VERBAL

COMMUNICATION
GROUP 1
VERBAL COMMUNICATION
VERBAL COMMUNICATION REFERS TO AN INTERACTION IN WHICH
WORDS ARE USED TO RELAY A MESSAGE. FO EFFECTIVE AND
SUCCESSFUL VERBAL COMMUNICATION, USE WORDS TO EXPRESS
IDEAS WHICH CAN BE EASILY UNDERSTOOD BY PERSON YOU ARE
TALKING TO.
CONSIDER APPROPRIATENESS, BREVITY, CLARITY, ETHICS, AND
VIVIDNESS WHEN ENGAGING IN THIS TYPE OF COMMUNICATION.
1. APPROPRIATENESS
-THE LANGUAGE THAT YOU USE SHOULD BE APPROPRIATE TO THE
ENVIRONMENT OR OCCASION. IN LINGUISTICS AND COMMUNICATION STUDIES,
APPROPRIATENESS IS THE EXTENT TO WHICH AN UTTERANCE IS PERCEIVED AS
SUITABLE FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND A PARTICULAR AUDIENCE IN A
PARTICULAR SOCIAL CONTEXT.
FOR EXAMPLE:
-I HEREBY DECLARE THIS MEETING CLOSED AND WISH YOU A HAPPY NEW YEAR.
-LET’S CALL IT A DAY.
2. BREVITY
-SPEAKERS WHO OFTEN USE SIMPLE YET PRECISE AND POWERFUL WORDS ARE
FOUND TO BE MORE CREDIBLE. TRY TO ACHIEVE BREVITY BY BEING MORE
DIRECT WITH YOUR WORDS. AVOID FILLERS AND INSUBSTANTIAL EXPRESSIONS
WHICH DO NOT ADD TO THE MESSAGE, SUCH AS “UH,” “YOU KNOW,” “I GUESS,”
AND OTHERS.
-BREVITY IS SHORTEST IN DURATION AND/OR CONCISENESS OF EXPRESSION IN A
SPEECH OR A WRITTEN TEXT.
-BREVITY IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED A STYLISTICVIRTUE AS LONG AS IT’S NOT
ACHIEVED AT THE EXPENSE OF CLARITY.
3. CLARITY
-THE MENINGS OF THE WORDS, FEELINGS, OR IDEAS MAY BE INTERPRETED
DIFFERENTLY BY A LISTENER; HENCE, IT IS ESSENTIAL FOR YOU TO CLEARLY STATE
YOUR MESSAGE AND EXPRESS YOUR IDEAS AND FEELINGS. A CHARACTERISTICS
OF A SPEECH OR A COMPOSITION THAT COMMUNICATES EFFECTIVELY WITH ITS
INTENDED AUDIENCE.
COMPARE THE TWO SENTENCES:
A. PLEASE HAND ME THE CHARLES DICKENS NOVEL ON THE BOTTOM SHELF.
B. PLEASE HAND ME THE BOOK.
4. ETHICS
-WORDS SHOULD BE CAREFULLY CHOSEN IN CONSIDERATION OF THE GENDER,
ROLES, ETHNICITY, PREFERENCES, AND STATUS OF THE PERSON OR PEOPLE YOU
ARE TALKING TO.
FOR EXAMPLES:
HONESTY, MANY PEOPLE VIEW HONESTY AS AN IMPORTANT ETHIC.
5. VIVIDNESS
-WORDS THAT VIVIDLY OR CREATIVELY DESCRIBE THINGS OR FEELINGS USUALLY
ADD COLOR AND SPICE TO COMMUNICATION. HENCE, YOU ARE ENCOURAGED
TO FIND WAYS TO CHARM YOUR AUDIENCE THROUGH THE USE OF VIVID
WORDS.
FOR EXAMPLES:
-THE CHAIR BY THE FIRE WAS EMPTY.
-AFTER A LONG DAY, THE COMFORT OF THE ROCKING CHAIR BY THE FIRE
AWAITED ME LIKE AN OLD FRIEND.