The renowned Labour politician and father of the NHS, Nye Bevan, once said that dismantling the UK’s nuclear deterrent would send a foreign secretary “naked into the conference chamber” when negotiating nuclear test ban treaties.
I don’t claim anything like such geopolitical gravity for the case I want to make here. But the metaphor appeals. Because the high achievers who sign up for the course I lead at the University of Cambridge Online – future leaders or already in positions of power – all fret about the same thing: their lack of the critical ability to showcase their talents and truly fulfil their professional potential. They were never taught this skill, and they’ve never properly understood it. They feel, in a sense, naked in the workplace.
What they lack, of course, is the remarkable power of effective communication.
Training in writing, public speaking and storytelling is patchy in UK higher education. It’s rarely a formal part of courses. Mostly, communication skills are taught around the periphery, with the occasional visit of an external expert. How can that be fair when assessed presentations are a significant element of many degrees – and when sad stories abound about how stressed students feel in such situations?
Beyond higher education, moreover, communication skills are greatly in demand. They came first in a list of the most sought-after soft skills in a 2016 LinkedIn survey of employers. And poor communication is one of the top complaints from employees about their leaders, according to a 2015 Harvard Business Review poll.
Education’s failure to instil such skills has long-lasting consequences. It’s common to see senior leaders on my course, some in their forties and fifties: chief executives, directors of services, heads of departments. All are still frustrated by their continual struggles to explain and excite, influence and persuade, interest and inspire.
For more recent graduates, the pain can be just as intense. A story told to me by one learner has always lingered in my mind. They got a first from a top university and were recruited by a prestigious company. “I knew I was smart enough to rise up fast,” they told me. “But when I gave my first presentation, I was ripped apart by the partners. I had so much to say. I knew my ideas were good, but I just couldn’t get them across properly. That really knocked me.”
The communication training they had subsequently sought out, however, helped a lot: “Now I can explain my thinking much more effectively, whether it’s in a report, a presentation, even a blog.”
At Cambridge, I’m privileged to work with outstanding students from across the world. And I’m a little concerned, from a UK perspective, to report that in public speaking workshops, it will often be the Americans who express themselves the most ably and confidently, while UK students far too commonly keep quiet.
Why the disparity? One reason is probably national character. When I teach graduate students, the Americans tend to be more forthcoming, displaying greater willingness to attempt an answer to any questions I might pose. The Brits appear naturally more diffident.
But it is also significant that, according to the students, some US universities formally teach public speaking. And there is a feeling among the American students that they do a lot more public speaking in their education than UK students do – perhaps reflecting the wider range of subjects US students are expected to engage with.
This deficit ought to worry us in the UK given the globally competitive business environment. But what is the answer?
The Labour Party is talking about promoting speaking skills – oracy – in schools if it wins the general election. That would certainly be a start.
But where better to truly become an effective communicator than in those formative university years? Surely, for such an important skill, we can find space somewhere in the timetable, no matter what the degree or institution.
Simon Hall is a course leader in Compelling Communication Skills at the University of Cambridge Online and a senior research associate at the Jesus College Intellectual Forum. A former journalist, he also runs business communication agency Creative Warehouse.
