Résumé words · Communicating and working with others
Another word for “Communicated”
What it is trying to claim: That you conveyed information effectively.
Why it underperforms
It is the abstract noun of a skill rather than a description of an act. Nobody communicates in general: they write, present, brief, negotiate, or explain. The abstraction is also why it appears in almost every résumé, and a word that appears everywhere signals nothing.
Stronger than "Communicated"
Not ranked. Each is right for one situation, and the situation is the column that matters.
| Word | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Presented | You stood up in front of people. Say how many. |
| Wrote | The output was a document. |
| Briefed | Short, senior, decision-oriented. |
| Explained | The difficulty was making something complex land. |
| Negotiated | There were competing interests. |
| Translated | You moved between two audiences, like engineering and sales. |
A real bullet, fixed
Before
Communicated project updates to stakeholders.
After
Wrote the weekly status note for a 40-person program and briefed the steering committee monthly for 18 months.
Two concrete formats, an audience size, and a duration replace a word that could describe an email or a keynote.
When “Communicated” is the right word
Rarely on its own. It works in a summary line where you are naming a capability rather than an event, and even there a concrete example nearby does more.
Common questions
- What can I say instead of "Communicated" on a résumé?
- Presented, Wrote, Briefed, Explained. Pick the one that matches what you actually did, then follow it with a number. Two concrete formats, an audience size, and a duration replace a word that could describe an email or a keynote.
- Is "Communicated" bad on a résumé?
- It is the abstract noun of a skill rather than a description of an act. Nobody communicates in general: they write, present, brief, negotiate, or explain. The abstraction is also why it appears in almost every résumé, and a word that appears everywhere signals nothing.
- When is it fine to use "Communicated"?
- Rarely on its own. It works in a summary line where you are naming a capability rather than an event, and even there a concrete example nearby does more.
Fix these next
- PresentedThat you delivered information to an audience.
- CollaboratedThat you worked jointly with others.
- LiaisedThat you were the link between two parties.
- AdvisedThat someone made a decision using your judgement.
- AuthoredThat a document exists and you wrote it.
- Excellent communicatorThat you write and speak well.
- InfluencedThat an outcome went differently because of you, without your having authority.
- NegotiatedThat you reached an agreement between parties who wanted different things.
All 72 words are on the résumé words index. For the verbs grouped by what they claim, read résumé power verbs.
After the résumé
Fixing the words is the easy half. The applying is the slow half.
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