I think the reason their communication skills are so much better than mine is because I don't have their gift for improvisation. It is a gift I just don't have. This is what I see as the difference.
Solid point, but I wonder if it couldn't be reconsidered under the light of a personality difference (spontaneity) rather than "gift." Spontaneity can be practiced, and it begins at a very early age, in the form of imaginative play.
There are other things involved in face-to-face communications, though... intuition, the ability to read and correctly interpret nonverbal cues, your own unconscious nonverbal cues, etc. Many people with deficits in these areas struggle with communication.
