One of the questions at last month’s IABC/Washington panel discussion on 2010 trends was on core competencies. What skills do communicators need to have today?

Panelists cited several, including:

• the ability to identify influencers
• knowing how to tell a story
• tech skills and proficiency (including a working knowledge of WordPress)
• thinking more like journalists (accountability and transparency)

And, of course, writing skills.

But are writing skills still important? In an age of fragmented attention spans and 140-character tweets, there’s a battle going on between communicators who believe the AP Stylebook still has its place and those who think grammar rules and style points are so 20th century.

What’s your take? Is writing a core competency? And what other skills must communicators have to succeed?

[Note: This post originally appeared on IABC’s Communications World blog.]

Photo by karindalziel (Flickr).