The Communication Lesson That Changed a Student’s Career
Six weeks ago, a student told me that her coffee chat response rate was zero. Last week she told me she was getting favorable responses.
For context, coffee chats are critical in business school. They’re how students network for internships, and if recruiters and alumni don't respond to your outreach, you’re essentially missing opportunities.
For weeks, she had been sending requests and hearing nothing. Then she applied a few communication principles we covered in class.
𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝟵 𝗮𝗺: The people you’re contacting at 9 am are dealing with the start-of-week rush. Your message becomes just another item in an already crowded inbox.
𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Most outreach messages are written from the sender’s perspective. Effective communication starts by thinking about how the recipient will experience it.
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻’𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄: Timing, framing, and relevance matter more than enthusiasm.
With these small adjustments, replies started coming in. And replies open doors to conversations, relationships, and eventually opportunities.
And this matters even more in 2026. AI tools can generate content, but they can’t create genuine human connection. That still depends on how we communicate and how we make people feel.
What's one communication skill you wish you'd learned earlier in your career?
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