This blog was created to analyze the importance of video learning, with a strong focus on adult education. That’s why today, I want to highlight the crucial role of communicating while speaking on camera.
This time, I’ll be approaching communication as a soft skill—an essential competency for any professional.
The goal of discussing this topic in the blog remains the same: to help you make informed decisions when working in education, particularly if you already use or plan to incorporate audiovisual content into your training programs.
For this reason, I always frame it within the context of video production—whether live or pre-recorded—that adds value to the learning experience.
So, let’s get started!
What Are “Soft Skills”?
If you work in the education sector, you’ve likely come across this term. Soft skills refer to a set of transferable skills that are valuable for any organization or professional.
In simple terms, soft skills cover a wide range of abilities, including:
- Communication,
- Leadership and teamwork,
- Critical thinking,
- Problem-solving, among others.
In contrast, hard skills are technical abilities acquired through formal education or professional experience. These might include:
- Earning a specific degree,
- Mastering software programs,
- Graphic design,
- Video editing, etc.
Each year, rankings of top skills shift slightly, with some gaining importance and others losing relevance.
But one thing remains constant: communication is always among the most in-demand skills. In fact, it plays a fundamental role in many of the top-ranked skills.
After all, whenever a professional setting involves interaction with colleagues, teams, companies, or clients, strong communication skills are essential.
If that’s not convincing enough, think about how COVID-19 dramatically increased the number of videoconferences in our daily lives.
This sudden shift to live, on-camera interactions required professionalism, effort, and determination to deliver messages effectively—but not everyone had the knowledge or skills to communicate efficiently in this format.
And that’s exactly what I want to help you improve with this post.
On-Camera Communication as a Teaching Skill
I just mentioned how communication is essential for all professionals today, but there’s one group with an even greater need for strong communication skills: educators.
Teachers and trainers face the challenge of guiding others through their learning process, making effective communication a critical skill in their profession.
Some time ago, Jesús Hernández compiled a list of 29 Digital Skills for 21st-Century Educators
A quick look at the list highlights several communication-related skills, including:
- The use of video or podcast editing tools.
- The ability to assess student activities in audiovisual formats.
His article is a comprehensive resource for digital teaching tools, so take your time exploring it.
More recently, in July of this year, Spain introduced a new Framework for Digital Competencies in Education.
The official government document (BOE) provides a detailed breakdown of:
- Different competency areas,
- Various skill levels,
- Descriptors that define proficiency levels.
If you’re involved in education, take the time to review this document—it’s a valuable resource.
Concreción de los niveles competenciales
To help you assess skill levels in yourself or your colleagues—and to identify potential audiovisual coaching needs—I’ve outlined three competency levels below:
Basic Level
Before going on camera:
- Prepare a script with appropriate language and structure for the content, audience, and format.
- Adjust background, clothing, and overall presentation to match the content and setting.
- Practice non-verbal communication, tone, pace, and engagement techniques.
While on camera:
- Ensure minimum technical conditions (lighting, sound, framing, and tone).
- Use tone and body language to enhance audience comprehension.
- Maintain a natural and engaging presence to hold viewers’ attention.
Intermediate Level
At this level, an educator is not only producing their own content but also encouraging students to develop their own communication skills.
The goal here is to:
- Provide feedback to help students become aware of meta-communication (understanding how they communicate).
- Train students in on-camera communication for different personal and professional contexts.
Advanced Level
A teacher at this level is an expert in on-camera communication. They:
- Create, edit, and distribute their own audiovisual content.
- Develop and manage their own educational video channels.
- Design video-based learning projects, where students contribute content in different formats.
- Assess student video assignments and provide meaningful feedback to enhance their audiovisual communication skills.
On-camera communication is no longer optional—it’s a critical professional skill, especially in education and training.
If you already use audiovisual content (or plan to introduce it soon), take the time to assess the skill levels of the people appearing on camera.
Help them improve their communication skills, so they, in turn, can help students develop this essential soft skill.
Since this skill framework could always be improved, what else would you add to enhance the competency levels and descriptors?
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments—let’s keep shaping this exciting way of public speaking through a camera!
Si tienes ya contenido audiovisual o vas a incorporarlo en breve, no dejes de revisar que nivel de competencia que tienen las personas que se ponen delante de la cámara, y ayúdalas a mejorar para que el alumnado evolucione también en esta soft skill.
