ll quote them together.
We reply by email with a few questions about your group and the problem you want the training to fix, then send a quote. You can handle everything by email, or we can set up a short call.
Communication Skills Training at a Glance
| What it is | A live, customized workshop where employees practice clear communication, active listening, and giving and receiving feedback. |
|---|---|
| Who it is for | Employees at any level from one organization, including whole teams and departments, customer service employees, and small companies without an HR department. |
| Length | Half-day or full-day. One session covers the course, and related topics can run as their own sessions. |
| Group size | Typically from a few people up to 25 in a classroom. Larger groups run virtually. One or two people can join a public virtual session. |
| Delivery | In-person or live virtual. |
| Where | Onsite at your location anywhere in the country, a location you choose, our training center in Beachwood, Ohio, or online. |
| What is included | A needs assessment before training, a DiSC assessment for each participant, and the live session. |
| How pricing works | Priced per program by group size, session length, topics and sessions, delivery, and optional tests. Request a quote through the form on this page. |
| Who teaches it | ERC trainers Tom Ault, Chris Powers, Nada Djordjevich, and Damon Linder. |
| About ERC | ERC has served employers since 1920. |
Let’s Plan Communication Skills Training for Your Team
Tell us who’s attending and what you’d like them to do differently, and we’ll recommend a setup and send a quote.
