10 Communication Questions To Practise (updated 2024)

In almost all jobs today it is vital to have communication skills and you will almost certainly be asked questions in an interview which are intended to determine just how good you are at communicating.

There is four basic  levels of communication skills which you might be assessed in your interview depending on the role and your experience.

1. Your ability to explain information simply and clearly showing logical thinking through a well-structured answer.
2. Your ability to explain complex information verbally or writing, using appropriate style and communication channel depending on the audience’s knowledge of the topic.
3. Your ability to adapt your communication to the audience, anticipating how your message might be received. This is important for communicating difficult messages.
4. Your ability to influence and persuade someone more senior than yourself or multiple stakeholders.

Test out your ablility to answer communication questions by watching the video below. Pause between questions to give you time to answer. Ideally, practise aloud in front of a mirror. Additionally, there is a new second video below showing how to answer the more senior communication question around influencing and what a Hiring Manager looks for in the answer.

Competency based interview question – Communications

Test Your Communication Skills 

Typical communication questions include:

1. Tell us about a situation where your communication skills made a difference?
2. Describe a time when you had to win someone over, who was unresponsive to what you had to say?
3. Describe a situation where you were able to influence others on an important issue. What approaches or strategies did you use?
4. Describe a situation where you had to explain something complex at work. What approach did you follow and how well did it work?
5. Describe a time when you had to communicate to someone knowing that you were right and that they were wrong?
6. Give us an example of where your listening skills proved crucial to an outcome?
7. Tell us about a situation when you failed to communicate appropriately?
8. How and when have you varied your communication approach according to the person you were addressing?
9. Give us a time when you communicated successfully with an audience?
10. Tell us about a time when you successfully promoted an idea on behalf of yourself or others?

Influencing Question – How to answer an influencing question 

A communication question around influencing is very common if you are applying for a more senior level role and is one you should be prepared for wth a STAR example. Many people struggle to know what a Hiring Manager is looking for in answer. Wach the video below to get insight into how to answer this question.

Normally, for most senior roles the Hiring Manager is looking to see that :

• you can influence at a more senior level than yourself.
• you understand others’ motivations and agendas even when they are not explicity stated.
• curious mindset
• you can use both direct and indirect influencing skills
• you are able to challenge thinkng respectively
• you can negotiate

Answering Communication Interview Questions

Of course, there are many other communication questions all designed to challenge you. These questions are a useful guide but it is important that you do not try to write out your answer and learn it! You are very unlikely to be able to predict the exact questions you will be asked and you will find it impossible to adapt your answer in the interview convincingly. Generally, it causes brain-fog in an interview and as an Interview Coach I know immediately when someone is trying to remember their words. It is not good communication and you are unlikely to get the job.  It might be helpful to read another one of our communication posts answering the quesion, “Tell me about a time when you had to adapt your communications to ensure that it was tailored to the audience?”

Answering these questions well depends on the type of interview you are having, understanding how you are being assessed and preparing in the right way to meet the assessment criteria. Some companies will tell you whether you are having a competency interview or strength based interview and will share their frameworks.

An effective approach to preparing for interview questions is to:

1: Understand the interview you are going for, the likely style of question and assessment. Introductory, behavioural competency, Civil Service competency, Value or Strength based interview questions are very different. Value based and Strength based interview questions can be integrated within an interview such as in the consulting, accountancy and banking sectors. Or it can be a separate interview which is increasingly common within the NHS.

2: Prepare for the competencies, values and strengths they are looking for, not for specific questions.

3: Practise aloud in front of a mirror using the interview questions to practise your ability to adapt to the question. It is important that you trust yourself to speak naturally and demonstrate good listening and story-telling skills.

Importantly, your communication skills will also be assessed throughout the interview. This can sometimes be forgotten!