Communication skills as generic objects: a relational view

Communication skills do not have an agreed upon definition despite the importance contemporary communication culture attributes to them. Instead of asking what communication skills are, this study adopts a relational approach and asks how skills materialize as elements of the situation in and with which speakers interact. I review the sociopsychological theoretical tradition’s conception of skills as typologies of skills and skill components, and the sociocultural tradition’s conception of skills as discursive resources, to analyze and interpret practical metadiscourse about skills in a U.S. undergraduate public speaking course. I find that theorists and practitioners alike constitute communication skills as generic objects, that is, discrete but non-specific objects that encompass specific features and serve as templates for action. Further, the generic nature of skills allows them to circulate broadly. The constitution of skills as generic objects resolves the contradiction between the importance ascribed to them and their lack of specificity.