Business communication changes, and yet at a base level, it's always the same. While there is constant development in the media that colleagues and collaborators use to talk, the types of messages these people are sending remain familiar and important.

Recent years have seen video calls and virtual collaboration rise in popularity, with remote work becoming fully mainstream during the COVID-19 pandemic. Development hasn't stopped there, with generative AI chatbot programming opening up yet another frontier in communication.

Amid all this progress, classic practices, including meeting management and evidence-based persuasion, remain eternally relevant. This mixture of new practices and age-old goals can be intimidating at first, as it raises the question of where you should focus your attention to become a more effective leader.

By taking a clear look at what's expected of leaders today, both virtually and in person, you can keep your knowledge current and your messaging persuasive.

Read more: See why executive education is relevant in a changing business world.

What is virtual communication, and why is it so important today?

Virtual communication is a broad subset of modern business communication. Rather than being one distinct thing, this kind of contact crosses barriers, encompassing:

• Group discussions: In today's distributed business models, it's common for group discussions to either take place fully virtually or to include some participants in an office and others logging in digitally. The best collaborators in a virtual team communication context will find ways to make all members of the group feel included, even at a long distance.
• Presentations: The audiences for business presentations, much like work groups, are now often scattered around the world. Being a compelling, persuasive presenter in today's ecosystem requires you to tailor your speaking style and use of visual aids to reach virtual viewers as well as the people in the room.
• Social media interactions: Speaking in the replies of a LinkedIn post or sending a direct message may not seem like serious business communication, but these small forms of contact are expressions of your perspective, as well as your company's identity. You should therefore learn how to be an effective communicator on social networks.

To boost your understanding of these situations and more, you should make sure you understand:

• Digital media: Every medium has its own rules, norms, and expectations, which you can and should learn to master.
• Data analytics: One of the direct consequences of online communication is the proliferation of data, which the savviest employees can use as fuel for their decision-making processes.
• Artificial intelligence programming: AI agents and chatbots are taking up a greater percentage of interactions, which means you should understand how they function.
• Online collaboration: Selecting the right virtual collaboration platforms, making full use of their features, and instructing your colleagues in best practices are all useful tasks today.

A well-rounded digital collaborator is someone who can make themself heard and understood across countless situations, enabled by appropriate technology at every turn. Deliberately learning more about this area can help you stay persuasive as virtual communication tools evolve around you.

Read more: Discover the importance of soft skills in contemporary business.

Key practices of modern business communication

It's interesting to view virtual communication and remote work in terms of both their potential and their challenges. With every exciting new capability and virtual communication tool, there has been a need for leaders to adjust the way they communicate. For instance:

• Geographic distance and time zones: Building teams around the world is a powerful way to serve new markets and audiences, but it creates virtual team communication challenges around scheduling meetings and leading group work, along with asynchronous communication tool use.
• Cultural differences: Adding voices from more cultures to teams allows leaders to take in new perspectives, both in the way they serve their customers and the way they manage internal projects — provided they understand and honor these cultural differences.
• Multiple languages: Seeking out employees who speak different languages opens up a company's hiring base and allows them to meet new audiences on their own level, but brings a need to translate within a virtual meeting context.

So, being an effective communicator in a globalized and virtual setting means applying best practices that allow companies to unlock the full advantages of their increased reach.

At a more technology-agnostic level, there are common approaches for great business communicators that never go out of style. These priorities have endured because of their universal impact, with each new tech generation changing the way they're applied, rather than their core nature.

The marks of a high-level communicator include:

• Being able to influence others within the business, affecting the direction of the business by convincing others, rather than simply giving orders.
• Understanding tech's impact on communication, adopting new channels that make sense, and quickly adjusting to their best practices.
• Aligning medium and message, using the right virtual communication tool to express each thought and make each argument.
• Using data to support points, pulling the most convincing numbers to reinforce any scenario, and presenting them in a comprehensible format.
• Expressing oneself powerfully through digital means, without losing the force of an argument when speaking to remote workers.
• Engaging in effective storytelling, applying the best practices of public speaking to keep audiences focused and engaged.
• Applying research to one's speaking style, knowing when to back up points with data, and how to drop those facts in.
• Adapting a message to different digital channels and audiences, and ensuring the point is equally well taken across each different medium.
• Elevating the discourse within the company, always speaking in a way that reflects cultural goals and shapes them for the better.

These are the types of practices you can improve through study, enhancing your ability to be persuasive in a professional setting.

See more: Watch a webinar explaining how persuasion works in the virtual age.

Learning about effective virtual communication through executive education

The MIT Sloan Executive Education course Communication and Persuasion in the Digital Age, presented by Professor Edward Schiappa and Senior Lecturer Ben Shields, delivers communication skills and best practices that make sense in a digital context.

By participating in the course, you gain access to the latest research on effective communication in a business setting, broken down by the expert faculty. Sessions on speaking, listening, visual storytelling, and adapting messages allow you to become a well-rounded communicator, even in a technological climate that is always moving and evolving.

One of the focus areas for the course is a forward-looking survey of AI-assisted communication. The dedicated session on GenAI's role in communication is designed to keep participants aware as more platforms integrate this technology.

Read more: See how MIT Sloan Executive Education participants who enrolled in Communication and Persuasion in the Digital Age used their new skills in their professional careers.

Get started improving your virtual communication ability

Intentionally building effective communication skills related to modern technology and virtual meeting scenarios can benefit you across a variety of leadership scenarios. Studying these practices can help your team excel, elevate your company's effectiveness, or build you an impressive resume as you seek new executive roles.

The changes caused by digital methodologies are only becoming more pronounced over time, with the remote work revolution quickly followed by ubiquitous GenAI deployment and integration. Therefore, it's always relevant to think about modernizing your own knowledge base.

Enroll in Communication and Persuasion in the Digital Age to take on effective virtual communication skills and develop the way you interact with others.