Identify which method of communication would be considered verbal communication

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Learning Objectives

  • Discuss verbal communication and its role in business
  • Discuss nonverbal communication and its role in business

Verbal communication is perhaps the most obvious and understood mode of communication, and it is certainly a powerful tool in your communication toolbox. Put simply, verbal communication is the sharing of information between two individuals using words.

Spoken versus Written Communication

While we typically focus on speech while talking about verbal communication, it’s important to remember that writing is also a form of verbal communication. After all, writing uses words too!

Imagine for a moment that you’re a college student who is struggling with material in a class. Rather than simply giving up, you decide that you’re going to ask your instructor for the guidance you need to make it through the end of the semester. Now, you have a few choices for using verbal communication to do this. You might choose to call your instructor, if they’ve provided contact information, or talk to them in person after class or during office hours. You may take a different approach and send them an email. You can probably identify your own list of pros and cons for each of these approaches. But really, what’s the difference between writing and talking in these situations? Let’s look at four of the major differences between the two:

  1. Formal versus Informal: We generally use spoken communication informally while we use written communication formally.
  2. Synchronous versus Asynchronous: Synchronous communication is communication that takes place in real time, such as a conversation with a friend. In contrast, asynchronous communication is communication that is not immediate and occurs over longer periods of time, such as letters, email, or even text messages.
  3. Recorded versus Unrecorded: Written communication is generally archived and recorded for later retrieval while spoken communication is generally not recorded.

Benefits of Spoken Communication

Spoken communication can be a conversation, a meeting, or even a speech. Spoken communication is powerful in that it allows for input from every part of the social communication model. You encode your thoughts into the spoken word and look to your audience to decode and take the message in. You can ask for feedback directly to confirm understanding of your message.

In a world where we do most of our talking by email and text, spoken communication is a breath of fresh air. Leverage the power of spoken communication to create relationships—you can establish a rapport and a sense of trust with your audience when you speak with them. Spoken communication allows you to bond on a more emotional level with your listeners.

Spoken communication also makes it easier to ensure understanding by addressing objections and clearing up misunderstandings: you can adjust your message as you communicate it, based on the feedback you’re getting from your audience. Spoken communication allows you to walk away from a conversation with a higher degree of certainty that your message was received.

Verbal communication is a powerful tool, and it’s made even more powerful when paired with listening and nonverbal communication.

Nonverbal Communication

We’ve already employed a little bit of nonverbal communication with the active listening skills we’ve previously discussed: nodding, facial expressions, leaning toward the speaker to show interest—all of those are forms of nonverbal communication. Body language can reinforce your spoken message or it can contradict it entirely.

There’s a myth that says that when you speak, only 35 percent of your communication is verbal and 65 percent of it is nonverbal. That’s not entirely true because so much depends on the context and situation. It is, however, absolutely true that nonverbal communication can make or break your message.

Here are some types of nonverbal communication and the effects they can have on the success of your communication:

  • Facial expressions: Your teenage cousin we referred to at the beginning of this section might have told you he was happy, but his apathetic facial expression may have communicated different information. Facial expressions—happy, sad, angry—help you convey your message. Be aware of your facial expression when you talk and particularly when you listen, which is when it’s easy to forget.
  • Gestures: When you speak, a gesture can make your message stronger. Pointing out something you want your listener to look at more closely is an example of nonverbal communication that makes your message understood. Motioning warmly toward a coworker who deserves special recognition, making a fist to show frustration or anger, such gestures help further engage your audience when you speak.
  • Proximity: How close you are to your audience when you speak sends a nonverbal message. If your size is imposing and you leave a very small distance between you and your listener, it’s likely your nonverbal communication will be a bit threatening. On the other hand, giving someone too much space is an awkward nonverbal communication that might confuse your listener.
  • Touch: Shaking an audience member’s hand, putting your hand on his shoulder: these are nonverbal cues that can affect the success of your message. Touch communicates affection, but it also communicates power. You can think about what kind of messages a job applicant may send through a weak handshake versus a firm one after having a job interview.
  • Eye contact: Making and maintaining eye contact with an audience when you’re verbally communicating or listening communicates to the other party that you’re interested and engaged in the conversation. Good eye contact often conveys the trait of honesty to the other party.
  • Appearance: Your clothing, hair, and jewelry are also a part of nonverbal communication. If you put a dachshund pin on your lapel each morning (because you have a pet dachshund), that says something about you as a person. Similarly, the quality and condition of your clothing, how it fits, if it’s appropriate for the season—all of these things speak nonverbally about you as a communicator.

Nonverbal communication reveals a lot about you as a communicator and how you relate to other people. It pays to be aware of the elements of your nonverbal communication so you can maximize the impact of your message.

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See also: Effective Speaking

Verbal communication is the use of words to share information with other people. It can therefore include both spoken and written communication. However, many people use the term to describe only spoken communication. The verbal element of communication is all about the words that you choose, and how they are heard and interpreted.

This page focuses on spoken communication. However, the choice of words can be equally—if not more—important in written communication, where there is little or no non-verbal communication to help with the interpretation of the message.

What is Verbal Communication?

Verbal communication is any communication that uses words to share information with others. These words may be both spoken and written.

Communication is a two-way process

Communication is about passing information from one person to another.

This means that both the sending and the receiving of the message are equally important.

Verbal communication therefore requires both a speaker (or writer) to transmit the message, and a listener (or reader) to make sense of the message. This page discusses both parts of the process.

There are a large number of different verbal communication skills. They range from the obvious (being able to speak clearly, or listening, for example), to the more subtle (such as reflecting and clarifying). This page provides a summary of these skills, and shows where you can find out more.

It is important to remember that effective verbal communication cannot be fully isolated from non-verbal communication:  your body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions, for example.

Clarity of speech, remaining calm and focused, being polite and following some basic rules of etiquette will all aid the process of verbal communication.

Opening Communication

In many interpersonal encounters, the first few minutes are extremely important. First impressions have a significant impact on the success of further and future communication.

When you first meet someone, you form an instant impression of them, based on how they look, sound and behave, as well as anything you may have heard about them from other people.

This first impression guides your future communications, at least to some extent.

For example, when you meet someone and hear them speak, you form a judgement about their background, and likely level of ability and understanding. This might well change what you say. If you hear a foreign accent, for example, you might decide that you need to use simpler language. You might also realise that you will need to listen more carefully to ensure that you understand what they are saying to you.

Of course your first impression may be revised later. You should ensure that you consciously ‘update’ your thinking when you receive new information about your contact and as you get to know them better.

Basic Verbal Communication Skills: Effective Speaking and Listening

Effective speaking involves three main areas: the words you choose, how you say them, and how you reinforce them with other non-verbal communication.

All these affect the transmission of your message, and how it is received and understood by your audience.

It is worth considering your choice of words carefully. You will probably need to use different words in different situations, even when discussing the same subject. For example, what you say to a close colleague will be very different from how you present a subject at a major conference.

How you speak includes your tone of voice and pace. Like non-verbal communication more generally, these send important messages to your audience, for example, about your level of interest and commitment, or whether you are nervous about their reaction.

There is more about this in our page on Non-Verbal Communication: Face and Voice.

Active listening is an important skill. However, when we communicate, we tend to spend far more energy considering what we are going to say than listening to the other person.

Effective listening is vital for good verbal communication. There are a number of ways that you can ensure that you listen more effectively. These include:

  • Be prepared to listen. Concentrate on the speaker, and not on how you are going to reply.
  • Keep an open mind and avoid making judgements about the speaker.
  • Concentrate on the main direction of the speaker’s message. Try to understand broadly what they are trying to say overall, as well as the detail of the words that they are using.
  • Avoid distractions if at all possible. For example, if there is a lot of background noise, you might suggest that you go somewhere else to talk.
  • Be objective.
  • Do not be trying to think of your next question while the other person is giving information.
  • Do not dwell on one or two points at the expense of others. Try to use the overall picture and all the information that you have.
  • Do not stereotype the speaker. Try not to let prejudices associated with, for example, gender, ethnicity, accent, social class, appearance or dress interfere with what is being said (see Personal Appearance).
There is more information in our pages on Listening Skills.

Improving Verbal Communication: More Advanced Techniques

There are a number of tools and techniques that you can use to improve the effectiveness of your verbal communication. These include reinforcement, reflection, clarification, and questioning.

Reinforcement

Reinforcement is the use of encouraging words alongside non-verbal gestures such as head nods, a warm facial expression and maintaining eye contact.

All these help to build rapport and are more likely to reinforce openness in others. The use of encouragement and positive reinforcement can:

  • Encourage others to participate in discussion (particularly in group work);
  • Show interest in what other people have to say;
  • Pave the way for development and/or maintenance of a relationship;
  • Allay fears and give reassurance;
  • Show warmth and openness; and
  • Reduce shyness or nervousness in ourselves and others.

Questioning

Questioning is broadly how we obtain information from others on specific topics.

Questioning is an essential way of clarifying areas that are unclear or test your understanding. It can also enable you to explicitly seek support from others.

On a more social level, questioning is also a useful technique to start conversations, draw someone into a conversation, or simply show interest. Effective questioning is therefore an essential element of verbal communication.

We use two main types of question:

  • Closed Questions

    Closed questions tend to seek only a one or two word answer (often simply ‘yes’ or ‘no’). They therefore limit the scope of the response. Two examples of closed questions are:

    “Did you travel by car today?” and
    “Did you see the football game yesterday?”

    These types of question allow the questioner to remain in control of the communication. This is often not the desired outcome when trying to encourage verbal communication, so many people try to focus on using open questions more often. Nevertheless, closed questions can be useful for focusing discussion and obtaining clear, concise answers when needed.

  • Open Questions

    Open questions demand further discussion and elaboration. They therefore broaden the scope for response. They include, for example,

    “What was the traffic like this morning?”
    “What do you feel you would like to gain from this discussion?”

    Open questions will take longer to answer, but they give the other person far more scope for self-expression and encourage involvement in the conversation.

For more on questioning see our pages: Questioning and Types of Question.

Reflecting and Clarifying

Reflecting is the process of feeding back to another person your understanding of what has been said.

Reflecting is a specialised skill often used within counselling, but it can also be applied to a wide range of communication contexts and is a useful skill to learn.

Reflecting often involves paraphrasing the message communicated to you by the speaker in your own words. You need to try to capture the essence of the facts and feelings expressed, and communicate your understanding back to the speaker. It is a useful skill because:

  • You can check that you have understood the message clearly.
  • The speaker gets feedback about how the message has been received and can then clarify or expand if they wish.
  • It shows interest in, and respect for, what the other person has to say.
  • You are demonstrating that you are considering the other person’s viewpoint.
See also our pages on Reflecting and Clarifying.

Summarising

A summary is an overview of the main points or issues raised.

Summarising can also serve the same purpose as ‘reflecting’. However, summarising allows both parties to review and agree the message, and ensure that communication has been effective. When used effectively, summaries may also serve as a guide to the next steps forward.

Closing Communication

The way a communication is closed or ended will, at least in part, determine the way a conversation is remembered.

People use both verbal and non-verbal signals to end a conversation.

Verbal signals may include phrases such as:
“Well, I must be going,” and
“Thank you so much, that’s really helpful.”

Non-verbal conclusions may include starting to avoid eye contact, standing up, turning away, or behaviours such as looking at a watch or closing notepads or books. These non-verbal actions indicate to the other person that the initiator wishes to end the communication.

People often use a mixture of these, but tend to start with the non-verbal signals, especially face-to-face. On the telephone, of course, verbal cues are essential.

Closing an interaction too abruptly may not allow the other person to 'round off' what he or she is saying so you should ensure there is time for winding-up. The closure of an interaction is a good time to make any future arrangements. Last, but not least, this time will no doubt be accompanied by a number of socially acceptable parting gestures.


Identify which method of communication would be considered verbal communication

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Only part of the picture

It is vital to remember that any communication is made up of the sum of its parts.

Verbal communication is an important element, but only part of the overall message conveyed. Some  research suggests that the verbal element is, in fact, a very small part of the overall message: just 20 to 30%. This is still, however, significant, and it is worth spending time to improve your verbal communication skills.