soft skills presentation for high school students

Soft Skills Activities for High School Students

by Gordana S | Nov 15, 2020 | Skills & Career | 0 comments

Table of Contents

The Best Soft Skills Activities for High School Students and Why They Matter

To prepare your students for the future, you will need to teach them the skills that a modern-day candidate needs to possess. While hard skills are more tangible, and your students develop them to some extent through their education, soft skills are much more intricate. They are acquired through action-taking and conscious involvement—which is why your students need to learn them through activities.

Even though your school curriculum might not include the study of soft skills, you can still assign tasks that help your students develop those skills. That said, you’ll need to plan the activities well ahead before you start implementing them in your classes. Fortunately, we can help with that.

Credit: Brooke Cagle

Soft Skills vs. Hard Skills—What Is the Difference?

Hard skills refer to your ability to operate particular programs or do manual tasks that a specific profession requires. In comparison, soft skills have much to do with who you are as a person and whether you possess the personality traits employers look for in a candidate.

In the table below, you can check out some of the core distinctions between these two skill sets:

To give you an example, the following abilities all fall under the category of hard skills:

• Data analysis
• Computer skills
• Foreign language proficiency

Though both types of skill sets are called for, once your students start applying for jobs, employers will place more value on soft skills because those are much harder to acquire in adulthood. For example, a worker who is inexperienced in a certain program for graphic design will get adequate training and enough time to master that hard skill. It is much more difficult to instill soft skills in someone—such as how to have a proper work ethic or collaborate with others effectively—so having them is highly appreciated.

What Constitutes Soft Skills?

Credit: Branko Stancevic

Before you start designing classroom activities that foster soft skills in students, you have to know everything that falls under this particular skill set.

Many personality traits are considered to be soft skills, and your students can develop them through interaction and experience. These skills also often overlap—which is why teaching them through interdisciplinary projects is especially effective. Here are the crucial soft skills you need to help your students develop:

Flexibility

• Critical thinking
• Problem-solving
• Conflict management
• Emotional intelligence

Leadership Skills

Your students don’t need to strive to be future CEOs—though they shouldn’t minimize their goals too—but possessing clear leadership skills will help them in more ways than one. For example, they will be more confident:

• Expressing their voice
• Going after opportunities
• Seeking and reaching out to potential business partners
• Managing complicated projects
• Leading groups of people working on a specific assignment 

Although adapting to change quickly might not come easily to many people, the desire and the need for new experiences are part of being human. Without that, there is no personal or professional growth. 

The ability to welcome change is a valued skill in the workplace. It’s why flexibility—also called adaptability—as a skill is critical for your students to develop.

Critical Mindset

To be highly-skilled workers in any profession, your students will have to look at any notion, problem, or person from more than one perspective. When they have the competence to observe the environment around them with a critical mindset—questioning the established norms or challenging the mainstream viewpoints—they’ll be able to bring about positive change.

Problem Solving Abilities

Related to critical thinking skills are problem-solving abilities. Students need to learn how to turn complicated issues into desirable outcomes from experience.

Conflict Management

Similarly, highly-competent workers don’t panic and run from conflict when a situation in a workplace escalates. Instead, they know how to manage it with ease and confidence, rather than letting a work project or the company’s reputation suffer.

Employers want to hire people who thrive in collaborative projects. Thankfully, encouraging team spirit in students can be accomplished through all sorts of group projects and communal activities.

Many skills and personality traits fall under the phrase work ethic . Most simply put, work ethic represents a desirable attitude and a mature approach people should have to work in general. When your students have a strong work ethic, they can:

• Honor the set appointments
• Deliver tasks within deadlines
• Manage their time and responsibilities (also known as time management skills)

Emotional Intelligence Skills

Since many soft skills are people skills, they are inevitably intertwined with having emotional intelligence (EI) . There are many definitions of EI, but at its core, the notion refers to your ability to recognize where your emotions and ways of thinking come from. Being emotionally intelligent means you are willing to work on yourself constantly and detect why people around you act like they do so that you can relate to them on a more profound level.

Here are only some skills that emotionally intelligent people possess:

• Self-awareness
• Self-management

All these are, in one way or another, an asset your students need to succeed in life. For example, working on themselves brings about open-mindedness and a generally positive outlook—a trait highly valued in any workspace.

Developing empathy goes hand in hand with the ability to listen to other people carefully and detect what it is that a certain work project requires.

Self-awareness and self-management, among other things, mean your students can recognize when and why their stress levels are high and have the competence to control their behavior.

Why Is It Crucial That Your Students Develop Soft Skills?

High school is the time when your students develop the personality traits that stick with them for the rest of their lives—which is why it’s critical you teach them soft skills during that period.

Often, high school graduates find themselves overwhelmed by the amount of responsibilities college or employment brings with it. This is because traditional education systems foster rote learning and acquiring knowledge but do little to show students how to translate the skills they are being taught from the classroom into the real world .

There is a dire need to bring innovations in schools that will help students acquire theoretical knowledge and apply it to any career they choose . 

The Motivation Factor in Teaching Students Soft Skills

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation determine how well your students do in school on many levels.

Being intrinsically motivated to do a task or acquire a skill means that the activity brings personal satisfaction to your student. For example, they might like a German music band. This can then spark an interest in them to learn the German language so they can understand the song lyrics or the interviews with the band.

Extrinsic motivation implies your student wants to achieve a goal for the sake of someone or something else. For example, if they work on getting high grades because they don’t want to disappoint their parents, they are externally motivated. This type is also called instrumental motivation because your students can also be motivated to learn a particular skill so they can apply for a certain job.

The two motivation types can overlap, but you should know how to recognize and strengthen both the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in your students.

Take special care to underline to your students that the tasks they’re doing in class help them develop their soft skills. This will boost their extrinsic motivation but can help with the internal one as well. Show them how acquiring critical thinking, time management, or self-assessment skills will not only help them become competent workers but also forge stronger relationships and feel greater personal satisfaction.

Soft Skills Activities for High School Students That You Need To Try Out

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Your school curriculum likely already includes classroom activities for particular subjects that can contribute to the development of soft skills in your students. If you want them to work consciously on those activities, though, make sure you tell them why they’re important. You should also strive to actively encourage self-evaluation in your students as it’s critical for their personal growth.

Here are some ideas for classroom activities that go a long way regarding soft skills learning and how you can execute them in the right way:

• Long-term group assignment
• Argumentative presentation
• TED-Ed talks videos
• Authority over one’s homework
• Pair discussion
• Progress check

Group Assignment Activity

It isn’t uncommon for teachers to build team spirit among students by giving them group projects to work on. If you want to have a group assignment that will make your students develop soft skills, why not make it long-term?

You can ask the group to vote for a leader who will assign tasks to the group members. During a month or two that your students will have to finish the project, they are bound to face challenges in communication, problem-solving, and decision-making.

When the time comes for you to grade the project, you can have each of your students share what their task was and how they contributed to the outcome.

This activity helps your students work on their:

• Teamwork skills
• Communication and listening skills
• Conflict resolution skills
• Leadership skills
• Problem-solving skills
• Decision-making skills
• Self-assessment skills

Argumentative Presentation Activity

Argumentative essays and presentations are common in college. Why not prepare your students for their higher education by teaching them how to defend their viewpoints and challenge the opinions of others?

Here’s the breakdown of the activity:

• A pair of students are assigned an argumentative topic
• Each student prepares a speech essay to defend one side of the argument
• Your students present their viewpoints
• The class is asked which argument was more convincing

Your students will hone active listening, public speaking, and critical thinking skills through this one activity.

Argumentative topics are particularly amazing because there are so many of them. Here are some examples:

TED-Ed Talks Video Activity

No matter what subject you’re teaching, there is bound to be at least one Ted-Ed talk video on it. You can play it in the classroom as the basis for group discussion on the topics and viewpoints expressed by a speaker.

What you can also do is assign a Ted talk video for homework and have your students relate what they’ve gathered from watching it the next class. Besides having them express whether or not they agree with the points made, you should also ask your students to think of any public speaking strategies the speaker used.

Assigning One’s Homework

If your school’s curriculum allows for flexibility, you should make use of it by giving authority to your students to assign homework to themselves from time to time. The activity fosters autonomous learning, which is a skill your students should have in any case.

Of course, you’ll want them to explain why they chose a particular homework for themselves and reflect on whether it was a good choice for the lesson it relates to.

Tell your students this practice was employed to build on their decision-making and self-assessment skills. 

Pair Discussion Activity

Group your students in pairs and have them discuss various topics related to the subject or lesson you’re teaching. In contrast to the argumentative speech activity, this task should be done with a mindset to encourage empathy and listening skills in students.

When one student in the group is done talking, the other should summarize what ideas and opinions were expressed.

A bonus idea is to assign homework for which your students interview people with jobs in their surroundings. They can research how much empathy and listening skills matter in the workplace and what consequences lacking those skills can have.

Progress Check Activity

Self-evaluation is a crucial part of developing the personality traits that fall under soft skills. You can have your students start journals in which they will chronicle their progress with school obligations.

Tell them they can write whatever they want and get creative as much as they like because you won’t be checking their notes unless they show them to you.

What your students will have to do is write a self-evaluation or progress check essay in which they will answer:

• Whether they managed to complete all to-do items within the time frames they set
• What the challenges of honoring the deadlines were
• How keeping a planner helped them become aware of their strengths and weaknesses
• What they can do to improve their organizational skills

What To Keep in Mind When Doing Soft Skill Activities

Whatever task you give your students, you should keep certain points in mind with regards to developing soft skills.

To teach your students the true values of work ethic, accountability, and time management, keep in mind that giving low grades for unmet deadlines isn’t going to cut it. Make them acknowledge their failure to finish a task by having them explain why it came to that in the first place. Make sure you’re not being judgemental and show them that not having a tangible alibi is perfectly fine—what matters is that they realize they are responsible for what they do. 

You should also ask them what ideas they have for mending the situation. This will teach them the importance of completing tasks in time as they are the ones who will have to compensate for any delays.

Another point to consider is how you group your students into teams. Whether you’re doing an activity with only a pair of students or larger groups, make sure the teams are diverse. Your students won’t learn to overcome the true challenges that come with collaborative projects if they work only with their close friends. 

Do You Agree Soft Skills Should Be More Present in High School Activities?

If you want your students to be more engaged learners with better outcomes, you need to ensure that the impact of your classroom activities goes beyond their academic success and also improves their future job prospects. Unfortunately, traditional school curricula don’t always achieve this goal.

If you believe it’s time we transformed school culture and reformed education so it’s conducive to real-life learning, you can contribute to that mission by sharing your opinion and your expertise.

Only by working together can we have a high school education that prepares our students to reach their maximum potential and truly succeed in the modern world.

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Teaching Soft Skills: The Complete Guide

Education is dominated by discussion of the hard sciences these days, with great emphasis placed on STEM instruction. This has left teachers of other subjects, such as art or history, feeling a little left out of the conversation surrounding how to adequately prepare students for future careers. However, even less discussed are the soft skills that students need to succeed once they’re out of college and in the workforce.

There are rarely classes designed specifically for soft skills, but that doesn’t mean these skills aren’t important. Soft skills include talents such as creative problem solving that are distinguished from hard skills in a few important ways.

Hard Skills Versus Soft Skills

Hard skills, as opposed to soft skills, are the types of skills that students routinely get taught in school. These are skills that are easily quantifiable. For instance, when a student performs well in school, they receive high marks for grades and, eventually, are awarded a degree demonstrating that they’ve attained a certain level of mastery in those skills. It’s easy to check the degree of mastery over these skills because grades can easily be looked up.

Soft skills are a lot harder to quantify. While you can hand out certificates for skills, like leadership, how do you actually quantify leadership? A grade of 90 in math can represent that a student scored nine out of ten questions right, and those questions can easily be checked and verified. Quantifying and verifying these subjects is easy. Soft skills cannot be quantified and verified with the same ease. However, soft skills are still incredibly important, and schools still need to communicate these topics to students.

When students move beyond school and move into their careers, they’ll list their soft skills the same as they list their soft skills. Hard skills might be listed, such as data analysis or mathematics. Someone applying for a job can point to their degree in these areas, which suggest they made sufficient grades in these areas. However, students will also list soft skills like “detail-oriented” or “leadership.” Since hiring managers look at both hard and soft skills, it’s important for activities to be developed that teach both.

Since most students will never find the opportunity to take a class that specializes in teamwork, for example, it falls to teachers to integrate the instruction of soft skills into their existing courses.

Examples of Soft Skills

So, what are some soft skills and how are they used? Every job will prioritize different soft skills, but here are some of the skills that are most frequently identified as necessary in the workforce.

Many times, these broad soft skills encompass smaller skills, such that many smaller skills help prepare a student to be successful in broad categories such as teamwork or communication.

Communication Skills

Communication skills are important because even if someone is highly skilled in their field, they still need to help their organization succeed. It doesn’t matter how well they perform their individual job if they can’t communicate what they’re doing to others.

When communication breaks down, people get confused about what has been done, what needs to be done, and when things are due. This can lead to projects failing as communication comes to a halt.

Effective communication requires individuals to be strong listeners as well as communicators. They need to be able to understand where others stand with regards to finishing a project. Good communicators listen and respond, ensuring that everyone on a team has a solid understanding of work that still needs to be done.

One of the most underrated skills for people to possess is the skill of creativity. People get accustomed to working according to certain rules and routines. While this is sufficient for dealing with most work issues from one day to another, you also need to be able to develop innovative solutions when novel problems arise.

Creative individuals are able to work within the limits of their organization in such a way that they conceive new approaches that help improve the way their organization responds to arising issues.

Those with a solid sense of creativity are innovative problem solvers. They have an ability to understand the problems in front of them and the solutions that have previously been used. With an understanding of the issue and previous responses, creative individuals assess what resources are available and develop new approaches to solving the problems within their organization.

Adaptability

A skill that any student will use from school through their career will be the ability to adapt to any given situation. One of the purposes of schools is to get students used to the routine of a day’s work, since for most people, a career will ask them to work on a regular schedule accorded to set hours. It’s easy for students to get used to the structure and routine of a normal day’s work.

However, they also need to be able to adapt in the face of novel circumstances . When sudden change occurs, or unanticipated problems arise, it can leave some students unable to effectively respond. As students learn to be more adaptable, they become better situated to respond to a wide range of problems.

A student who learns how to adapt quickly to changing school conditions is better suited to responding in the workplace when new problems arise.

Public Speaking

Public speaking stands apart from general communication skills specifically because publicly speaking requires its own unique set of communication skills. When talking in front of others, people need to be able to speak confidently, be clear in their messaging, and use solid logic in their presentation while under the additional pressure of being watched by others.

An effective public speaker understands their audience and how to speak to them. For instance, if speaking to a highly technical audience, they use the lingo that the audience understands. This language can be technical to match the audience and focus on processes that were developed to solve organizational issues. However, for a business-oriented audience, they may need to use less technical language and focus more tightly on what solutions were developed and how they benefited the organization.

The nature of the classroom lends itself to helping develop the soft skill of teamwork. Teamwork requires that students interact with one another toward completing a singular goal. This is something that they’ll often face in the workplace as they’re asked to work toward resolving organizational issues or as they work with others to meet goals set by their employers.

Effective teamwork draws together a number of other skills, like communication skills and interpersonal skills, and puts them to use so that these goals can be met.

Part of teamwork also involves understanding the hierarchy of the group. Some people have an assertive leadership style and may feel comfortable organizing how the group will meet their goals. Others might be passive individuals who would prefer to remain in the background and focus on technical details of the project.

Regardless of their own personal styles, individuals who learn teamwork skills learn how to use their personal styles for the good of their group rather than for their own good at the expense of the group.

Programs and Activities for Teaching Soft Skills

Unfortunately, when it comes to teaching, some instructors fail to think up ways to integrate these skills into the classroom. In many cases, soft skills are picked up to varying degrees through routine classroom activities. However, there are also specifically designed programs and activities that can help students learn the soft skills that will serve them well in their careers.

Soft Skills to Pay the Bills

Soft skills are considered so important to workplace success that the U.S. Department of Labor has developed its own program, ”Soft Skills to Pay the Bills,” as a curriculum designed to teach those skills to young people.

The program is focused on six major skills, including communication, teamwork, networking, professionalism, enthusiasm and attitudes, and problem solving and critical thinking. Each skill is taught using a separate approach that can be found on the Department of Labor’s website.

As only one example, the curriculum for communication skills has several activities that students can participate in that help improve their ability to communicate effectively. In one activity, students are asked to act out a short play, with one student acting as a worker receiving feedback from the second student, who acts as the boss. After the play is over, students are asked several questions about the interaction. How did the first student respond to feedback? How did the second student communicate their concerns?

One more example from the program includes teaching the skill of professionalism . One of the activities presents students with a different image of different people who might be applying for jobs. One image may include someone with many tattoos on their arms while another image includes an older individual in a wheelchair.

The students are then asked to reflect on the perceptions people might have of these people. Interviewers may ask each individual different questions based on the image they present, for better or worse.

Students might also be asked why older individuals might be reluctant to apply for a job, including fears that their managers will be younger than them. These questions are designed around the idea of getting students to think about issues that might arise in the workplace based on various issues including age gaps, appearances, and other factors.

The Association for Middle Level Education

An organization committed to helping students develop soft skills is the Association for Middle Level Education . Their emphasis is on the seven skills of integrity, communication, courtesy, responsibility, professionalism, flexibility, and teamwork. These skills are slightly different from those listed in the “Soft Skills to Pay the Bills” program, so teachers might want to consider the differences between the two skill lists and which they feel they can best instruct in the classroom.

The AMLE maintains several resources on its website that teachers can reference when trying to integrate soft skills instruction into their teaching. For instance, it maintains links that can help teachers instruct soft skills specifically among students with disabilities.

Approaches to disabled students include encouraging more conversations between families in the home or introducing students to people who are different from them. The first task can help improve communication skills and the second can improve interpersonal skills.

Other resources that the school maintains include lists of a broader range of soft skills that students might find useful in the workforce, videos that demonstrate why certain soft skills are important in the workplace, and links to discussions about how soft skills are applied once a person has taken a job.

Resources even include documents about why personal appearance is important and how it factors into workplace success. The AMLE acts as a sort of broad connection to several resources that can give teachers ideas about how to communicate with students about the importance of soft skills

Time Management Activity

Time management is something that all students should learn since they’ll need to use it both in school and when they’ve entered the job force. Students have to learn to balance different class assignments in school, but they’ll also need to learn how to balance different job duties. The time management challenge can help students learn how to respond to these challenges.

The challenge is straight forward. The teacher writes a list of different activities but then weights those activities. Each activity is weighted by assigning a certain number of points to them. Teachers should take care to come up with enough activities to take up more than 10 minutes. Finally, students break up into groups and are given a copy of the activities. It’s then up to the students to collect as many points as possible within the 10-minute limit.

This activity is actually good for a few reasons. First, it asks the students to work together, emphasizing the same teamwork that they’ll need to demonstrate in the workplace. Second, students need to communicate in order to win the challenge by accumulating the most points of any group. Of course, the third reason why it’s a successful activity is because it asks students to balance the list of challenges against their time limit. They’re asked to prioritize which activities have the most value against which activities they can reasonably complete in a limited time. This challenge can be adapted to almost any class.

Time limits can be longer than 10 minutes and tasks can include subject specific tasks that ask students to complete certain activities, like looking up historical information or completing a quick writeup of a science topic. It’s up to the teacher to properly balance the time limit, activities, and points awarded.

Active Listening Activity

Good listening habits help students to become better communicators, so teaching active listening is fundamental to preparing students for the workplace. Active listening can be taught in a number of ways but always involves making sure that a student is highly engaged.

Students can pair off, for example, with one student acting as communicator and another acting as listener. Generally, students should adhere to certain principles during the activity, and these principles should be communicated clearly by the teacher before these activities begin. Students should bring a nonjudgmental approach to the student and ask them probing questions that explore the student’s understanding of a topic.

In actual practice, one student may be asked to speak on a certain topic. The topic can be randomized from a deck of cards that each contain a topic. The speaking student can then begin their presentation to the listener. It’s up to the listener to respond by engaging deeply with the presentation and following up with appropriate questions.

The activity can be adapted to the classroom in certain ways. Students might be assigned random topics, but they may be given a little time in the class to research their topic, whether the class be about anything from literature to engineering. This can help develop some quick research skills over time.

Then, with the research done, the speaking student can give their presentation. Then, students exchange roles so that the listener becomes the speaker and talks about the topic they were randomly given.

The important part of the active listening activity is the use of follow up questions. Listeners should pay attention to the material they’re hearing and respond with questions that explore the topic a little more deeply. This active communication may help improve learning outcomes by emphasizing individual research, communication of school subjects, and active listening to better understand new information. Learn more about active listening .

Soft skills are more important than ever for success in the workforce, given that the modern work environment places such a high priority of teamwork and communication. However, the modern school curriculum leans very heavily on teaching hard skills. As such, it falls to teachers to find ways of integrating soft skills into their current instruction.

Teachers can get an idea for how to integrate soft skills into their instruction from several resources. However, there are always going to be some general principles to follow. Teachers should create or adapt existing activities so that there is a heavy emphasis on group work, independent research, communication between peers, time management, and presentation. By placing a strong emphasis on group dynamics, teachers can mimic the sort of work environment that many students will find themselves in once they leave school behind for the workforce.

Teachers won’t always have the time to tailor make activities that perfectly integrate hard skills and soft skills. However, once you’ve identified a few key activities, you can adapt new lessons to integrate these same activities to future lessons. That can help keep your preparation time down while still creating the kind of integrated activity that helps students not only improve their content knowledge but the ability to apply that knowledge in the workplace.

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The Ultimate Presentation Skills Guide for High School Students

Nobody is born an excellent presenter. Even the most captivating speakers had sleepless nights before their first presentation. It's no secret that a stunning presentation can be a game-changer, especially for high school students who need to impress their teachers and secure good grades. Moreover, excellent presentation skills are essential for every career path, making it equally crucial to master this art while in school. In this comprehensive guide, we aim to provide high school students with some practical and out-of-the-box presentation hacks to work smarter, not harder.

Break The Ice:

In a nerve-racking situation like a public speaking event, the best way to begin is by breaking the ice. A little humor, a fun fact, or even a brief storytelling session can help to connect with the audience and make them more interested in what you have to say. This approach will also help to calm your nerves and pave the way for a smoother presentation.

Know Your Audience:

Before you start crafting your presentation, you need to know who will be on the receiving end. Understanding the needs, expectations, and preferences of your target audience can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your presentation. Make sure to tailor your content, tone, and delivery style to meet your audience’s needs. If you are presenting to your classmates, keep the language fun and engaging. A presentation for your teacher or a panel of judges might necessitate a more formal tone.

Plan Your Talking Points:

After researching your target audience, the next step is planning your talking points. Having a clear roadmap can guide you throughout your presentation. Aim for three to five main points to ensure your content remains digestible and easy to follow. Remember, less is more!

Utilize Visuals:

Research shows that people remember 80% of what they see compared to only 20% of what they read. Therefore, incorporating relevant visuals into your presentation can dramatically increase your audience's engagement and retention. Consider using images, infographics, diagrams, or even short videos to make your presentation more appealing.

Practice, Practice, Practice:

One of the key productivity tricks to nail your presentation is practice. The more you rehearse, the smoother your delivery will be. Also, practicing helps you to remain calm, avoid awkward pauses, and be better prepared to handle any unexpected questions.

Use Technology:

In today's digital age, technology offers a plethora of tools to spice up your presentation. Platforms like Canva, Google Slides, and PowerPoint allow you to create aesthetically pleasing presentations with a few simple clicks. You can find thousands of pre-designed templates to suit your presentation style and topic. Additionally, using a platform like Zoom for your presentation can enhance your delivery with features like 'share screen', 'annotation', and 'virtual background'.

Remember, mastering public speaking and presentation skills is a journey. Don't expect perfection on your first trials. Keep honing your skills, embrace your mistakes and learn from them. As the renowned American motivational speaker Les Brown once said, ' You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. '

Fore more resources to keep up with your high school education, explore our website .

References for Further Reading:

• How To Speak So That People Want To Listen
• Tips for Presenting Your Design Work
• Christine Marrelli - Zoom November 24, 2020
• 9 Steps to a Great Presentation

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30+ Awesome Career-Readiness Activities That Teach Soft Skills

Students need these skills to succeed in the workplace.

Our vision is to unlock the potential of each learner at every stage of life. At McGraw Hill, we believe that your diverse experiences enrich the way you learn, teach, and grow. See how Career Explorations  introduces students to hundreds of diverse careers and critical soft skills needed to set them on a purposeful path through high school and beyond.

When it’s time for students to start working and/or head to college, they’ll need “soft skills,” otherwise known as career-readiness or job-readiness skills, in addition to academic knowledge and vocational skills.

Soft skills are those characteristics that help you function as an individual (motivation, self-confidence, flexibility) as well as within a group (teamwork, negotiation, respect). These job-readiness skills are key for succeeding in the workplace. After all, if you can’t show up on time, speak up for yourself, or get along with your peers, chances are you’re not going to have a very smooth go of it.

Explicitly teaching students these job-readiness skills is the best way to give them valuable insight into their strengths and weaknesses. We’ve rounded up just over 30 engaging lessons and activities that are not only just right for teaching the job-readiness skills students need, they are also a lot of fun!

1. Use an engaging curriculum for career exploration and readiness

There are so many important things to teach our students before they’re ready to leave high school that it’s daunting to know where to begin. That’s why having strong, trusted resources can make such a difference. McGraw Hill’s Career Explorations program for middle and early high school is an excellent example of such a curriculum. The resources blend occupation and industry content with case studies and real-world, application-based questions and activities to grab students’ attention right from the start. And real-world, industry-specific soft-skills practice questions throughout each chapter expose students to types of challenges they’ll face regardless of what career path they pursue.

Skills they’ll practice:

Collaboration, critical thinking, problem-solving

Explore the program: McGraw Hill Career Explorations

2. Listen and recap

There are so many things competing for kids’ attention in today’s overstimulating world, so learning the simple art of listening can be a difficult task. This one-on-one communication activity will help students practice taking the time to clear their minds, focus, and really listen to what their partner is saying in a way that they can clearly and accurately repeat.

Divide students into pairs. Partner one draws a topic card from a prepared deck and talks about that topic, while partner two listens without speaking. The listener must really focus on simply receiving their partner’s words—not letting their mind wander or think about how they are going to respond. Then, without a rebuttal, partner two recaps what partner one said. Then, they switch roles.

Listening, respect, interpersonal skills, communication

Buy it: Letz Talk Conversation Cards at Amazon

3. Make a game of it

Responsibility isn’t something students develop overnight. It takes lots of practice to show self-control when things don’t go our way, to be accountable for our decisions, to finish what we start, and to keep trying even when we want to give up. Try these five super-fun games (below) that teach responsibility.

Responsibility, flexibility, patience

Learn more: 5 Great Games for Teaching Your Students About Responsibility

4. Serve others

Service-learning projects not only get kids involved in their communities, they help them develop many valuable job-readiness skills that will be assets on the job one day. Team students up to organize a book or food drive, recruit bilingual students to provide translation services, or encourage budding artists to collaborate on a community art event.

Teamwork, respect, time management, responsibility

Learn more: 30 Meaningful Service Learning Projects for Kids and Teens

5. Cultivate critical thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to examine a subject and develop an informed opinion about it. It’s about asking questions, then looking closely at the answers to form conclusions that are backed by provable facts, not just “gut feelings” and opinion. And it’s definitely on the top of most employers’ wish lists for new employees. Click the link below for fun and engaging classroom activities that’ll get your students’ gears turning.

Critical thinking, problem-solving, flexibility, self-confidence

Learn more: 5 Critical Thinking Skills Every Kid Needs To Learn and How To Teach Them

6. Human Marble Run

Working together to meet a goal takes patience and focus. This IRL version of Marble Run will help your students learn job-readiness skills like working together, and they’ll have fun doing it!

Give each member of the team a length of gutter or drainpipe. The team has to transfer a tennis ball or golf ball from one place to another by rolling the ball from one piece of gutter to the next. Make it interesting by making the team get the ball to traverse an obstacle course or to go up and down stairs.

Patience, negotiation, teamwork, communication

7. No-hands cup-stacking challenge

This hands-on group challenge is an exercise in learning job-readiness skills like patience and perseverance, not to mention it’s a total blast!

Decide how many students you want in each group, and tie that number of strings to a single rubber band. Each person in the group holds on to one of the strings attached to the rubber band. As a group, they use this device to pick up the cups (by pulling the rubber band apart and then bringing it back together over the cups) and place them on top of one another in order to build a pyramid.

Critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, patience

Learn more: Cup Stack from Ms. Sepp’s Counselor Corner

8. Paper bag skits

You never know what life is going to hand to you. This is true at work, school, and in life in general. Sometimes you’re handed a set of circumstances and have very little time to figure out what to do. This fun activity will help teens practice thinking on their feet.

Fill a few paper bags with four or five assorted classroom or household items. Break the teens into groups, and assign each group a bag without showing them what’s inside. Give them two minutes to examine the items in their bag and come up with a skit, using all of the items, for the rest of the class.

Time management, teamwork, flexibility, presentation skills

9. Nurture self-knowledge

Journaling is a powerful tool for creative expression and reflection, but did you know that it can also be an effective way to improve mental health? Recording your thoughts and feelings can be a cathartic form of stress relief, an opportunity to get to know yourself better, and a way to help you feel more grounded and authentic in your beliefs. Try these free writing prompt cards with your middle and high schoolers to help them get started.

Stress management, self-confidence, motivation

Learn more: Deep Writing Journal Prompts for Teens from Journal Buddies

10. Foster self-motivation

Self-motivation is one of the key indicators of success in the future. Conversely, lack of motivation leads to big problems not only in school but on the job later on. But how do we teach something that comes from inside? Check out the activities below for some great tips like breaking big dreams into smaller pieces, envisioning a bright future, encouraging students to share their stories, and more.

Work ethic, critical thinking, self-confidence

Learn more: How To Instill Intrinsic Motivation from 7Mindsets

11. Hold a poetry slam

Slam poetry is a unique performance art that will not only give your students the opportunity to express their thoughts, but build their confidence as well. Slam poems are specifically written to be performed in front of an audience, and topics are often diverse, political, and thought-provoking. Finding your voice and being able to move people with your words are job-readiness skills that can apply to any future endeavor.

Self-confidence, presentation skills, teamwork

Learn more: What Is Slam Poetry and How Can Teachers Use It With Students?

12. Team survival challenge

What would happen if your class went out on a pleasure cruise only to end up being lost at sea? Who would take charge? What materials would be essential for survival? If you ever saw an episode of the TV series Lost , you know that making these decisions as a group can get ugly fast. This activity is a great lesson in group decision-making, as students will undoubtedly have different ideas about what materials to add to a limited list in a limited amount of time.

Critical thinking, negotiation, communication, teamwork

Learn more: Lost at Sea from Grahame Knox

13. Start a school garden

A school garden is an amazing, hands-on way to help teach students about responsibility. From planning what to grow and organizing the supplies needed to creating a maintenance schedule and actually getting down and dirty in the garden, it’s a project that requires hard work and perseverance.

Responsibility, teamwork, problem-solving, patience

Learn more: How One School Garden Transformed a Neighborhood

14. Time-management challenge

We all have days when our list of tasks is huge, and the amount of time we have to complete them just isn’t. When time is tight and your agenda is packed, you’ve got to prioritize tasks and work efficiently! This activity gives students the opportunity to practice just that by presenting them with a long list of tasks to complete in a limited time frame.

Make a list of tasks on chart paper, assigning a point value for each job. For example: Do 25 jumping jacks (5 points); make up a nickname for each member of the group (5 points); get every person in the class to sign a piece of paper (15 points); form a conga line and conga from one end of the room to the other (5 points; 10 bonus points if anyone joins you); etc. Make sure you list enough tasks to take up more than 10 minutes.

Divide your students into groups of five or six and give them 10 minutes to collect as many points as they can by deciding which tasks to perform. A debriefing session is essential with this game. Guide your students to think about how they made decisions, which group dynamics came into play, and how they determined the value of each task.

Negotiation, critical thinking, communication, time management

15. Vision boards

Unleash your students’ creativity while simultaneously helping them set goals for the future with a vision board. We don’t frequently take the time to express who we are and what we hope for. Setting aside time to contemplate can motivate teens to think deeply about what they really want in life and also fuel their desire to do what’s necessary in order to reach their dreams.

Self-confidence, motivation, critical thinking

Learn more: Why Teachers Should Create Vision Boards With Their Students from Study All Knight

16. Collaborative contract

This exercise for middle schoolers helps them establish values-based ground rules for a team. Each student takes an index card and lists three values that they believe will promote a sense of community. Team members discuss the values, consolidating them into more precise categories. They write the finalized list on a poster board, with each student signing it. Whenever there is a dispute, the team should refer to the “contract,” which holds everyone accountable.

The purpose of this exercise is to create a safe space to explore ideas by focusing on common language and shared expectations. Additionally, this activity prepares middle-school students for the workplace by emphasizing similarities rather than differences.

Negotiation, communication, listening, respect

17. Zombie apocalypse

In this two-day lesson, students are required to identify soft skills, literary guides, and everyday objects that will help them survive a zombie apocalypse. They’ll work both cooperatively and independently and produce short pieces of persuasive writing to argue in favor of their survival.

Teamwork, interpersonal skills (collaboration), problem-solving

Learn more: Zombie Invasion Plan  from Sarah Andrasik

18. Stoke their competitive fire

According to teacher Christine Weis , there’s nothing like a little healthy competition in the classroom. “It motivates students and drives them to put forth their best effort,” she says. “It sparks interest, passion, and ignites a fire within.” Not only can healthy competition build confidence, it can encourage students to learn something new and develop new skills. Try games, puzzles, sports, quiz competitions, team presentations, etc., to motivate your students to reach a higher level.

Motivation, work ethic, problem-solving, self-confidence

Learn more: 7 Motivational Activities for Students from The Homeschool Resource Room

19. The blindfold game

Teens leading one another around in blindfolds? Are we sure this is a good idea? The answer is yes when it’s part of a structured, purposeful job-readiness skills activity like this one!

You’ll need a large space for this activity (maybe the cafeteria after lunch or the gym during an off-period), enough blindfolds for half of the participants, and furniture and other items that you can use as obstacles (cardboard boxes, pillows, chairs, tables). Scatter furniture and objects around the room before the activity begins. Your course should be challenging but safe to navigate.

Pair students and have them line up at one end of the room. One person from each pair should put on the blindfold. The sighted person must guide their partner across the room and give them clear oral instructions (without touching them) to help them avoid the obstacles. When each team reaches the far side of the room, partners can switch roles and repeat the exercise. Have just a few pairs tackle the course at a time so that the others can observe. Take some time between rounds to process what went well, what didn’t, and what could make the challenge easier.

Communication, listening, respect (taking the task and their partner’s safety seriously), flexibility

20. Take a mini crash course

Our teens may almost look like adults, but we have to remember they still have a lot to learn. And sometimes the best way to teach them what they need to know is to just spell it out. This video is a no-nonsense tutorial about some of the job-readiness skills that employers find valuable. Hold a screening, then after the video, have students form breakout groups to talk about what portion of the video they found most helpful and what they need to work on.

Communication, listening, critical thinking

21. Human knot

Nothing promotes job-readiness skills such as cooperation like getting all tangled up with your classmates — literally!

Players stand in a circle and reach out to shake hands with other players, with each hand holding that of a different person, creating a “human knot.” Then the players have to figure out how to untangle their bodies without letting go of each other’s hands. This activity lends itself to a vibrant debriefing session as students observe their communication and cooperation skills.

Teamwork, communication, problem-solving

Learn more: The Human Knot Game from Icebreaker Ideas

22. Mind your mental health

Managing stress in school (and on the job) is a timely subject. With mental health issues on the rise across the country, it’s critical to teach your students strategies that will help them stay grounded and build resilience. After all, it’s hard to do your best in any endeavor when you’re stressed to the max. Try the empowering activities below to teach students how to manage stress so they can succeed in college, on the job, and in the future.

Self-confidence, problem-solving, leadership

Learn more: 22 Empowering Mental Health Activities for Teens

23. Rope Circle Shimmy

Divide teens into two groups. Each group should have a minimum of five members. To begin play, make a big circle out of rope for each team and put it on the floor. Each member of the team stands at the edges of the circle, so the rope is taut around their ankles, while holding their hands in the air.

Team members must take turns moving to work the rope up from ankles to wrists, keeping hands in the air at all times. The team member will have to wiggle and move to slide the rope up. Other team members can help by keeping the rope as taut as possible. The team that finishes the challenge first wins!

Communication, flexibility, interpersonal skills (cooperation)

Learn more: Looped to Rope from Mom Junction

24. Four-card negotiation

Sometimes to get ahead in life, you have to know how to wheel and deal. This is entirely what this lesson is all about. The objective is for teams to trade and barter for pieces of cards to match up with the pieces they already have and ultimately end up with four complete playing cards.

Start with a pile of playing cards (four cards per team of four or five students). Cut each card diagonally into four pieces and mix all of the pieces together. Now divide the mixed-up pieces evenly among the teams. Give teams a couple of minutes to sort out their card pieces and figure out which pieces they have and which pieces are missing. Set a timer for 10 minutes. The goal of the game is for the students to use their negotiation skills with the other teams in order to gain as many complete cards as possible for their team. At the end of 10 minutes, the team with the most cards wins.

Negotiation, communication, interpersonal skills

25. Pair up with younger kids

Nothing helps teens build responsibility like pairing up with a younger buddy. Being the more mature, more experienced partner in the relationship gives teens the opportunity to share what they know and learn to be a leader. Have your students plan fun activities and special events with their buddies.

Responsibility, leadership, problem-solving, listening, patience

Learn more: 20 Activities for Big Buddy/Little Buddy Time from Create, Dream, Explore

26. Blind spelling practice

Weaving soft-skills activities into everyday curriculum is a win for everyone. Enhance your students’ interpersonal skills with this fun spelling activity. Tape letters to each student’s back. Then call out a definition of a word. Students will need to work together to assemble in the right order to spell the word correctly.

Communication, listening, negotiation, problem-solving

Learn more:  Manuel Antonio Noronha

27. Practice small talk

Teenagers aren’t exactly known for their chitchat skills. In fact, for many it is one of the most awkward situations they can imagine being put in. But small talk is considered a foundational job-readiness skill that is important for almost every job, as well as learning to network. Many teens feel awkward speaking with people they’re not used to speaking to and need practice, especially with adults. Try some free conversation starters that will help them practice the “three P’s” of small talk: being polite, positive, and professional.

Communication, listening, self-confidence, patience, respect

Learn more: Conversation Starters on the Job from Realityworks

28. Blind drawing

Try this hilarious activity with your teens. It’s kind of like “telephone” but instead of listening, each person must pay close attention to what is being drawn on their back. Each student in the line gets a blank sheet of paper taped to their back and a marker. The student at the end begins by slowly drawing an image on the person’s paper in front of them. When that person feels what’s being drawn, they try to re-create what they’re feeling on the person of front of them. When the image is complete, have the students take off their papers and compare the results. This activity is a colorful reminder that people often perceive things very differently, so communication is extremely important!

Communication, teamwork, patience

29. Mock interviews

The prospect of going on a job interview can be terrifying to a kid who’s never had a job before. Practicing job-readiness skills like interviewing can help them reduce the fear factor and build their confidence. Pair students up and assign one teen the role of interviewer and one the role of interviewee. Use a set of job interview questions to practice with.

Give each pair 15 minutes, then have them talk about how the interview went. The interviewer may have some valuable insight for the interviewee. Then have the partners switch roles and repeat. After they’ve had practice with their peers, invite a few adults into the room to conduct mock interviews.

Interview skills, critical thinking, self-confidence

Learn more: Job Interview Questions for Teens from Understood for All

30. Group storytelling

Create small groups of three to eight students. The first person makes up the first line of a story and says it out loud. The second person says, “Yes, and …,” continuing the story. Play continues around the group until everyone has contributed or until the story has come to a satisfactory ending. Since students don’t know what’s coming, they have to learn how to listen carefully and react and communicate well on the fly. As an alternative, to have students listen even more carefully, have them continue the story with the phrase, “because …”

Communication, listening, critical thinking, presentation

31. Team pen

Sometimes it takes the whole team to produce results. This fun game involves a marker with four to six strings tied to it and a blank piece of paper. The teacher calls out a word and the team has to work together to legibly print the word on the paper. Students will have to think carefully and cooperate with one another to maneuver the pen correctly to write the word.

Communication, teamwork, patience, critical thinking

Be sure to visit McGraw Hill’s Career Explorations page for more information about their career and technical education resources for middle and high school.

Also, check out these “would you rather” questions to get teens thinking about their future careers..

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5 soft skills for high school students

by Molly Hornbuckle | Nov 2, 2021 | Blog

Soft skills for high school students matter. Soft skills, sometimes called employability skills, 21st Century skills, professionalism skills, people skills, or interpersonal skills, relate to the non-technical aspects of a career. Think of them as character traits and work habits that aren’t necessarily written into a job description, but are skills employers find important in a successful employee.

Hard skills, or the skills necessary to accomplish a specific job, are still important to employers. However, soft skills are top of mind for employers as shown by a 2019 Global Talent Trends survey by LinkedIn that reported 92% of hiring managers value soft skills as much or more than hard skills.

Monster’s 2021 The Future of Work survey reiterated that fact by showing soft skills are among the top desired traits for candidates across industries. Developing these easily transferable soft skills in students is vital. 87% of employers reported to Monster that they were struggling to fill positions.

Soft skills include:

• Adaptability and flexibility
• Communication
• Conflict resolution
• Critical thinking and problem-solving
• Dependability
• Good listening
• Professionalism
• Responsibility
• Self-discipline
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Time management
• Willingness to learn

The top 5 soft skills for high school students

With such a broad range of soft skills to develop, it can be hard to know where to focus.

The Perkins Collaborative Resource Network offers a framework and checklist for employability skills to provide direction to schools. It pulls soft skills into three main categories:

• Applied knowledge (AN): academic and critical-thinking skills
• Effective relationships (ER): interpersonal skills and personal qualities
• Workplace skills (WS): including resource management, communications skills and more

Though students have many soft skills to learn, here are five that educators can work into any curriculum and where they fall into the employability skills checklist.

10 Ways for Teaching Soft Skills to Students: Mastering Life Beyond the Classroom

Lakshmi Puthanveedu • 08 Jan 2024 • 9 min read

Have you ever come across a job you wanted, with the relevant credentials needed, but didn’t dare to apply for because you were unsure if you would fit in?

Education isn’t just about learning the topics by heart, scoring high marks in exams, or completing a random internet course. As a teacher, no matter what age group your students belong to, teaching soft skills to students can be tricky, especially when you have students of different calibre in the class.

If you want your students to put what they learned to good use, they need to know how to work with a team, put forward their ideas and opinions politely, and handle stressful situations.

#1 – Group Projects and Teamwork

#2 – learning and assessment, #3 – experimental learning techniques.

• #4 – Find Their Own Way

#5 – Crisis Management

• #6 – Active Listening
• #7 – Critical Thinking
• #8 – Mock interviews

#9 – Note Taking and Self-Reflections

• #10 – Peer Review

More Tips with AhaSlides

• Classroom Management Strategies
• Google Classroom Alternatives
• Online Learning Student Engagement

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What are Soft Skills and Why are They Important?

Being an educator, it’s important for you to ensure that your students are prepared to handle a professional situation or thrive in their respective careers.

Apart from the “technical” knowledge (hard skills) that they learn during their class or course, they also need to develop some interpersonal qualities (soft skills) – such as leadership, and communication skills etc, – which cannot be measured with credits, scores or certificates.

💡 Soft skills are all about interaction – check out some other interactive classroom activities .

Hard Skills Vs Soft Skills

Hard Skills: These are any skill or proficiency in a specific field acquired over time, through practice, and repetition. Hard skills are backed by certifications, educational degrees and transcripts.

Soft Skills: These skills are personal, subjective and cannot be measured. Soft skills include, but are not limited to, how a person is in a professional space, how they interact with others, solve crisis situations etc.

Here are some of the commonly preferred soft skills in an individual:

• Communication
• Accountability
• Problem-solving
• Adaptability
• Negotiating

Why Teach Soft Skills to Students?

• The present world, including workplace and educational institutions, runs on interpersonal skills
• Soft skills complement the hard skills, set the students apart in their own way and increase the chances of getting hired
• These help in cultivating work-life balance and managing stressful situations in a better way
• Helps in adapting to the constantly changing workspace and strategies and grow with the organisation
• Helps in improving listening skills leading to mindfulness, empathy and a better grasp of the situation and people

10 Ways for Teaching Soft Skills to Students

A group project is one of the best ways to introduce and cultivate many soft skills in students. Group projects usually include interpersonal communication, discussions, problem-solving, goal-setting and more.

Everyone in the team will have a different perception of the same problem/topic, and it will help the students hone their skills in understanding and analysing a situation for better results.

Whether you are teaching virtually or in a classroom, you can use brainstorming as one of the techniques for building teamwork. Using the brainstorming slide from AhaSlides , an online interactive presentation tool, you can let your students put forward ideas and opinions they have, vote for the most popular ones, and discuss them one by one.

This can be done in a couple of easy steps:

• Create your free account on AhaSlides
• Choose a template of your choice from the wide range of options
• Add a brainstorming slide from the slide options
• Insert your question
• Customise the slide according to your requirements, such as how many votes each entry will receive, if multiple entries are allowed etc.,

Irrespective of what age your students belong to, you cannot expect them to automatically understand the learning and assessment techniques you would be using in the class.

• Set daily expectations for your students on what you expect them to achieve day
• Let them know the proper etiquette to follow when they want to raise a question or share a piece of information
• Teach them how to be polite when they are mingling with their fellow students or others
• Let them know about the proper dressing rules and about active listening

Every student has a different capacity to learn. Project-based learning techniques will help the students combine hard and soft skills. Here’s a fun activity you could play with your students.

Grow a Plant

• Give every student a sapling to take care of
• Ask them to record the progress till the day it blooms or grows completely
• The students can gather information about the plant and the factors affecting the growth
• At the end of the activity; you can have an online interactive quiz

#4 – Help the Students Find Their Way

The age-old technique of students listening while the teacher speaks on and on about a topic is long gone. Ensure a flow of communication in the class and encourage small talk and informal communication.

You can include fun and interactive games in the class that could encourage the students to speak and connect. Here are some ways you can build teamwork and improve communication:

• If you are planning to have a surprise test, host interactive quizzes instead of standard boring tests
• Use a spinner wheel to choose a student to answer the questions or speak
• Have Q&As at the end of the classes to encourage the students to ask questions

Crisis can happen in any form and intensity. Sometimes it might be as simple as missing your school bus when you have a test for the first hour, but sometimes it might be as important as setting up an annual budget for your sports team.

No matter what subject you are teaching, giving the students a problem to solve will only help them improve their real-world capabilities. You can use a simple game such as giving the students a situation and asking them to come up with a solution within a set time.

• The situations can be location-specific or topic-specific.
• For example, if you are located in a region with frequent rain damages and power cuts, the crisis could be focused on that.
• Divide the crisis into different sections based on the student’s knowledge level
• Ask them questions and let them answer within a set time limit
• You can use the open-ended slide feature on AhaSlides where the students can submit their answers without a set word limit and in detail

#6 – Active Listening and Introductions

Active listening is one of the most important soft skills every person should cultivate. With the pandemic putting up a wall to social interactions, now more than ever, teachers have to find interesting ways to help the students listen to the speakers, understand what they’re saying and then respond in the right way.

Meeting classmates, finding out more about them and making friends are some of the most exciting things in every student’s life.

You cannot expect the students to enjoy group activities or be comfortable with each other just like that. Introductions are one of the best ways to ensure students have a fun learning experience and improve active listening.

Many interactive presentation tools are available online to make student introductions fun and engaging for everyone. The students could each make a presentation about themselves, have fun quizzes for their classmates to participate in, and have a Q&A session at the end for everyone.

This would not only help the students to get to know each other but also to actively listen to their peers.

#7 – Teach Critical Thinking With Innovations and Experiments

When you are teaching soft skills to college students, one of the most essential soft skills to consider is critical thinking. Many students find it challenging to analyse facts, observe, form their own judgement and provide feedback, especially when a higher authority is involved.

Feedback is one of the best ways to teach students critical thinking. There are so many factors to consider before they offer you their opinions or suggestions, and it would also give them an opportunity to think and come to a conclusion.

And that is why feedback is essential not just for the students but also for the teachers. It is important to teach them that there is nothing fearful in voicing their opinions or suggestions as long as they are doing it politely and correctly.

Give the students an opportunity to provide feedback regarding the class and the learning techniques used. You can use an interactive word cloud to your advantage here.

• Ask the students how they think the class and learning experiences are going
• You can divide the whole activity into different sections and ask multiple questions
• The students can submit their answers within a set time limit, and the most popular answer will appear in the centre of the cloud
• The most preferred ideas can be then taken into consideration and improved upon in future lessons

#8 – Boost the Students’ Confidence With Mock interviews

Do you remember that time in school when you were scared to go in front of the class and speak? Not a fun situation to be in, right?

With everything going virtual with the pandemic, many students find it difficult to speak when asked to address a crowd. Especially for high school and college students, stage fright is a leading cause of concern.

One of the best ways to boost their confidence and help them overcome this stage fright is to conduct mock interviews. You could either conduct the interviews yourself or invite an industry professional to make the activity a little more realistic and exciting.

This is usually most useful for college students, and you can have a set of mock interview questions prepared, depending on their main focus subject or common career interests.

Before the mock interview, give the students an introduction to what to expect during such interviews, how they should present themselves and how they would be assessed. This would give them time to prepare, and you could also use these metrics for evaluation.

Haven’t we all faced that situation where we got tons of instructions about a task, only to end up not remembering much of it and missing out on completing it?

Not everyone has super memory, and it’s only human to miss out on things. This is why note-taking is an essential soft skill in everyone’s life. With the advancement of technology, we are so used to getting instructions to send over mail or messages.

Nevertheless, it is an excellent idea to make your notes while attending a meeting or when you are being instructed on something. Because most of the time, the ideas and thoughts you get while in a situation could help complete the tasks.

To help students improve their note-taking skills, you can use these techniques in every class:

• Minutes of Meeting (MOM) – Pick one student in each class and ask them to make notes about that class. These notes can then be shared with the entire class at the end of each lesson.
• Journal Entry – This can be an individual activity. Whether digitally or using a pen and a book, ask every student to make a journal entry about what they learned each day.
• Thought Diary – Ask the students to make notes of any questions or confusing thoughts they have during a lesson, and at the end of each lesson, you can have an interactive Q&A session where these are addressed individually.

#10 – Peer Review and the 3 P’s – Polite, Positive and Professional

Most often, when students are entering a professional setting for the first time, it isn’t easy to stay positive all the time. They will mingle with people from different educational and professional backgrounds, temperaments, attitudes etc.

• Introduce a reward system in the class.
• Every time a student admits they are wrong, every time someone handles a crisis professionally, when someone takes feedback positively etc., you can reward them with extra points.
• The points can be either added to the exams, or you can have a different prize at the end of each week for the student with the highest point.

Developing soft skills should be part of every student’s learning process. As an educator, it’s essential to create opportunities for the students to innovate, communicate, build self-reliance and more with the help of these soft skills.

The perfect way to help your students cultivate these soft skills is through interactive learning experiences. Include games and activities and engage them virtually with the help of various interactive presentation tools like AhaSlides. Check out our template library to see how you can incorporate fun activities to help your students build their soft skills.

Lakshmi Puthanveedu

A small-town girl enthralled by culture, languages, and sunsets. Casual artist and musician looking to make memories every step of the way. Now changing the way humans live and have virtual interactions with AhaSlides.

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7 Soft Skills for High School Students

November 9, 2023

In today’s technology-centric and data-driven world, it’s easy to focus on the hard skills and competencies that you believe your child may need to land college acceptances and job placements, which may include coding languages, data analysis proficiency, or foreign language mastery. However, in order to succeed in college–and in any given career field, for that matter–your child will need to possess a certain set of soft skills that will help them problem-solve effectively, navigate diverse settings, and understand how to relate to others. Over the past decade of working with teens, we’ve found that certain soft skills are most indicative of a student’s ability to thrive in the college setting and beyond. Read on for our list of the top seven soft skills for high school students.  

What are soft skills?

Before we dive in, let’s define what soft skills are. According to the National Soft Skills Association , soft skills are rooted in emotional intelligence. Typically, they refer to the skills we need to collaborate with others and navigate challenging situations, such as communication, leadership, teamwork, stress management, and conflict resolution.

As such, soft skills for high school students are notoriously difficult to measure or quantify, although many researchers have tried. For example, in a working paper that was released in 2020 by the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research , researchers from Northwestern and the University of Chicago asserted that promoting interpersonal skills and work ethic has a greater impact on educational outcomes than raising test scores. In 2017, David Deming, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education published “The Growing Importance of Soft Skills in the Labor Market,” another working paper that delves into why soft skills are viewed as increasingly important across various sectors.  Moreover, over the past fifteen years, there has been increased attention on qualities like grit, empathy, and adaptability, among others. Strong research and anecdotal evidence indicate that the possession of such skills leads to better educational and professional outcomes.

What is the difference between hard skills vs. soft skills for teens?

Hard skills are the opposite of soft skills; they are measurable, quantifiable, and testable. They often refer to technical proficiencies, such as computer applications or programming languages, but can also refer to copywriting, marketing, and foreign language expertise. Moreover, hard skills are typically quick to assess. If someone asks you if you speak Spanish and you say “ sí ,” they might follow up with “ Qué hora es? ” If you answer “ Me llamo Jillian ,” it will be abundantly clear that you don’t, in fact, speak Spanish. Similarly, certain internships or courses might require Python proficiency . If, when you’re asked to write code, you turn into Homer Simpson frantically searching for the “any key” key, your lack of coding expertise will be sadly–and instantly–revealed.

Why are soft skills for teens important?

In relation to college applications, reviewers hope to observe these traits in the work students have done. They also assess students’ soft skills from the way they interact, whether verbally or in writing.

That said, it’s important to note that “soft skills mastery” is not another task to cross off the college application checklist. Rather, it’s a set of life skills essential to independence as well as relational and professional success. Soft skills for high school students are observable through the way they interact with others, show up in different spaces, and solve problems. As such, these skills are often a good indicator of what type of classmate, roommate, and community member they’ll be.

How can teenagers develop soft skills?

Like most skills, soft skills are best developed through practice and modeling. Extracurricular activities, part-time jobs, doing household chores, and simply attending school are excellent ways to develop soft skills. Moreover, middle school and high school present many important opportunities to practice and make mistakes in a safe environment. That said, mastering just about any skill on this list will likely take months–and potentially years–of practice. Let’s dive in.

Soft Skills for High School Students #1: Communication

No matter what career your child decides to pursue in the future, they’ll need strong communication skills within their personal and professional lives. Before they find themselves in front of a boardroom, though, they’ll first need to make their own doctor’s appointments, schedule meetings with professors and advisors, inquire about and interview for jobs, etc. A few ways to help them practice:

• Let your teen answer and send their own emails to ask questions and resolve problems about their homework, classroom assignments, scheduling conflicts, and college applications.
• Let your teen make and answer calls to set up doctor and dentist appointments.
• Let your teen handle extracurricular scheduling issues–such as coordinating pick-ups and drop-offs with friends, when appropriate.

Such opportunities are often self-correcting in that your child will receive fairly instant feedback. Perhaps they’ll have to repeat an unclear question several times to the doctor’s office receptionist, send a follow-up email when they haven’t received a response from their coach, or have to wait for you to pick them up if they forgot to ask a friend for a ride home. These small interactions are often quite powerful and provide your teenager with important insight that they can use next time.

Soft Skills for High School Students #2: Feedback  

Giving and receiving feedback could be considered a subset of “communication skills.” However, we’ve broken it into its own category based on its importance in both academic and professional settings. Recently, the Wall Street Journal published an article investigating the changes that some companies are making in their feedback procedures, which include adjusting their terminology (“feed forward” versus “feedback”) and inquiring about employee preferences, such as whether they’d rather receive feedback in writing or in-person.

While receiving constructive feedback can be nerve-wracking, your teenager can simply think of it as a piece of information that they can choose to use or not use. Of course, there may be natural consequences associated with not using feedback–particularly in the professional world. Consequently, high school is an excellent time to practice learning how to deliver feedback and receive it from others. A few tips:

• Help your teen understand that it’s normal to feel nervous about receiving feedback and/or to have mixed feelings about the feedback that has been received. This does not necessarily mean that the feedback is untrue or inaccurate.
• In order to fully absorb feedback, encourage your teen to pause before responding–whether at home, on the field, or in the classroom.
• Use “I” statements that focus on your own emotions and experiences when giving feedback to your teenager, and encourage them to do the same when giving feedback to others. For example, “I feel confused about this section” is often better received than “You didn’t do a good job explaining this.”

Soft Skills for High School Students #3: Interpersonal/Social

Unless the dorm fairy blesses your teenager with a single, being a college student is often synonymous with having roommates. Thus, one of the best types of skills that your child can develop is learning how to be in a shared space with others. Teens should know that leaving their old takeout container on top of their desk for four days and piling dirty laundry in the direct center of the room’s only available floorspace is a one-way ticket to Roommate Conflict-palooza. And in addition to having roommates, your teenager will be joining new friend groups and extracurricular activities. How should you help foster the development of these soft skills for teens?

• Expect and encourage your child to enroll in extracurricular activities and volunteer opportunities–whatever form those take. Across the board, we’ve noticed that the students who are deeply involved in particular activities are also those who have had the greatest opportunity to work with different types of students and mentors.
• Encourage your child to take on increased levels of responsibility in one or two of their most important activities. Leadership roles, in particular, are excellent for exposing teenagers to new types of perspectives and ways of interacting with others. Also, it’s great to take on a first leadership role in a familiar, supportive environment.
• If possible, encourage your teen to work part-time in high school. Learning how to navigate supervisor, coworker, and customer interactions is one of the best ways to learn people skills and professional etiquette. However, part-time jobs need not be related to your child’s future career. We’ve seen plenty of students gain tremendous value and perspective from bagging groceries, working as waitresses, and being baristas.

Soft Skills for High School Students #4: Stress Management & Problem-Solving

It’s impossible to avoid experiencing stress, particularly during the emotional rollercoaster of teenage and young adulthood. It makes sense that this time period feels fraught–our children’s brains do not finish developing until their mid-late twenties. Given that their prefrontal cortex is the last to develop –the part of the brain that is responsible for executive functioning–emotional regulation and expression are skills that they are very much still learning. Good stress management is also highly correlated with solid emotional resilience, meaning that we want our children to display and tolerate a wide range of emotions, ideally in healthy ways. (Although it should be noted that the “healthy” part comes with time and maturity.)

Soft Skills for High School Students (Continued)

But it’s difficult to watch our children struggle. As they grow up, it can be even harder to understand when to allow them to struggle and when to step in. It’s also difficult not to project our own experiences, emotions, or fears on our children. As world-ending as things seem right now–to you or your teen–struggling in an extracurricular activity or class project is a very safe environment with relatively low stakes.  Accordingly, here are several ways you can help build stress management-related soft skills for teens:

• If you don’t absolutely need to step in, try letting your teen problem-solve on their own. It can help them build important skills for the next time they face a similar situation. For example, did their English teacher give them an unrealistic timeline for a group project? Resist the urge to email or call, and let your teen take the lead.
• If your teen is stressed, try asking them if they’d like advice or if they’d simply like to vent. This can be a good way to test how serious the problem is.
• If your teen consistently feels burnt out or struggles to cope, and you believe it is interfering with their mental health, seeing a therapist can help build skills in emotional resilience.

Soft Skills for High School Students #5: Time Management

Your teen is likely balancing a number of competing responsibilities and interests: classes, friends, sports, clubs, after-school jobs. Learning how to prioritize and manage one’s time is often an ongoing endeavor. (Raise your hand if you continue to be the friend who is always ten minutes late.)

Soft Skills for Teens (Continued)

However, time management skills go beyond being punctual–it’s often a critical factor in how students manage projects and homework. Do they often work ahead of schedule, or wait until the last minute? If the latter, do all the reminders, calendars, and Post-It notes in the world have little impact? If you’re feeling the stress of your teen’s procrastination, know that the root cause of procrastination may have little to do with time management. Instead, it may have more to do with complex behavioral factors.

In The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer’s Block, and the Creative Brain , Alice W. Flaherty delves deeply into the factors surrounding procrastination, noting that complicated punishment and reward responses may drive it. For example, perhaps your child procrastinates their college personal statement until the last minute because of their anxiety about pressing “submit.” This response has little to do with their time management abilities. So, what can you do to assist?

• Many people who struggle with procrastination work well with externally imposed deadlines. There’s not much you can do to control or set these for your teen, but encouraging them to determine deadlines in conjunction with a teacher, peer, or other mentor can help hold them accountable.
• Try to help your teen find an organizational system that works–and let them see how you manage your time, too. It might be a virtual calendar, paper calendar, paper chain, color-coded Post-It note system, phone reminders, etc.
• When and if possible, let your child run late and have to navigate the natural consequences of doing so.

Soft Skills for High School Students #6: Work Ethic

When Miranda Priestly fires Andy in The Devil Wears Prada, she laments Andy’s “so-called work ethic.” (Andy couldn’t figure out how to airlift her boss out of a hurricane.) The American society’s obsession with working –and working ourselves to the bone to complete seemingly impossible tasks–is not what we’re referring to when we talk about work ethic. Working constantly without breaks is a recipe for burnout. A good work ethic, however, is usually a set of healthy behaviors. It includes the drive to take initiative, to go above and beyond, to be proactive when something needs to be handled (within reason, of course).

This can be a hard balance to achieve and a challenging skill to learn (or moderate, in the case of high-achieving and perfectionistic students). What can we do to help develop these soft skills for teens?

• Model it for them! As parents, we are the best teachers of what type of work-life balance we’d like our children to have.
• Help your child map out the steps to completing a particular task or project, or connect them with someone who can. Part of developing a good work ethic is experiencing the positive pay-off of achieving a particular result.
• Encourage your child’s effort, and help them remain positive and flexible in the face of challenges.
• When your child commits to a reasonable slate of activities and courses– reasonable being the key word here–expect that they’ll follow through with their responsibilities, even if it’s difficult to do so at times.

Soft Skills for High School Students #7: Conflict Resolution

Whether at home, with friends, or with a teacher, conflict is never a fun experience. Many go out of their way to avoid it at all costs. Conflict can be fairly low-stakes: not seeing eye-to-eye with your partner on your PowerPoint design scheme or disagreeing with a teammate over a particular play, for example. It can also be quite high-stakes, particularly if related to hot-button or emotionally charged beliefs or perspectives. Handling conflict appropriately is often directly related to one’s stress management skills and emotional resilience, so it makes sense that navigating it may feel difficult for your child. Here are a few tips:

• When someone else is speaking, it’s easy to focus on what we might say in return rather than paying close attention to the other person. Encourage your child to be an active listener and ask questions before responding.
• Empathy plays a strong role in good conflict resolution. Encourage your child to think about the other person’s point of view and why they might have that perspective.
• Reflect on the way your family handles internal conflict, and if there are any changes you might make or want to model in this area.

Soft Skills for High School Students – Final Thoughts

By encouraging our teens to take on a varied slate of academic and extracurricular opportunities, by modeling the skills we want them to learn, and by providing them with plenty of practice, we are helping to support the development of a variety of essential soft skills. Parenting a teen and preparing them for the next stage in their lives can feel both overwhelming and rewarding. Luckily, your teen will naturally learn the skills they need to be successful by simply having opportunities to be involved and by having caring adult mentors who want to see them thrive.

Interested in learning more about how to help your teen navigate the transition from high school to college? Check out the following blogs:

• 12 Best College Guides: Must Read Admissions Books for Parents and Teens
• 10 Tips for Parents After Their Teen is Accepted to College
• How To Support Your Teen in the College Admissions Process
• College Essentials for 2023 – Dorm Checklist and Skills You Need
• High School Success

Kelsea Conlin

Kelsea holds a BA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Tufts University, a graduate certificate in College Counseling from UCLA, and an MA in Teaching Writing from Johns Hopkins University. Her short fiction is forthcoming in Chautauqua .

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How to Teach Soft Skills to High School or College Students

Education • 12 minute read

19 Sep 2022 • 12 minute read

Duncan Ritchie • Media Team

As we’ve said many times in this blog, the role of the teacher is in a constant state of flux. It could be argued that 100 years ago, maybe even 50, the role of the teacher was to simply instil the knowledge needed to get through exams…probably with a side order of corporal discipline thrown into the mix.

Nowadays that role has completely changed. Teachers are seen as being facilitators of learning, rather than the source. You can see that in teaching methods such as genius hour , gamification and the flipped classroom , all of which we’ve spoken about in this blog previously.

Also, it’s just as important for modern educators to prepare students for the world of employment. Only now, instead of hard discipline, we have soft skills.

In this article, we’re going to take a look at what soft skills are, why they are important, and how they can be taught to high school students. So, let’s get started…

Soft Skills vs Hard Skills

Ok, let’s kick off by defining what exactly hard and soft skills are.

Basically speaking, hard skills are technical skills which are certified . If you have a degree in a specific subject, such as engineering, this would be a good example of a hard skill. Can you speak a second language or code a video game? Again, these are hard skills.

Soft skills, on the other hand, are those skills that cannot be certified and aren’t specific to a certain job . Interpersonal skills, leadership, organisational skills, and a high work ethic are all examples of soft skills. Generally, these skills are not taught but, instead, gained through experience or innate natural ability.

CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

But that doesn’t mean they can’t be taught or developed. And it certainly doesn’t mean that these skills aren’t important for your students. In fact, when it comes to finding employment and progressing in your chosen career, soft skills often outweigh technical skills in the recruitment process.

Don’t believe us? Well, how about asking Google instead…

Why We Should Teach and Develop Soft Skills: Project Oxygen

Project Oxygen was a piece of research conducted by Google to determine exactly what makes a good manager . This was devised as a business strategy which would allow them to recruit and train the best performers on the market.

Now, we know that Google is, perhaps, the biggest and most recognisable tech company on the face of the planet and, as such, attract the brightest and best into their fold. So, it might surprise you to learn that, out of the ten attributes they discovered that make a good manager, only one of those is a hard skill …and that came in at number eight on the list. The rest are soft skills.

Here’s the full list:

1.    They are good coaches. 2.    The empower teams and avoid micromanaging 3.    They create an inclusive team environment 4.    They focus on productive behaviour and results 5.    They communicate well 6.    They support career development and performance 7.    The know their own vision and strategy 8.    They possess technical skills that can guide the team. 9.    They demonstrate collaborative skills 10.  They make firm decisions

As you can see, if one of the biggest companies on the planet values soft skills so highly, we would be doing our students a disservice by not helping them develop their own soft skills in time for entering the world of work.

But how can you teach soft skills…?

How to Develop a Student’s Soft Skills

In this section, we’ll give you a few ideas which will encourage students to self-reflect and, in turn, improve their soft skills.

It’s important that you realise, this process is not about teaching a class on soft skills and hoping that your students will memorise the information and apply it. There are no exams on soft skills, but instead is a process of self-realisation and constant improvement . The teaching of soft skills should be incorporated into the curriculum in a way which complements the teaching of traditional subjects.

So, here are some soft skills that can be developed easily…

Professionalism, Respect and Responsibility

You can encourage these soft skills through clear and consistent classroom rules . Students must come to class on time and hand in assignments within an agreed timescale. A contract should be put in place, agreed on by both teacher and student, usually at the beginning of the school year, so that the student knows exactly what is expected of them and the consequences of not fulfilling that contract.

But, at the same time, don’t punish a student for missing a deadline , or simply give them an F. Make them justify why they handed in an assignment late so that there is a degree of self reflection. Similarly, if they are asking for an extension on a deadline, they should present you with a list of reasons why this is needed.

All of this puts the onus on the student to take responsibility for their own learning and, hopefully, makes the teacher’s life a little bit easier.

Of course, one of the best ways to teach respect is to demonstrate it yourself. Be respectful and fair towards students and see them give the same in return.

Communication, Courtesy and Leadership

Group work projects are the perfect vehicle for developing these skills, but some input from the teacher will be needed in order for it to be successful.

First of all, the teacher must take an active role in assigning the groups. You should know the skills and aptitudes of your students quite well, so ensure that groups contain a diverse range of students who will all look at the task you set them from a different perspective.

Encourage students to brainstorm their ideas, giving them the appropriate tools and instructions for doing so. You may also have to do some conflict management if the team really doesn’t know how to work out their differences (allowing them a reasonable amount of time to do so on their own, of course). 

The students themselves must assign a leader who controls the project as well as the various roles within the group. At the end of the project, there should be a period of peer evaluation where students get a chance to air whether or not everyone contributed equally to the outcome of the project.

Independence, Organisation and Time Management

Long-term personal projects are a great way to encourage organisational and time-management skills, and Genius Hour is a good vehicle for these types of project.

Students are given an hour or two per week to pursue their very own passion project in any way they see fit. They are in charge of researching, compiling and presenting on a topic they are particularly interested in.

The teacher acts as a guide throughout the process , ensuring that they are on track with their projects and giving hints and tips on how to get over hurdles or solve problems but the student controls the content, organisation and timing of their projects. This encourages independent learning and critical thinking skills.

Presentation and Interview Skills

This entry is a bit more practical but, nonetheless, sets the student up for success in the workplace .

Standing up and presenting something to a group of people, whether that be fellow students or work colleagues, is not a soft skill that comes easily or naturally to most people. It is, however, an essential skill in most white-collar workplaces. It can be nerve wracking in the extreme and is something which can hold people back from realising their true potential .

Likewise, job interviews are not easy.

Prepare your students for both by giving them the necessary skills and allowing them to practise in the safe environment of the classroom.

Self-Appraisal and Peer Assessment

The ability to objectively examine their own performance , or that of their peers, and learn and grow from the conclusions drawn from self-analysis is one of the most important skills a student can have in the workplace.

Constantly looking to better themselves or their team is essential for making progress in any career. But this is a difficult skill to learn…and difficult to teach.

However, at Codimg , we have a tool which is perfect for teachers looking to add some objective performance analysis to their arsenal.

Our software can be used for the assessment or self-assessment of any of the activities mentioned in this article in a manner which is irrefutable and non-intrusive.

How Codimg Can Be Used to Develop Soft Skills

The teacher films the student group partaking in class exercises and, using a digital checklist which has been agreed beforehand (these can mirror the assessment rubrics that have been agreed with the faculty or student body) they create a database of clips and data which relate to the students performance. These can be good points or simply areas where they should try and improve. From here, the teacher can go through the highlighted video clips, giving the student feedback which is 100% objective .

Alternatively, a video presentation can be made from within the software and sent to the student in question to review their own performance.

This is a powerful education tool which is already in use in progressive educational establishments such as Colegio Miralmonte in Spain and Torquay Academy in England.

If you would like to know more about how Codimg works and get a free trial of the software so you can see its power for yourself, get in contact with us today. Our team of experts will talk you through your needs and give you a demonstration of how the software works.

If you have any questions about soft skills, Codimg or anything else you may have read in this article, please don’t hesitate to message us through our website or through any of our social media channels .

Until then…

Thanks for reading.

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Trauma-informed practices in schools, teacher well-being, cultivating diversity, equity, & inclusion, integrating technology in the classroom, social-emotional development, covid-19 resources, invest in resilience: summer toolkit, civics & resilience, all toolkits, degree programs, trauma-informed professional development, teacher licensure & certification, how to become - career information, classroom management, instructional design, lifestyle & self-care, online higher ed teaching, current events, beyond the test: how teaching soft skills helps students succeed.

Last fall at the South Denver STEM Summit, columnist Thomas Friedman spoke on 21st-century success. He used a phrase, “PQ and CQ are greater than the IQ,” to illustrate his belief that a student’s persistence quotient (PQ) and curiosity quotient (CQ) were better indicators of success than the more familiar intelligence quotient (IQ).

‘PQ and CQ are greater than the IQ’

One of the most terrifying things about content-obsessed teaching “to the test” is how readily it abandons these soft skills for rote memorization. Much recent professional development has focused on ways to reinvigorate curiosity in the classroom, from project-based learning to “genius hour,” but another way to work toward student success is through the deliberate addition of soft skills into teacher lesson planning.

Soft skills increase student performance, but must be taught in many instances

“Soft,” or non-cognitive skills, include impulse control, empathy, conscientiousness and perseverance. Friedman is not alone in identifying soft skills as a better indicator of a student’s or worker’s ability than their basic intelligence. In a 2012 episode of “This American Life,” researcher Paul Tough described his findings regarding success in school, jobs or even marriage. Tough’s research iterated the importance of non-cognitive skills and other personality traits.

Recent research from Duke finds that teaching such skills should be a focus in the classroom not only to increase performance, but to help decrease juvenile delinquency and crime. In her recent article on the Duke results, Lynne Shallcross points out that because educational policies praise content knowledge and cognitive skill, modifying existing school systems is difficult. As such, while teachers wait for administrations to reduce content-focused testing and increase focus on non-cognitive skills, teachers can work to thoughtfully incorporate them in overall course design and individual lesson plans.

How can teachers make non-cognitive skill instruction part of their course design?

Non-cognitive skills such as social ability, resilience, self-control and time management can seem to be impossible to integrate into course design, but project-based learning and other student-driven or self-paced projects can help students, particularly when given some amount of guidance and oversight from teachers. Twenty-Percent Time or Genius Hour projects, which give students full control of how to invest their efforts, often include a pitch, timeline and goal setting, as well as a presentation at the end. As such, skills like time management and self-control are inherently part of the project. When my students do their Twenty-Percent Time projects , they set their own timetable of goals and check in with me over the course of the semester. This helps them to self-regulate and practice time management.

How group projects can help students build social and emotional skills

While it can sometimes be difficult to manage, group work is another arena where non-cognitive skills can be easily integrated into the classroom. Problem- or project-based learning can be great opportunities for students to engage in social skills and the smaller units often help quiet or more introverted students to find a voice. Additionally, students who may be resistant to teacher timelines feel a camaraderie when working in a group that keeps them on task and motivated. The freedom that group work allows for students also helps spur them to work on time-management and self-control, particularly when they might rather talk than work. This reinforces the idea of self-regulation and time-on-task, two keys to future success.

Teachers: Add soft skill goals to lesson plans

Often when designing lessons, teachers are deliberate about identifying and communicating cognitive skill goals to students. We should be equally deliberate with non-cognitive skills and consider incorporating student self-assessment into lessons. While a student can readily measure their cognitive gains in pre- and post-testing, they do not always take time to reflect on their own work, be it successes or challenges, in specific non-cognitive skills.

Having students judge their own grit and persistence or highlight an area where they exercised effective failure helps them understand that resilience is potentially more important than memorizing the state capitals. Deliberately adding reflection on soft-skill challenges and growth to lesson design helps students add goal-setting and self-reflection to their educational experience and helps prepare them for long-term success.

Teaching character in school is not a new idea, but it’s overdue for a resurgence

In many ways, teachers have always taught character traits and non-cognitive skills in the classroom. The social environment of public schooling requires it and teachers have long known that those with the strongest soft skills can and will grow into some of the most successful people. Unfortunately, policy makers and administrators have focused on one of the easiest measures, cognitive skills, at the detriment of the more difficult to ascertain non-cognitive skills. It’s important to remember, though, that time spent on teaching these skills will not be lost, as those who are best armed with strong soft skills are most likely to excel.

Monica Fuglei is a graduate of the University of Nebraska in Omaha and a current faculty member of Arapahoe Community College in Colorado, where she teaches composition and creative writing.

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10 Soft Skills for High Schoolers to Develop Before College

While your grades, application, extracurriculars, and essays are the main components of your college application, there are certain soft skills that admissions officers look for in students. Whether you demonstrate these skills in your activities or essay, it’s important to truly develop these skills before college as they are essential for success. Let’s dive right into it!

Adaptability

The world is ever-changing and so is the education sphere! With COVID-19 making a huge impact on how students learn, interact, and create, it’s evident that education will continue to shift and evolve. Adaptability is an important soft skill that teaches students how to roll with the punches and keep working hard. Not only is this skill important to finish off high school on a strong note, but it’s also important for college! College is a huge transition for students: new location, new living style, new cohabitants, new food, new learning styles, etc.

One trick to learning and practicing adaptability is to limit your expectations and approach new and different scenarios with an open mind.

Collaboration

Collaboration is something that most students begin to learn from an early age. Whether is through team sports, clubs, group projects, or another community activity, collaboration is an important skill to learn. While students may get a soft introduction to this skill early on, it’s important to perfect in high school.

One trick to perfecting collaboration is by switching up your roles in different activities. In order to be a strong collaborator, students must feel comfortable as both a leader and a supporter.

Communication

This may seem like a given. We all know how to communicate, right? Well, kind of. We all know how to speak. But it’s often said that effective and strong communication is two parts listening to one part speaking. Active listening is a crucial part of communication; hearing how the other person feels, imagining their background and point of view, and approaching the conversation with patience and empathy.

One trick to mastering strong communication skills is to remember these three things in this particular order: comprehend, retain, respond. It’s often our instinct to respond to someone before taking time to comprehend their words, tone, and intention.

Oftentimes both students and parents associate creativity solely with the arts. However, creativity can be learned through everyday activities and all subjects. Creativity is essential when it comes to learning new material, as well as problem-solving. If students approach every class with the same mindset and tools, they will likely be unsuccessful. This ties back to the adaptability skill. It’s crucial for students to find what works best for them.

One trick to developing creativity is to constantly experiment! Whether it’s how you approach your math equation, break down a reading comprehension question, or study for that history test, take the time to consider and approach each topic in a new way.

Critical Thinking

Arguably one of the most essential skills to have in the 21st century, critical thinking is a skill students should learn to develop as early as possible. With information being abundant and instantaneous, it is crucial for students to be able to discern fact from fiction independently. While this is important for classes such as English and History, this is also important for the social sphere. What should you do if you disagree with a peer?

One trick to developing critical thinking skills is to read the news from different sources. What is the common theme? What is fact versus opinion?

Decisiveness

This may sound like the ability to make a decision, but the ability to be decisive is essential as students grow up. Being decisive means being able to make decisions under pressure, feeling confident in yourself and your decisions, and standing strong in your convictions. While this is a great skill to be used in class, especially in exams, it’s also important to utilize as students begin to apply to college and enter college. Knowing what is a good fit, what is comfortable, and what is a good decision for you is important.

One trick to practice your decisiveness is to play a game of “Would You Rather?” at a rapid speed. Whether you’re taking a break from your Zoom class or at the lunch table with your classmates, give it a try!

It’s no secret that admissions officers look for demonstrated leadership on student profiles. One thing you may not know is that it doesn’t mean you have to be the class president, team captain, or founder/CEO! Demonstrating leadership simply means that you can present evidence of you leading a group whether it’s about a policy change in the club, making a system more efficient, or influencing positive change in your community, it’s these little acts of leadership that matter!

One tip to practice and demonstrate leadership is to start at home. What’s one thing you’d like to see change? Is it teaching your parents about better recycling practices? Influencing your siblings to spend less time in front of the TV? Think about how you can influence your family and home for the better!

Problem Solving

In a globalized world, we’re encountering a lot of problems we didn’t face 100 years ago: climate change, cyberbullying, and the negative impacts of single-use plastic are just a few examples! Colleges want students on their campus that are thought-leaders and problem solvers! Problem-solving skills are developed at an early age, especially in classes like math and science. However, students must expand outside of the classroom and demonstrate their problem-solving skills in the larger community.

One place to get started is to brainstorm problems in your own community. Is the public transportation system weak? Is there too much trash on the nearby beach or playground? Think about problems that not only impact you but your neighbors!

As students get closer to graduation, they will face more obstacles and rejection than they have in the past: internships, jobs, and college applications are just a few examples. It is important to remember that rejection does not mean failure, it simply means it was not a good fit. You can have near-perfect grades, test scores, etc., but if your interests or goals do not meet the need of a certain schools’ student body, you may receive a letter saying “I am very sorry to inform you that we cannot offer you admission to the class of 2026.” In order to look after your mental health, it is important to consider this as a possibility. Not getting accepted to the university of your choice is not the end of the world, and it is certainly not a bad thing. Sometimes the most powerful motivation is rejection.

One trick to practice your resilience is to look at internships and jobs in your free time that interest you. Not qualified? That’s alright! Filling out applications and attending interviews are great ways to prepare yourself life during and after your time in college. You’ll likely receive some no’s, but that’s alright! It’s good practice for job hunting and resilience!

Time Management

Having good organizational and time management skills is essential to being successful.

While you may already have larger goals set like where you want to attend college or what you want to study, smaller goals are just as important. Without small goals, accomplishing large goals becomes nearly impossible.

One tip is to create a roadmap! Next time you’re avoiding homework but still want to be productive, carve out 30 minutes to an hour to map out a personal timeline to follow. Include both small and large goals and deadlines. Think about when you should have your essay drafts done, when you should register for standardized tests, and when applications are due!

It’s likely that you’re off to a great start with some of these skills - and that’s a perfect place to start! No one is absolutely perfect at each of these skills, as we grow older and gain more experience, we learn how these different skills are used in all different aspects of life. Pro Tip: take it one step at a time.

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10 Most Important Soft Skills to Learn in High School

By casey welch, april 28, 2020.

High school is an important phase developmentally for all people, as it lays the groundwork for a healthy adulthood. These are the years when kids master mature thinking, goal-setting, relationship-building, and critical thinking. They’re also the years when they start solidifying their core characteristics or the “soft skills” that make them who they are and make them desirable to hiring managers.

These soft skills — the non-measurable, interpersonal skills and characteristics of a person — are just as important as the “hard skills” we gain from studying so hard and getting good grades for four years. Where foreign languages, math skills, and technology know-how are considered core hard skills that make you technically qualified for a job , soft skills like being a team player and having good communication make you more likely to get hired.

10 Soft Skills to Learn in High School

Because of this, one of the best pieces of career advice to give to your high-schooler (or yourself, if you’re the high-schooler) is to focus as much on those soft skills as the SAT scores, grades, and awards that will eventually be put on college applications. Explore the list of soft skills below to discover some great ones to hone.

Collaboration

High school is often the first time a person is asked to work in a group for a project or presentation, and the experience can be genuinely formative. In group work, kids naturally sort themselves out — leaders emerge while the less-engaged fade into the background — and discover their strengths and weaknesses as they pertain to working with others. The ability to collaborate and be a team player is crucial in the modern workforce, so it’s definitely a skill to master.

Self-Confidence

Similarly, high school kids spend much of their time in exploratory phases that may lead to strong or weak levels of self-confidence. Positive reinforcement and encouragement of self-exploration help kids grow into strong, self-assured adults who trust themselves when trying new things. Sports, hobbies, and time with friends all help students build up their self-confidence.

Critical Thinking

The earliest instances of critical thinking tend to happen in the pre-teenage years, and it’s important that parents and teachers foster them. This skill is all about having the ability to question oneself and others, and to understand that not everything is as it looks or seems. Critical thinking is thought to help students better navigate their entire lives , even after they graduate.

Research shows that establishing work ethic through chores in childhood can lead to success and greater responsibility in adulthood . The pre-college years are vital in helping youngsters build a positive relationship with the things they may not necessarily want to do — tasks around the house, homework, etc. — and this helps them find joy in these things so they continue to do them.

Whether or not a person’s leadership style is forged by nature or nurture is debated, but we do know that some people aren’t “natural-born” leaders and some show leadership signs early in childhood. Regardless, all students have the potential to become leaders in those formative years, especially in high school. High-schoolers hone leadership in programs like sports, debate club, peer tutoring, community service, the arts, and student government.

Communication

Throughout their time in grades nine through 12, students need to learn how to communicate with one another. Good communication skills are practiced through conversation, listening, speaking, and writing, but also through empathy and introspection. The most desirable employees and most impressive college applicants tend to have solid written and verbal communication skills.

Though kids learn and explore creative concepts long before they get to high school, the high school years are when they tend to advance into more complex ideas. Students who show interest in creative endeavors should be encouraged, while students who struggle in this area should know that it’s worth the time to find at least one creative outlet that piques their interest.

Good Listening

Being a good listener is one of those personality traits that few people are actually taught. But it’s also one that makes a massive difference in interpersonal relationships, emotional maturity, and the ability to feel empathy. Good listening goes beyond conversation, too. Lengthy lectures and presentations require a keen ear, and that will get you far long after you graduate from high school.

Self – Monitoring

Self-monitoring refers to one’s ability to measure and compare certain behaviors against a standard and then make efforts to change or control the self . It also refers to how well an individual adapts to social situations.In other words, it involves being self-aware and having the desire to constantly self-improve and meet the social needs of the situation. The ability to self-assess one’s own behavior and approach it with critical thinking can help build leadership, social skills, emotional regulation, and adaptability.

Self-Acceptance

As important as it is to know how to properly adapt to certain environments and emotions, it’s also key for high school students to learn how to accept themselves wholly, especially if they do not fit the mold or standard of what’s demonstrated around them. Accepting the self leads to higher levels of self-esteem, which in turn leads to more motivation and a more positive attitude.

A Lifelong Pursuit

Keeping these soft skills in mind is essential when building a career or trying to reach a goal of any sort. However, the difference between soft skills and hard skills is that soft skills are not easily measured or mastered. Yet, like hard skills, they require practice and can be bettered by good examples. For most people, building a strong repertoire of soft skills is a lifelong pursuit that begins in early high school and extends throughout life.

Featured Image: Alyssa Ledesma, Unsplash.

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Six Soft Skills for Student Success

While every industry comes with its own set of specific technical knowledge and proficiencies, there are universal “soft skills” that are applicable to any industry, and workers who lack them could be setting themselves up for failure. If we want to set students up for success outside of the classroom, then they’ll need opportunities to learn and hone these skills before graduation.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there are  six soft skills  that are necessary for professional success: Communication, Enthusiasm/Attitude, Teamwork, Networking, Critical thinking/Problem-solving, and Professionalism. Here are some ideas on how to incorporate these skills into your curriculum:

Communication

Good communication skills are imperative in every industry, and  employers consistently rank  effective communication skills at the top of their list for what they want in an employee. In addition, technology has changed the way workplace communication happens, so students need a variety of experiences to help them master this skill.

Multimedia presentations, persuasive essays and speeches, and using social media for course discussions all hit different aspects of professional communication and will benefit your students moving forward.

Enthusiasm and attitude

Most students will not get their dream job right after graduation, and they’ll probably need to slog through a few entry-level positions before moving up the corporate ladder, so attitude is everything. The  Department of Labor even claims  that “many employers would rather provide job skills training to an enthusiastic but inexperienced worker than hire someone with perfect qualifications but a less than-positive attitude.”

Nobody wants to work with somebody who clearly doesn’t want to be there, so students who develop positive thinking will have an advantage. Assignments such as gratitude journals, essays about “famous failures”, and group discussions can help with this trait.

In the majority of workplaces, being able to work well with your team isn’t just appreciated, it’s necessary. Every member of an organization has a role to play, and every role is integral to that organization’s success. Needless to say, working as a group can be difficult, and conflict and tensions can easily arise if members aren’t able to manage themselves and their behavior.

Group projects with designated jobs and high stakes will force students to have to try on different roles and work with each other to make sure they succeed—just like they would have to in the real world.

Most hiring managers would agree that they would rather interview a potential candidate who has been previously recommended by somebody they know or work with, and networking is the best way to receive these recommendations.

However, for many, professional networking is an intimidating prospect. Practicing networking skills will help lessen the anxiety for many students and can be easily done in the classroom. Mock informational interviews and other social simulations are great options for helping students get comfortable.

Critical thinking/problem solving

Lack of problem-solving and critical-thinking skills are among the most common complaints many employers have about the current crop of young people entering the workforce, and one of the best ways to develop these skills is to put students out of their learning comfort zone and create assignments that resemble projects they’ll encounter in the workplace.

Complex projects that present problems you can’t (or won’t) answer for them force students to get creative, seek out information from different sources, and persist through obstacles on their own—and those are skills that every employer would appreciate.

Professionalism

Professionalism is an amalgamation of multiple skills rather than one specific skill, and while it’s probably the most difficult soft skill to teach, there are activities that policies you can use to help encourage your students to develop this quality. Role-playing activities that put students in the shoes of a supervisor or manager and reflection opportunities about past work experiences are two options, but another idea is to simply have stricter classroom policies.

Demanding professional email etiquette, setting hard deadlines, and giving zero extra credit may seem harsh to some students at first, but holding them accountable in this way will give them a better idea of what the working world is actually like—and possibly help mitigate their culture shock when they graduate.

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Highlighting the importance of soft skills for high school students

Prioritizing social-emotional learning includes setting students up for future success by equipping them with the soft skills needed to navigate a complicated world. Developing and enhancing soft skills remains an essential component to effective SEL, an evidence-based assertion backed by research.

Soft skills in demand by employers

After a deep dive into the hiring trends of the last year, LinkedIn identified the five most in-demand soft skills :

• Collaboration
• Adaptability
• Emotional intelligence

All of them focus on looking after social well-being and learning how to interact and empathize with others. CASEL, recognized as the most trusted source for evidence-based SEL, integrates soft skill development into each of its five core competencies : self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, responsible decision-making, and social awareness.

Soft skills, or interpersonal and communication skills, are not so ‘soft,’ particularly when they are in high demand in today’s workplace– with a short supply. Dartmouth University President even calls them “ power skills, ” an emphasis on their high value. A study from Harvard University found that a whopping 85% of job success comes from having well-developed soft skills . Refining softs skills is essential to effective leadership and success in any position. But how can students, particularly high school students, develop them?

Developing soft skills in high school

To successfully transition from high school to college and/or the workplace, high school students need to learn how to manage their time, hit deadlines, deal with setbacks, and collaborate with classmates. It all starts with social-emotional learning in adolescence. A study by Duke University found that not only do soft skills learned in childhood and teenage years increase a young adult’s performance in school, life, and career, but that it is also crucial to consistently incorporate those skills throughout their education. By integrating these elements into classrooms, teachers and staff can help prepare students for life after graduation.

About The Social Institute

The Social Institute partners with schools nationwide to empower students, families, and educators to positively navigate social-emotional health, social media, and technology. Schools access our student-respected, turnkey curriculum through WinAtSocial.com, an interactive, gamified learning platform. With solutions for students, parents, and educators, we offer a systemic and comprehensive SEL program through a unique and positive approach. We are proud to serve public and independent partners such as Ravenscroft School, Woodward Academy, Oldfields School, All Saints Episcopal School, Lake Forest School District, Boston Public Schools, and more. For more information on how to empower your students to make high-character decisions online and off, please contact us .

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12 Important Soft Skills for Students and How They Can Learn in School

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We have talked about how excelling at academics is just one factor in determining a student’s success. For students to do well in the big, bad world, they need to be armed with certain soft skills. While your students will learn most of this knowledge on the job, it’s always helpful to get a headstart. Colleges try and help them through inter-collegiate festivals and competitions. At a school level, Annual Days, Sports Days and other such events help children hone their soft skills and prepare better for their future. Here are 10 valuable lessons your students can learn from such events:

Importance of Soft Skills

While hard skills (such as math and science) are distinct and easy to quantify, soft skills are less so. They consist of a variety of intrapersonal and self-leadership skills such as cooperation, teamwork, time management , and others. These “softer” abilities allow students to adapt and prosper in their careers ahead.

1. Multitasking

Organising the festival requires students to juggle multiple roles along with their academics. From planning the logistics and making arrangements to coordination with performers and other participants during the festival, students will learn to juggle multiple tasks at the same time , a skill that will greatly benefit them when they begin working.

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2. Budgeting

Every event has to be planned and executed within a budget. Give your students a chance to plan the expenses, get sponsors, assign funds and work within the assigned budget. This is a great exercise for students as it gives them an opportunity to cultivate their money managing skills early on in life.

3. Organising

Setting up an event involves dealing with various vendors for the venue, setting up the infrastructure, and handling every tiny detail, right from setting up chairs to timing performances and arranging for refreshments. Help your students make a list of things they will need, guide them through vendor sourcing and negotiating. Their organisational, negotiating and planning skills will grow well through such activities.

4. Communication

While planning an event, your students will talk to sponsors, invite guests, coordinate with various vendors and performers, and work with other students as a team. All of this requires a great amount of clear, effective communication. Guiding them through these activities will help them hone their communication skills.

5. Fundraising

Fundraising and sponsorship are topics you learn as a part of an event management course. If your students have any aspirations of  getting into the events industry , they could benefit from learning how to raise funds and get sponsors at an early age.

6. Marketing

Give your students a chance to develop their marketing skills by getting the whole school – and others, if it’s possible – about the event. Let them go all out with a  marketing strategy , talk about the event on social media and even put up posters all around the school. Teach them how to work with marketing budgets; this skill will benefit them across different sectors.

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7. Teamwork

However brilliant and capable your students are, they need to know how to work with others in a team. Activities like organising an annual event will teach them how to come to a common consensus, work with differing opinions and talents, and come together to achieve a common goal.

8. Problem-solving

The best way to learn how to solve problems is to actually solve real problems. While organising an event, your students will face setbacks. This is a great opportunity for them to think analytically, come up with solutions, weigh their pros and cons and implement the right ones.

9. Confidence

The sense of achievement that comes from planning an event and seeing its successful execution is bound to boost your students’ confidence! You could even advise the planning team to take on juniors under their wing for the next year, helping them work on their leadership skills!

10. Teamwork and Leadership

Most organisations require you to work in a team. Even if a person were to choose a ‘solo’ career path, they would eventually have to work with someone else at some point during their career. Individuals find it difficult to transition into the professional world because they “work better alone.”

Make it a point to imbibe the team spirit within your students at an early age. You could arrange for team-based sporting events, assign group activities and projects for students, or even have them sit with someone new every month. Through these activities, you can also help students build on their leadership skills as they learn how to work with others, understand each other’s difficulties and support each other to reach their end goal.

11. Written and Communication

You must have come across quite a few students who know the “right answer” or have something important to contribute but refrain from doing so – either because they are not confident or they don’t know how to put it in the right words. This doesn’t just stop at school. Even in organisations, a lot of individuals tend to lose out on promotions or are unable to voice their ideas, simply because they don’t know how. Furthermore, the rise of texting lingo has caused further damage to their communication skills. While every individual does not need to be a great speaker or writer, it is important to at least know your basics. Help students work on their language skills by organising discussions and debates in class and encouraging all students to participate. You could also have them write something every day – apart from their school work – so they get used to expressing themselves through words.

12. Problem-solving

One of the most important skills individuals need is the ability to cope with the problems they face. A lot of freshers suffer struggle to cope with the sudden change in environment and responsibilities. It is, therefore, important to teach students how to approach and overcome problems early on. Try conducting activities with your daily lessons. For example, if you’ve just taught a history lesson, ask students to brainstorm on ways the protagonist could have avoided certain problems that came their way. The best way to have students learn to deal with problems is to let their creativity run wild and think of a solution themselves.  

13. The Internet

Today, the internet has become a part and parcel of our lives. You’re teaching a generation that grew up with smartphones and relies on Google to answer everything from academic queries to life questions. It’s easy to simply dismiss the internet as ‘addictive’ or ‘harmful’, but the internet is here to stay and you can’t keep your students away. What you can do is help them learn how to use it right, how to spot what’s real and what’s fake online, and how to not get overwhelmed by the abundance of information available online. Instead of hating the internet, make it your friend – yes, it can help you too! Include articles and videos in your lessons, suggest reading material your students can refer to. Recommend websites that share updates on what’s happening around the world or in their field of interest, and discuss them in class.

14. Financial Management

Millennials are rather vocal about how schools failed to teach them useful basics like managing their finances or paying their taxes. While they learnt mathematics from a young age, they didn’t necessarily learn how to apply it in real life. Most individuals struggle to write a cheque and don’t necessarily know how savings accounts work, let alone how to fill out loan applications. It’s time to include these conversations in the classroom, and give students a clear idea of the kind of responsibilities they will take on in the near future. Arrange for workshops in school about banking and finance or a session on the importance of filing taxes and how to do it. Explain these learnings as an activity while teaching students the theoretical part under subjects like economics and mathematics.

15. Technological Awareness

Artificial intelligence and technology are evolving at a rapid pace that’s equally amazing and alarming. Most job roles are evolving to incorporate technological advancements. While many jobs are getting wiped out, they’re also being replaced by newer, smarter jobs. Students need to know their options before they go about making career decisions. What if your students pick a career and spend the next five years studying for it, only to have it disappear by the time they’re ready to start working? The curriculum isn’t evolving fast enough to raise awareness about these changes, so it is up to you to help them understand what their reality might look like when they join the workforce. Spend some time doing research on technological advancements, and add them to your lessons in class. You could even make it a part of students’ homework; they could look up the relevance of what they’ve learnt in the context of today’s world. Discuss their findings in class and answer their questions – this will ensure that your students know what lies ahead.

Soft skills only get better over the years, and the sooner a child begins honing them, the more they will gain from such skills in the future. Annual festivals are a great platform to help your students develop the skills they will later thank you for!

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There are two types of skills that both colleges and future employers are searching for in any candidate - a balance of hard and soft skills.

The two skillsets will be beneficial to recent college graduates looking for a job as well as advantageous for current high school students looking at applying to their dream college.

Having a well-balanced level of expertise of hard and soft skills will work alongside students during the college application season and even long after they have graduated from college.

Hard Skills vs Soft Skills

Building a strong foundation of hard and soft skills is like constructing a sturdy bridge, ensuring a smooth journey towards achieving your goals.

Think of hard skills as the rock-solid pillars and beams, giving you the technical know-how in specific areas. Meanwhile, soft skills act as the graceful arches and cables, connecting those pillars and enabling students to navigate diverse contexts with ease.

By constructing this balanced bridge of skills, high school students can confidently traverse you'll confidently leap over the hurdles of academic challenges, career opportunities, and personal growth.

5 Best Hard Skills and Soft skills to Develop as a High School Student

Acquiring a range of hard and soft skills during high school is essential for students' holistic development and future success. While hard skills provide technical expertise in specific areas, soft skills encompass interpersonal abilities and personal attributes that are valuable in various contexts. By nurturing a balanced combination of both, high school students can enhance their academic performance, career prospects, and overall personal growth.

Hard Skills

 technical proficiency.

Think of technical proficiency as becoming adept at using the tools of the digital age. Just like mastering popular apps and software, high school students who excel in computer programming languages like Python or Java, and have a good understanding of software such as Adobe Creative Suite or Microsoft Office, become skilled navigators in the digital realm.

Money Management and Financial Literacy

High school students who develop money management and financial literacy skills gain the ability to make informed financial decisions and set a strong foundation for their future. These skills involve effective budgeting, tracking expenses, and saving for short-term and long-term goals. By understanding concepts such as credit, debt, investments, and financial planning, students become empowered to navigate personal finance successfully, ensuring a secure and prosperous financial future.

Design Skills

Design skills encompass the ability to conceptualize, sketch, and create visual representations of ideas. Whether it's graphic design, product design, or interior design, high school students who cultivate these skills become proficient in translating concepts into aesthetically pleasing and functional designs. By acquiring design skills, high school students enhance their creativity, problem-solving abilities, and critical thinking. They become equipped to pursue careers in design-related fields or utilize their design skills in various aspects of their personal and professional lives.

Mathematics and Quantitative Skills

By developing quantitative skills, they gain the ability to analyze and interpret numerical data, make accurate calculations, and apply mathematical concepts to real-world situations.

 Foreign Language Proficiency

Foreign language proficiency is a key to unlocking global opportunities. High school students who are proficient in a foreign language gain the ability to communicate with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds and connect with people from different cultures, enhancing their understanding of the world and opening pathways to exciting opportunities in our interconnected world. 

Soft Skills

Leadership and initiative.

By nurturing leadership qualities and demonstrating initiative, students become the driving forces behind positive change. Whether it is organizing events, leading clubs, or spearheading community projects, they develop the ability to take charge, motivate their peers, and drive positive change in their school or community.

Decision-Making

High school students who develop strong decision-making skills become confident and effective in navigating complex situations. These skills involve gathering information, analyzing options, considering consequences, and making informed choices. By mastering critical thinking, problem-solving, and risk evaluation, students can identify challenges, assess potential outcomes, and make thoughtful decisions aligned with their goals. Acquiring decision-making skills empowers students to make informed choices, adapt to different situations, and take ownership of their actions, contributing to their academic success and personal growth.

Communication and Interpersonal Skills

Developing strong communication and interpersonal skills transforms students into charismatic leaders, effective team players, and empathetic listeners. With these skills, they become adept at building positive relationships, collaborating with others, and conveying their thoughts and ideas with empathy and clarity.

Perceptiveness

High school students who develop strong perceptiveness skills become adept at understanding and interpreting the world around them. By sharpening their observation, active listening, and empathy, they can pick up on subtle details, recognize others' needs, and respond with compassion. This enhances their communication, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities, fostering personal growth and preparing them for success in the future.

Time Management and Organization

Students that are skilled time managers can balance their responsibilities and commitments effectively. By honing time management and organizational skills, they become adept at prioritizing tasks, managing their schedules, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

3 Tips on How to Develop Hard and Soft Skills

Developing both hard and soft skills requires dedication, persistence, and a willingness to step outside your comfort zone. Embrace the journey of skill development and continually seek ways to challenge yourself and grow.

Seek Diverse Learning Opportunities

To develop hard skills, actively seek out learning opportunities that provide hands-on experience and practical application of knowledge. Attend workshops, take online courses, or participate in relevant projects to enhance your technical expertise. Similarly, for soft skills, engage in activities that foster communication, teamwork, and leadership.

Join clubs or organizations, volunteer, or participate in group projects to develop interpersonal abilities and personal attributes.

Embrace Continuous Learning: 

Skill development is an ongoing process, so adopt a growth mindset and embrace continuous learning. Stay updated with industry trends and advancements in your field of interest to keep refining your hard skills. For soft skills, practice self-reflection, seek feedback from others, and actively work on improving areas that need development. Stay open to new ideas, perspectives, and feedback, as they provide valuable opportunities for growth.

Key Ways to Optimize Your Summer Break

Apply Skills in Real-Life Situations

Put your skills into practice by actively seeking opportunities to apply them in real-life situations. By applying your skills in practical settings, you gain valuable experience and build confidence in your abilities.

For hard skills, look for internships, part-time jobs, or projects that allow you to utilize your technical expertise.

For soft skills, take leadership roles in group projects, engage in public speaking or presentation opportunities, and actively engage in team-based activities.

In conclusion, developing both hard and soft skills during high school provides a significant advantage in college admissions and future employment. Acquiring hard skills showcases technical expertise and practical knowledge, demonstrating a commitment to learning and contributing to academic programs. Simultaneously, the cultivation of soft skills, such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving, highlights an individual's ability to adapt, collaborate, and lead in dynamic environments. This well-rounded skill set positions high school students as competitive candidates for colleges and universities, and later as desirable employees in the professional world. Investing in the development of both hard and soft skills opens doors to a successful future filled with endless opportunities.

15 Hard and Soft Skills High Schoolers Will Need in the Future

If you have a high schooler or a child entering high school soon, you want them to be ready for life as an adult, both in their professional and personal lives. This is why it’s so important that teens learn both the hard and soft skills that are essential to becoming functioning adults.

What are these skills?

We’re going to explore the essential life skills high school students need as well as take a closer look at hard and soft skills so that your child can be as prepared as possible to enter adulthood and join the “real world.” 

Related: 11 Life Skills Every Child Should Know

Hard Skills Vs. Soft Skills

When you hear people talk about hard skills, they are referring to the knowledge needed to do a job. For example, a person goes to medical school to learn how to become a doctor. These are the hard skills that are taught and practiced.

Soft skills are personal qualities that help someone thrive in life and the workplace. These can be problem-solving skills , communication skills, and other basic life skills. Often, these can be the ones that students lack because so much focus is put into the technical side of things that learning life skills gets pushed aside.

Essential Life Skills High Schoolers Need by Graduation

1. time management.

Time management skills are essential both in college and in the workforce. Time management means learning to divide tasks and prioritize them to make the most of your time. 

This is important to learn so that you can have time to get everything done without stressing out. Using a calendar or daily planner, and setting reminders and alarms can all help to manage your time.

High school students can work on this skill by keeping their assignments in order and completing them as they are due. Logging assignments and events into a planner or a calendar can help to visualize what needs to be done. 

Some people also benefit from making a checklist. This way when they’ve completed a task, they can cross it off and feel accomplished.

2. Money Management and Financial Literacy 

With online banking becoming the norm these days, high school students may not realize that they still need to have  money management skills . From budgeting, saving, and to even writing out a check (yes people still do that), the know-how is just not there.

Financial literacy is necessary to function in life. Young people need to know how to set a budget, save money, and spend wisely.

You can help your child in the decision-making department by giving them an allowance and teaching them how they can spend some of it and save. 

Some parents also set up teen debit cards or  teen credit cards that give them a taste of financial freedom, but also teach lessons when they don’t have enough money to buy certain things.

3. Communication and Social Skills

Thanks to technology, many young people don’t know how to communicate anymore. Have you ever seen a group of teens spend time together? They are all on their phones texting, snapping, and doing everything but talking to each other. In the real world, you need to be able to have a conversation with another person without using a phone, computer, or relying on social media .

High schools can help teens develop these skills by promoting class discussions that help teens talk to one another. While this may seem foreign to your teenage, encourage them to be more interactive with their friends by talking versus texting.

 Knowing how to read body language during a conversation and knowing how to simply talk is a skill that is needed in the real world.

4. Household Management and Meal Prep

Home economics classes used to take care of basic life skills like cooking, knowing how to grocery shop , and even how to use basic tools in a toolbox. But many schools have done away with these types of classes for one reason or another.

At home, you can teach these basic life skills by simply showing your teen how to do them at home. You can have your own life skills class right at home every day! While your teen may not love you for it now, they will appreciate it down the road!

5. Goal-setting skills

Part of the essential life skills that teens need to have include knowing how to set goals. They need to know how to set attainable goals so that they can have a sense of accomplishment when they reach them.

Goals help to motivate teens. Without them, they can seem lost and even become lazy. High school can help teens set goals by giving them benchmarks and deadlines. At home, you can also help them set goals by helping them find something they want to achieve. 

6. Social-Emotional Learning

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is a vital skill for success in all aspects of life, both personal and professional. If high school students can learn to become more self-aware, practice self-control, and have interpersonal skills, such as conflict resolution, they will be better off.

According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning SEL helps students of all ages by helping them in the following areas:

Responsible Decision-Making

Teens learn how to respond to a situation based on learned behaviors such as safety and the well-being of others.

Self-Awareness

Students learn how to recognize their emotions and how they affect their behaviors.

Self-Management and Self-Regulation 

Teaches students how to control their thoughts and emotions, and how to set realistic goals.

Social Awareness

Shows teens how to put themselves in someone else’s shoes to understand how other people from different backgrounds see things.

Relationship Skills

Students learn how to build and maintain healthy relationships with a variety of people.

High schools can help teens work on these skills by having them take part in journal writing, giving them a mentor to help them, and even writing a biography of another student.

7. Organizational Skills

Being organized can help save you time and make sure you get everything done. This is important because if you are disorganized, you are more likely to miss appointments and important deadlines.

High school can help your child develop their organizational skills  by encouraging them to keep a planner and be accountable for their assignments. Setting deadlines and making sure there are consequences if those deadlines are not met, can help your child become more organized.

8. Basic First Aid

Teaching basic first aid , and possibly even CPR, can help students in the real world. Some high schools do offer CPR classes. These types of skills can help if your teen finds themselves in a dangerous situation as well as help them assist others who may be in distress.

9. Self-Care and Stress Management

When we don’t take care of ourselves, we are more likely to become stressed. Teens are no different. Between school, extracurriculars, and prepping for college, today’s teens are more stressed out than we often acknowledge. 

Self-care strategies for teens such as deep breathing, exercise, and seeking out help are all essential coping skills for managing stress in a healthy way.  Knowing when a timeout is needed can benefit young adults as they work to gather the life skills to become successful,

Some schools have incorporated yoga classes to help with stress management . Others have physical education classes that promote activity which can help students feel better about themselves. This can make them less stressed and improve their mental health.

Critical Skills to Enter the Future Workforce

While there are many important life skills that high school students need, there are also other critical skills they should have to enter the real world and the future workforce.

Presentation/Public Speaking Skills

Learning how to present ideas effectively is critical in the workforce. Doing research, reporting, and data analysis are vital skills that teens can work on when they are in high school. Many times, teachers will assign a project that requires them to use those skills and hone the ones they may not be doing as well with.

Once they’ve completed their projects, they have to present them in front of the class. While this may come naturally to some students, many get nervous speaking in front of their peers. 

By practicing this skill, students will not only do well in their classes but also have the necessary skill to enter the workforce.

Computer Skills

While many high schools teach computer skills throughout the school year, it’s always important to emphasize their importance in the workforce. 

Being able to use MS Office, Google Drive, and graphic design tools, have all become an integral part of the workforce. As these evolve, it’s important for students to keep up with them so they are ready for what’s ahead.

How to Use AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has proven that is here to stay. High school students need to learn how AI can be used to solve real-life problems. Some education companies have started to create AI curricula for middle school and high school students. The goal is to teach them how to use AI responsibly and to their benefit.

• Analytical Skills

Analytical skills include gathering data, analyzing it, and presenting it so that it has meaning. These skills are often taught in various high school subjects. As students work on these skills, they can improve them so that they can be used in their future careers.

Remote Working/Asynchronous Global Working Skills

Remote work and remote learning are not going away after the pandemic is over. Research shows that approximately 12% of workers are fully remote , while roughly 28 percent are hybrid, and 60 percent work fully in person. 

While the ability to work remotely is dependent on the type of work done, high school students should be able to understand this concept and the skills needed to make this happen. This includes knowing how to be organized and having the self-discipline and time management skills to successfully work from home. 

Being able to work on your own and be productive is an important skill that high schools can begin to teach by encouraging students to be more independent inside the classroom.

• Adaptability

Being a part of the workforce of the future means you have to be able to adapt. Think about how the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we all did our work. If employees couldn’t or didn’t adapt, they likely didn’t make it through.

Teaching high school students to be able to adapt is important as they prepare for real-life situations in the workforce. When something doesn’t go as planned, they will learn how to pivot and make the necessary adjustments to make it work.

The Takeaway on Teaching Teens Life Skills 

When it comes to life skills that high school students should have before they graduate, it’s important to focus on soft skills as well as hard skills. Things like time and money management, as well as computer skills, are all equally important as students prepare for what lies ahead.

While some high school courses can help to teach the necessary hard skills for the future, it’s also important for parents to do their part at home to help their children when it comes to soft skills and life skills. The more you can help them now, the better off they will be in the future.

For more tips on important skills to teach teens, check out our 5 Steps to Teach Your Teens to Budget . 

Committee for Children. (n.d.). What Is Social-Emotional Learning? Retrieved from https://www.cfchildren.org/resources/what-is-social-emotional-learning/

Classcraft. (2020, October 7). 12 SEL activities for high school students. Classcraft Blog - Resource hub for schools and districts. https://www.classcraft.com/blog/features/12-sel-activities-for-high-school-students/

Liu, A. (2021, March 18). Why Children Need To Learn About Artificial Intelligence. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/03/18/why-children-need-to-learn-about-artificial-intelligence/?sh=5ee6d5cb6b6a

Santora, M. (2021, May 28). Do We Know How Many People Are Working From Home? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/28/us/remote-work-census-bureau.htm

About Kristina

Preparing Students for Career and Life Success!

Here's how it works., get ready, prepared, go.

The Soft Skills High journey begins with our Career and Life Essentials Course – an interactive, inspirational and fun online soft skills curriculum designed to get students ready for career and life success. CLE Course Modules include: 

Get Prepped

Designed to get students prepped to enter the workplace, Career PREP gives students the opportunity to put their new soft skills knowledge into practice while creating a Career PREP Portfolio that they can carry with them when it’s time to head out into the workplace and the world. Career PREP Badges include: 

Career Exploration & Survey, Smart Goal Setting, Cover Letter, Resume Building, Interview Skills

They’re ready. They’re prepped. And now it’s time to GO!

Equipped with their Career PREP Portfolios, students enrolled in Soft Skills Pro, our Industry Certification program, take their new soft skills knowledge to work! 

Watch our Course Introduction Video.

Get a glimpse of our engaging online learning platform, interactive lessons, and practical exercises that can help you unlock your own or your students’ full potential to achieve success in both your personal and professional life.  Join our community of learners and start your journey towards self-improvement today!

TESTIMONIALS

Soft Skills make the Hard Skills work

In today’s rapidly evolving world, hard skills are no longer sufficient to ensure success. While technical proficiency and knowledge are important, they must be complemented by a range of soft skills like communication, collaboration, adaptability, and empathy.

Hard skills are typically acquired through formal education, training, and experience. They are tangible and measurable, such as coding, engineering, or accounting. However, the world is not static, and hard skills can quickly become outdated in the face of new technologies, market trends, or social changes. Therefore, individuals and organizations need to develop a set of soft skills that allow them to navigate uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.

Soft skills are harder to define and measure, but they are no less important. Soft skills are the personal attributes that enable individuals to interact effectively with others, to manage their emotions and behaviors, and to adapt to changing situations. These skills are closely related to emotional intelligence and are essential for building positive relationships, fostering trust, and inspiring collaboration.

The World Economic Forum Future of Jobs report suggested that by 2020, complex problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, people management and emotional intelligence would be among the most important skills required in the workplace. The importance of these soft skills is often undervalued, and there is far less training provided for them than hard skills such as coding. Organizations seem to expect people to know how to behave on the job and the importance of skills such as taking initiative, communicating effectively and listening, which often is not the case. Therefore, soft skills are not a luxury but a necessity in today’s world. They complement and enhance hard skills, making individuals and organizations more effective, innovative, and resilient. It is crucial for educators, employers, and policymakers to recognize the value of soft skills and provide opportunities for their development. By investing in soft skills, we can build a more inclusive, sustainable, and thriving society.

Goal Setting & Soft Skills Classroom Lesson- High School Students

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This product, by Counselor Clique , is the Goal Setting and Soft Skills Classroom Lesson . This resource is an interactive lesson for school counselors to use with high school students or middle school students. This lesson works well to prepare students for the transition to the workforce or college. Students will focus on SMART goal setting, soft skills, verbal communication, nonverbal communication, and written communication. Students will practice writing and addressing letters and writing a professional email.

This is a great addition to your high school college and career or social/emotional lessons. Students can type and drag and drop as they interact with this Google™ Slide deck to give immediate feedback and interaction.

The slides in this resource come on Google Slides but can be downloaded by the buyer into PowerPoint, image, or PDF format by going to File > Download > and choosing an alternate file type.

The Soft Skills Classroom Lesson comes classroom-ready with 17 Google Slides (plus one blank slide) for high school counselors or teachers to use with classroom lessons, small groups, or individual counseling. A front and back printable PDF template for postcards is included.

How Can I Use This?

• in a classroom setting
• small group setting
• individual reflection activity

If I like this resource, what other resources should I check out?

Check out my Job Interview Fan and Pick Cards to add to your soft skills toolkit! Also, check out my College Bundle or my Career Bundle for a few other activities to help your students with their post-secondary plans.

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Copyright © Counselor Clique (Lauren Tingle). All rights are reserved by author. Your purchase is for one school only. Please purchase multiple user licenses if you plan to use in different settings; these are available at a discounted rate. Clip art and other elements in this product are copyrighted and cannot be used without a license.

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