Non Design Skills You Need #2
Public Speaking and Communication.
Yes, believe it or not you will need to be good at communicating verbally as well as visually if you hope to make it as a designer. If you’ve ever wondered how designers with less ability than you have managed to surpass you professionally, this may very well be the deciding factor. Many designers take for granted strong communication skills in writing, as well as confident and articulate public speaking skills. This means when asked to discuss their work in interviews they are hesitant or stiff, something that interviewers don’t respond well too. You have to be willing and able to discuss your work at length, while being engaging and confident.
Additionally, you will need strong written communication skills as well. You will be dealing with clients, co-workers, and collaborators mostly through email and IM, in which case your ability to make yourself clear and perfectly understood in type is essential. This includes not only using proper grammar and punctuation, but the ability to communicate “tone”, and “context” when expressing yourself. This is not something that just anyone can do. I would recommend that anyone going into Graphic or Web Design take an Expository Writing class, and 1-2 Public Speaking classes to improve their overall ability to communicate. This is something that may seem tedious, but in the long run it will give a very distinct advantage in the job market, and help you to create better resumes, and perform confidently in interviews.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Karen Mc Dade, Roberto Blake. Roberto Blake said: Non Design Skills You Need #2 http://robertoblake.com/blog/?p=1214 #design [...]
something which is often overlooked, i know personally having done two shows the people who are more outgoing with products and being willing to talk to people are those who generate for themselves more interest. If you aren’t willing to go out and speak to people about your design then people are less likely to see and react to your product/design.
Non Design Skills You Need #2 | NYC Graphic Designer Roberto Blake…
Article discussing the importance of Public Speaking and Communication skills for Graphic and Web Designers….
Take this article to heart people. You can have all the skill in the world but if you don’t have the communication skills to tell people about it they’ll just keep on passing you by to listen to the guy who can talk the talk.
Its true that in some cases, skill is all thats required. But… you still have to lead the horse to the trough before you get it to drink from the well.
this will also help you to proove to people that you cannot just talk the talk but you walk and live it at the same time. i’m saying this because sometimes you can becomepopular for thee work you do but no one will really recognize you as that same person because the way you present yourself to them seems somewhat different from the grphics work you do
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About NYC Graphic Designer Roberto Blake
"For nearly my entire life I have pursued art in some form or fashion. My earliest background is that of an Illustrator, not a day goes by that I do not practice this craft; a growing interest in computers eventually lead me to Digital Illustration and Graphic Design, as well as Web Design."
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