Improve Your Communication Skills Through An Internship

Here are six ideas to help you communicate more effectively in your internship:

1. Volunteer to give a presentation

As a fresh face within an organisation you are in an ideal position to observe and learn. Suggest to your supervisor that at the mid-way point of your internship you would like to give a short presentation of the new skills you have learnt or projects you have worked on. Not only will this demonstrate your initiative and enthusiasm for the role but you will have the ideal opportunity to practice your presentation skills.

2. Ask to host a team meeting

Most teams will have a weekly or monthly team meeting. Ask your supervisor if you can become more involved with the meeting, perhaps even asking to run the meeting. This will help you feel more confident speaking in front of other members of staff.

3. Seek feedback from your peers as well as your manager

Don’t wait for feedback to be given to you by your manager. Actively seek feedback from your peers to ensure you are constantly learning and improving your communication skills.

An intern I placed recently demonstrated a really proactive approach to this by honestly advising his peers that English was a second language for him and although he was working hard to improve, he sometimes struggled with written communication. He asked his peers to point out any grammatical errors in his emails so that he could constantly learn and improve. Because he had actively reached out to his peers, he was able to work on this area of development before his manager pointed it out. This demonstrated his proactive approach to his personal learning and development.

4. Practise your 'small talk' at informal times

The easiest and quickest way to improve your communication skills is to practice. And then practice some more! Use your internship as an ideal way to speak with your colleagues and learn from their experiences. Become involved with team and company events such as lunches, drinks and social activities. Make the effort to introduce yourself to people in your office. Ask them about their experience and engage them in conversation. This will help your language skills improve.

5. Reach out to those in a similar situation

This tip was shared with me by an intern placed into an accounting team. She noticed her ‘buddy’ also shared a similar experience to her (moved from China to study Accounting and now held Permanent Residency for Australia). Her work colleague was 5 or 6 years older and in a senior role within the team. She asked for a meeting with her buddy and directly asked for any tips and guidance her buddy could share.

This is a great way to not only build your professional relationships, it is also an invaluable method of gaining first hand tips from people who have been in a similar situation. This intern was able to grasp strategies and methods to improve her communication skills as well as build a connection with her colleague.

6. Keep on learning and practising

The development of your communication skills needs to be an ongoing part of your professional learning and development. As you start your career you will be learning many new technical skills which are incredibly important for your development. However, effective communication skills will really help you go to the next level of your career. You might want to consider extra training or classes to perfect your business communication – raise this with your line manager as there might already be courses and training in place.

Don’t worry if you are still getting to grips with your communication skills. This is something that is worked on during your Work Integrated Learning Program to help you develop and grow these skills just in time for your internship.