ORAL COMMUNICATION

TOPIC: VARIOUS COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES TO AVOID COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN

COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN
This pertains to the failure of transmitting message from one person to another and interruption of the flow of
communication from the sender to the receiver, thus making communication ineffective and less meaningful as both have
difficulty in understanding the message conveyed in the process.
This is brought about by interference or the barriers in communication. Moreover, one’s refusal to communicate can
also be a reason. It happens when two parties disagree or when someone says something offensive and hurtful. This results to a
failed communication.
TYPES OF NOISES
1. Psychological Noise- This pertains to the preconceived notion that an individual brings in a conversation such as stereotypes,
biases, reputations and assumptions. In here, there is so much tendency to get blinded with the original message as one has
preconceived ideas about the subject of the conversation. This is often perceived to be so difficult to overcome but must be
considered when conversing with others.
2. Physical Noise- This refers to any external stimulus such as loud talking from the background, deafening background music or
any startling noise in the background.
3. Environmental Noise- This is a summary of noise pollution caused by transport, industrial and recreational activities.
4. Semantic Noise- This pertains to one of the participant’s use of language and grammar which is unfamiliar to the decoder
(receiver) of the message. In here, it can be found that the encoder (sender) fails to analyze his/her intended audience.
5. Physiological Noise- This refers to the physical state or health of any of the participants of the communication process. This
could be any form of physiological disturbance such as headache, stomachache, toothache, etc.
Methods to Remove Barriers of Communication
1. Have Clarity in Your Thoughts: You should be very clear about your objective and what you want to convey.
2. Understand the needs of your audience: You should be emotional and sensitive towards the needs of your receiver. If you
are conveying the message to a layman then avoid using technical words and if you are addressing corporate elite, the language
should have professional sophistication and maturity.
3. Seek the Advice of others before Communicating: If you are going for a high prolific meeting, seek the advice from your
seniors and colleagues on the level and kind of talk that should be given. The main advantage of this practice is simple, you can get
many ideas which can build your motivation and knowledge and you can then use the same to meet your purpose.
4. Take adequate care of your Tone, Language and way you are speaking: Messages should be framed in a simple and polite
tone which attracts the listeners.
5. Have a Feedback from the receiver: Avoid asking listener, “Have you understood,” ask them instead their views about what
you have said and the aspects they had grasped from your message. This is a most polite and best way to have your listener involve
in a conversation. This would help you to have a better understanding of their aptitude and the interest he or she is showing towards
the subject.
6. Retain Consistency about the Message: The message conveyed should conjure with the organizational goals and policies.
Whenever you are replacing any old message instead of the new one, you should clearly mention about it and clear all the doubts.
7. Keep a Routine check on the communication system: You should analyze the weaknesses in the communication system. All
the efforts should be made to know whether you should focus on the formal or informal way to communicate.
8. Make use of the body language: During the process of communication make sure you make the most appropriate use of your
body language, Avoid showing too much of emotions as the receiver might misapprehend the message. Try to always keep a
smiling face while talking and make eye to eye contact with the listener but make sure not to keep your eyes gazed at the person
for more than five seconds and avoid too much of fluttering of eyes which indicate you are not confident. Sit in an upright
position and feel relaxed.
9. Avoid overloading of information: People would get bored if they are bombarded with the unnecessary and too much of
information. So try to deliver the parts which are useful and informative and of value to the listener in a most simple and straight
forward way. There should not be any confusion left in the mind of the listener.
10. Reduce the level of noise as far as possible: Always make sure to speak and interact with someone where there is no noise
and least disturbance. Find the source of noise, remove it and then start conversing.
11. Communication chain should be short: You should avoid using the mediocre or send the message through the third person
unless it is very urgent. Try to directly communicate with the person concerned. The risk of distortion of the facts gets more if
message is passed through the third party and just imagine if there are more people in between the sender and receiver the chances
of filtering of the messages is doubled.
12. Keep your Anger in Control: Do not be aggressive or show your anger if you do not agree with any point of view or
anything that is going against your ideology. State your thoughts politely with facts if you have and reflect positivity in your talk
and nature.

The 7Cs of Effective Communication

1. Completeness---This provides that one must ensure that the transmitted message is complete, hence, the receiver substantially
grasps all important information that the sender transcends to him or her. With this, asking of follow-up questions are reduced,
thus, a smooth communication process is achieved.
2. Conciseness---This ensures that the message is on point. It focuses on the content rather on the length. It helps the receiver to
focus on what is important, thus speeds up the processing of information and understanding of the message.
3. Consideration---The speaker must always think of the receiver’s background. This is to make sure that they engage in a
respectful communicative act. In addition, utilizing details that are relevant to the receiver’s exper-iences will make the latter
process the content of the conversation clearly and easily.
4. Concreteness-A concrete message is specific, tangible, vivid. It’s supported by facts and figures for enhanced credibility. It
helps your audience gain an overview of the broader picture.
5. Courtesy--Courtesy and consideration complement each other in effective communications. Courtesy means respecting the
receiver’s culture, values and beliefs – i.e. crafting a message that is genuinely polite and unbiased.
6. Clearness--Clarity in any communicative act must be fostered as it will facilitate better understanding of the intended message.
This must be built upon exact terminology and concrete words to avoid confusions and misunderstanding.
7. Correctness--There is a need for correct grammar and syntax as it may affect the meaning of the message. On the other hand, it
also affects the sender’s credibility and integrity, thus may affect the receiver’s perception to the sender.