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Oral Communication

WHAT IS ORAL COMMUNICATION?

Oral communication, also known as verbal communication, is the interchange of verbal messages between a sender and receiver. It is more immediate than written communication. It is also more natural and informal.

In human development, speech precedes writing. Children first learn to speak, and then, much later, develop the ability to read and write. The ability to speak/articulate single words and later speak groups of words in meaningful sequence comes to children in the course of their growth. This ability develops from listening to verbal sounds (words). As compared to written communication, therefore, the ability to communicate through the spoken word (speech) is a naturally developing ability (barring medical abnormalities).

In business, oral communication is used more than written communication. A study of executive working hours showed that 70 per cent of an executives time is spent on communicating. Forty-five per cent of this time is spent listening, 30 per cent is spent on speaking, 16 per cent on reading, and 9 percent on writing. As 75 per cent executive communication is oral, it is advisable that executives develop their listening and speaking (oral communication) skills.

IMPORTANCE AND OBJECTIVES OF ORAL COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS

A manager's maximum time is devoted to oral communication. He or she is often engaged in one of the following tasks: meetings, discussions, negotiations, seminars, presentations, interviews, peer conversations, providing instructions, and telephone conversations. All these business activities, except telephone conversations, involve face-to-face verbal communication. A telephone conversation is one-to-one oral communication that requires skillful control of tone, voice, and pitch, and precise use of words.

 

In business transactions that involve face-to-face interaction between individuals or groups of individuals, it is not enough to be able to talk, discuss, converse, argue, or negotiate an issue. A manager should be able to do all these persuasively, effectively, and convincingly. But, to be convincing, he or she must know and apply the skills of oral communication.

Oral Communication	Written Communication
Advantages
More personal and informal	Better for complex and difficult subjects, facts, and opinions
Makes immediate impact	Can be read at the receiver's convenience or pleasure
Provides opportunity for interaction and feedback	Can be circulated
Helps the speaker correct himself or herself (and his or her message) according to the feedback and non-verbal cues received from the receiver	Provides opportunity to refer back to a more permanent record
Better for conveying feelings and emotions	Better for keeping records of messages exchanged
	Can be revised before transmitting
Limitations
Demands ability to think coherently while speaking	Immediate feedback is not available for correction on the spot
A word once uttered cannot be taken back	Many people do not like reading, especially official or business messages
Hard to control voice pitch and tone, especially when stressed, excited, or angry	More impersonal and remote
Very difficult to be conscious of body language	The reader is not helped by non-verbal cues that contribute to the total message
	Do not know if the message has been read
	Is more time consuming1

 

Exhibit 3.1 Comparative Advantages and Limitations of Oral and Written Communication

Managers face difficulties in resolving the problems of workers and influencing others through dialogue and personal discussions. They need oral communication skills that include being able to:

• Solve problems
• Resolve conflicts
• Influence people to work together
• Persuade others to be involved in organizational goals
• Be assertive without being aggressive
• Listen thoughtfully
• Negotiate effectively
• Make proposals

These skills include developing the necessary tact to work effectively for mutual satisfaction in complex situations. Broadly speaking, one has to know when to talk; when not to talk but to listen; how to talk (the tone, pitch, and modulation); how to interpret the listener's facial expressions, physical gestures, movements, and attitude; and how to be aware of one's own body talk (leakage), which consciously or unconsciously sends signals to the listener. It is said that it does not matter what you say, but rather, how you say it. This includes one's choice of words, level of confidence, and sincerity.

 

USE OF ENGLISH IN ORAL COMMUNICATION

Most educated Indians understand and write English sufficiently well. But, they often face difficulty in speaking in English fluently and in following British/American and other foreign speakers effortlessly and correctly. They tend to miss the intended meaning communicated by the speaker's stress on words, phrases, and sentences, and deliberate pauses in between the utterance of words and sentences. This limitation of Indian speakers of English is natural.

Basically speaking, English should not only be read, but also carefully listened to as a rhythm of rising and falling sound patterns. Its rhythmic movement is meaningful. It is produced by word stress and sentence stress, and pauses.

The Phoneme

Phoneme is the smallest unit of speech that can be used to make one word different from another word, such as the “b” and “p” in “big” and “pig”. The first need of spoken English is that we hear and speak the sounds of English speech correctly and distinctly. Otherwise we may hear big as pig and pig as big.

Sounds of English Speech

There are 44 sounds of English speech corresponding to 26 letters (alphabet) of written English.

Just as there are five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and twenty one consonants in the written form of English, there are twenty vowel sounds and twenty four consonant sounds in spoken English, called phones. They form phonemes which are the smallest meaningful units of sound that distinguish one word from another (e.g., p, b, d, t in the English words pad, pat, bad, bat). Therefore, we receive a different word if we hear “p” for “b” or “b” as “p”.

Phonetic Symbols: The IPA Symbols

These 44 English sounds are graphically represented by phonetic symbols, developed by a body of experts, known as International Phonetic Association. To distinguish the letter from its sound, the IPA symbol of the sound is written between two strokes. For example, the sound of letter “m” is written as |m|. Therefore, m refers to the letter and |m| refers to its sound.

Classification of Sounds

All speech sounds are normally divided into vowels and consonants. The 44 sounds of English are divided into 20 vowels and 24 consonants. The vowels are sub divided into 12 pure vowels and 8 diphthongs. The 24 consonants are divided into 15 voiced and 9 unvoiced consonants.

The Description of Vowels

When a vowel is spoken, the air passes through the mouth freely. The air passage remains open and the production of vowels is not accompanied by any sound of friction. All other sounds are classified as consonants.

The Description of Consonant Sounds

The twenty four consonant sounds in English are described according to the nature of the air-stream. the place and manner of articulation, and the vibration of the vocal chords.

1. Pulmonic air-stream: If the air stream moved the lungs it is called Pulmonic air. It is known as egressive, that is, coming out, or ingressive, going in.

   All English sounds are produced by egressive air stream mechanism.

2. Voiced/voiceless sound: Do the vocal chords vibrate or not? Voiced sounds are produced by using the vocal chords. For example, |d| and |g| are voiced consonants. The vocal chords vibrate while speaking them. Voiceless sounds are produced without using the vocal chords. For example, |p| and |k| are voiceless consonants. Other voiceless consonants are : |p, t, k, ts, f Q, s, S, h|.

   The rest are voiced.

3. Oral sounds
4. Nasal sounds
5. Nasalized sounds
6. Place of sound
7. Manner of articulation

The above classification of sounds is technical. It is based on the mechanics of producing different sounds of English speech. It is a subject of study by itself, known as Phonetics. Here, our purpose, however, is not to go into details of phonetics as such. We seek to know how a word and its meaning change by the change of a single sound segment.

The Study of Phoneme

Phoneme, the smallest unit of speech, capable of creating a new word may be known by you by forming minimal pairs of words which differ in terms of only one sound segment like: mat, hat, get, set, big, fig, reed, need, debt, wet. We have got from this set of words ten English phonemes |m, h, g, s, b, t, f, t, r, n, d, w|. You can learn more phonemes by forming similar pairs of words.

The Syllable

After phoneme, the next higher unit of sound is syllable. Syllable is defined as a unit of pronunciation uttered without interruption, forming the whole or a part of a word and usually having one vowel sound often with a consonant. For example, there is one syllable in man, there are two in woman, and three in womanly. Practice hearing the number of syllables in each word. For example, im-por-tance -3 syllables, animal -3 syllables, quiet -2 syllables.

Prosodic Features of an Utterance

English speech is rhythmic. A lot of meaning is gained by the study of speech rhythms. In spoken English the patterns of sounds and rhythm form a part of meaning of words. It is studied under the following prosodic features of an utterance:

1. Length
2. Stress
3. Pitch and Intonation

Length

Length is shown by the duration and movement of an utterance. For example, hear the following two utterances, both having 5 syllables each:

1. My aunt is away. (5)
2. Watch dogs catch much meat. (5)

The second utterance about watch dogs takes more time to complete than the first utterance about aunt.

The pace of movement of speech depends on the shape of words. For instance, in the first utterance, 3 words begin with vowel sounds which are swiftly uttered, whereas in the second utterance, all the words begin with consonants which require repeated adjustment of mouth. From the communication point of view, pace of movement of speech shows the movement of the speakers ideas. The length of an utterance is a non-verbal clue to the speakers sense of urgency and haste.

Stress

The term stress describes the force or intensity or air pressure in uttering a word or a part of a word or a sentence. Stress is used to lay emphasis on the word and its meaning.

Word Stress

The stressed part of a word is marked with a raised stroke before it, like, ‘conduct, con-‘duct, ‘pre-sent, pre-‘sent, pro-‘duction, ‘management, ‘always, ‘asking. The place of stress in single syllable words is fixed. We should practice to pronounce the single words according to the stress they have. But, we do not speak in monosyllabic words alone. Our speech is a continuous rhythmic flow of stressed and unstressed syllables. In continuous speech, the stressed syllables are spoken with emphasis and length and the unstressed syllables uttered between the stressed syllables are shortened because they are weak. The common practice is to stress the word or its part according to the force or importance we attach to it. It is important to know that communication suffers in its clarity and effectiveness if the right word or if its right part is not rightly stressed.

For example, the meaning of the following sentence changes as we change the stress from one word to another:

1. You have to go there. (no one else)
2. You have to go there. (do nothing else)
3. You have to go there. (not to any other place)

This aspect of stressing the significant segments of speech (utterance) needs to be understood for effective communication.

Stressed and Unstressed Parts of Speech

As a general guidance, you may remember the following classification of parts of speech which usually are stressed or unstressed. Words which are not stressed:

• articles
• personal pronouns
• helping verbs
• conjunctions
• prepositions

In continuous speech, the above words are spoken in their weak forms. Like and is spoken as |on|, or of as |or|.

The words which receive stress are:

• nouns
• main verbs
• adjectives
• adverbs
• interrogatives
• demonstratives
• negative markers
• interjections
• numerals

Pitch and Intonation

Pitch and intonation, the rise and fall in voice while speaking is the most meaningful element in oral communication. The manner of utterance conveys more than the verbal meaning of words spoken. The speakers intonation pattern, the sing-song way, the rhythm of speaking communicate his/her mood, attitude, sincerity, and seriousness towards the listener and the subject being discussed.

The Rhythmic Patterns of English Speech

English is spoken in a rhythmic way. The speakers voice keeps rising and falling continuously in a partnered way. There are several rhythmic patterns of English speech. But the two patterns which are of interest to us are:

1. The falling tone
2. The rising tone

As the terms falling and rising indicate, in the case of falling tone the level, that is to say, the pitch of voice falls at the end of the sentence, and in the case of rising tone, the pitch rises at the end. In fact, the nature of the tone depends on the stress pattern of the last stressed syllable in the sentence-uttered. These two tones communicate two opposite attitudes of the speaker. Their appropriate use is of crucial importance in business transactions. The lack of knowledge about the meaning conveyed by the tone would result in imperfect communication between the speaker and listener. Therefore, to avoid creating false impressions, it is necessary that both the speaker and listener know the significance and meaning of tone.

The Choice of Tone and Its Significance

The choice of tone is deliberate. And each tone is associated with the nature and purpose of the utterance. In the falling tone, the voice starts high and ends low. It is reversed in the rising tone.

The Falling Tone

The falling tone is associated with the following types of utterances:

• Commands:

  Bring here.

  Come nere.

• Statements: Statements can be sincere expressions or just formal utterances. For example, “thank you” can be a sincere expression of gratitude or it can be just a statement of formality. The difference in the nature of the statements in expressed by the falling or rising tone of the speaker. If spoken with falling tone, it shows the person really feels grateful. This falling tone means sincere gratitude. But, if “thank you” is said with rising tone, that is, it begins with low pitch “thank” and high pitch “you”, the statement shows a formal, rather a casual acknowledgement of thankfulness.

   

  The choice of falling or rising tone is crucial in the context of your relationship. Suppose you wish to thank your friend sincerely for a nice stay you have had at his place and you thank her in rising tone, she is very likely to feel offended. And, if you happen to be abroad and chance to thank a taxi driver in the falling tone, he would be surprised by your sincere sense of gratitude.

In business, the distinction between the low ending and high ending tones is crucial. The two tones signify as follows:

The falling tone conveys business like objectivity, sincerity, excitement, certainty, and command.

The rising tone conveys courtesy, request, politeness, doubts, questions, and protest.

For effective spoken English in business, these shapes of tones are necessary to be understood and practised.

Further examples of falling tone:

1. Statements

   Our children don't like the way we run the world for them.

   You'll have to come with her now.

2. Exclamations

   Well done!

   How difficult!

3. Choice questions

   Do you want to go out or stay?

   Would you have tea or some cold drink?

4. Interrogative statements

   Statements with question words. What places did you visit this time?

5. Question tags as an extension of meaning.

A phrase, such as ‘isn't it? or won't it!’ or ‘does she?’ that we add at the end of a statement changes it into a question to find out that some one agrees with us or not. For example,

You're from Delhi, aren't your?

You've got its copy, haven't you?

The Rising Tone

The rising tone is used for the following kinds of statements:

1. Requests
   • Post the letter, please.
   • Leave the passage free, please.
2. Apologies
   • We feel so sorry.
   • I deeply regret the lapse.
3. Yes/No questions
   • Did the test begin on time?
   • Is our office open?
4. Statements left incomplete
   • Before I meet her …
   • I was trying to suggest …
5. Protests
   • The government could have consulted the opposition as well.
   • I never meant that.
6. The statement implied to be a question.
   • You're going to the movies straight?
   • I believe you see the implications of this order?
7. Question tags as real questions
   • Customers can be attracted, can't they?
   • The meeting can be postponed, can't it?

Pause

In spoken language the function of comma, fullstop, semicolon, dash, which act as marks of punctuation in the written language, to suggest a short or long stop, is done by a short break in speaking. A speaker stops between words or after a group of words depending on (i) the length of his breath and (ii) the meaning or sense of words. The breath pause comes naturally after a long utterance. But, the semantic pause, which is taken by the speaker according to the sense of words, clarifies meaning by separating the two utterances.

Consider the following two utterances with two different pauses:

• A small/bearded person was looking for you.
• A small bearded/person was looking for you.

In the first sentence, the person is small, in the second the beard is small. Pauses are significant in other ways also. They mean that the speaker is careful in his words, and wants the listener to receive the words with serious attention.

Fluency in Spoken English

Fluency mean saying words/group of words smoothly, without hesitating or halting between the words. While speaking English, we should not allow gaps between the words or within the group of words. In continuous speech, words remain connected with one another. The end of one word flows into the beginning of the next word. The whole utterance is an unbroken chain of sounds.

Method of Increasing Your Fluency of English Speech

Your fluency depends upon the length of group of words you are able to speak/say without gaps or hesitation. Therefore, the way to improve your fluency is to practise to increase the length of the word groups you can speak at a time. For example, consider the following utterance:

She came back - by the Monday - evening - flight.

There are three breaks in the utterance. Now, as J.D. O'Connor suggests (Better Pronunciation, 1970) begin by saying the short group “she came back” smoothly. When you find you speak it with no gaps in between the three words, you add the next three words and say, “she came back by the Monday” and speak the words unhesitatingly. After doing it successfully, you now add one more word “evening” to the group of words and say the whole thing in a running manner. She came back by Monday evening. After repeating it several times to be able to speak without stumbling, finally add the last word “flight”, and speak a continuous form, “she came by the Monday evening flight”.

For practising fluency you may use the following exercises of lengthening word groups to be spoken as shown above.

1. Who was that- pretty lady - you danced with - at the party?
2. It was the beginning - of the holidays when - I went - to Muscat last month.
3. She wants to know how-long she should wait for you-to reach-here.
4. Come and have - tea-with us-on Saturday-this weekend.
5. I want to know - how-you finished it-so fast-miss Nalini.

Factors Affecting Fluency of Foreign Speakers of English

Lack of confidence   Many foreign learners of English fail to speak English smoothly. They lack confidence. They communicate in their regional language/ mother tongue fluently, with ease. But, they find it difficult to interact in English.

They hesitate to speak in English because of lack of practice in speaking English.

To overcome this hesitation, they should practice loud reading to prose passages smoothly and unhesitatingly. They should follow the punctuation marks for long and short pauses. They should gradually increase the speed of reading the text.

Pronunciation

The special difficulty of foreign speakers of English is owing to the fact that, unlike Indian languages, English words are not always pronounced according to their spelling. That is to say, in English the pronunciation of a word does not necessarily follow its spelling. For example, see the spelling and pronunciation of the following words:

 

 

Further, to be able to pronounce a word correctly, we should know not only the correct sounds which form the word, but also the correct word stress - the syllable on which the stress falls. In the case of single (mono) syllabic words, there is no difficulty. The words with more than one syllable follow the following patterns mainly:

1. words of two syllables with stress on the first syllable:

   ‘fa-ther, ‘tea-cher, ‘he-ro, ‘lett-er, ‘sis-ter, ‘pai’nter

2. words of two syllables with stress on the second syllable:

   con-‘sist, be-‘hind, be-gin

3. words of two syllables having both the syllables stressed:

   arm-‘chair, ‘half-‘term, ‘thir-‘teen

4. words of three syllables having stress on the first syllable:

   ‘pos-i-tive, ‘per-i-od, ‘print-a-ble

5. words of three syllables having stress on the second syllable.

   Com-‘mi-tee, re-ac-tor, ho-‘ri-zon

6. words of three syllables with stress on the third syllable:

   dis-ap-‘point, in-ter-‘fere, dis-re-‘gard, in-di-‘rect.

7. In words having four or more syllables, the stress usually falls on the third from last:

   pho-‘tog-raph-er, ge-o-‘met-ri-cal, de-‘moc-ra-cy

Change of Meaning by the Stress Shift

A shift in the position of stress in a word changes its function and meaning. For example, the word convict with stress on the first syllable ‘con is a noun and it means a person who has been proved to be guilty of a crime and sent to prison. If the stress shifts to the second syllable, the word becomes a verb and means to prove by trial in a court that someone is guilty of a crime: con-‘vict.

We have to be careful about the correct position of stress in words because change in stress position changes the form and meaning of the word. The following list of word illustrates this point:

1. ‘ob-ject (noun), a thing that we can hold, touch, or see, but that is not alive, for example, a chair.

   ob-‘ject (verb), to oppose or disapprove of something

2. ‘mi-nute (noun), one-sixtieth of an hour

   mi-‘nute (adjective), very small

3. ‘content (noun), the thing contained in a book or utensil

   con‘tent (adjective), satisfied

4. ‘abstract (adjective), not concrete

   abs‘tract (verb), to separate

5. ‘convert (noun), a person who adopts a new religion

   con‘vert (verb), to change from one thing to another

6. ‘escort (noun), a guard who goes with someone as a protection

   es‘cort (verb), to accompany as a guard

7. ‘invalid (noun), a sick person

   in‘valid (adjective), not valid

8. ‘frequent (adjective), often

   fre‘quent (verb) to go to a particular place often

9. ‘desert (noun), a sand place

   desert (verb), to run away

10. ‘attribute (noun), a quality

    attribute (verb), to assign as a reason or motive to someone for doing something.

These distinctions of accent (stress) indicate the nature and meaning of words of multiple syllables. To help you learn this aspect of spoken English, the International phonetic symbols for twenty vowel sounds and twenty four consonant sounds are given below:

The English Phonemic System and Its Notation

Vowels and Diphthongs

The English vowels and diphthongs are conveniently considered in five groups (A, B, C, D, E below). There are certain differences between RP and GenAm, both in realization (vowel quality) and in the system (vowel inventory).

The short vowels are:

A

 

I	kit, bid
e	dress, bed
æ	trap, bad
D	(RP) lot, odd
Λ	strut, bud
	foot, good

 

The long vowels and diphthongs are:

 

B

 

	fleece, see
eI	face, day
aI	price, high
I	choice, boy

 

C(RP)

 

	goose, two
	goat, show
a	mouth, now
D	near-RP variant in cold (see 3.6)

 

D(RP)

 

I	near, here
e	square, fair
	start, father
	thought, law, north, war
	cure, jury, poor (if not כ:)
	nurse, stir

 

The Weak vowels are:

 

E

 

i	(happ)y, (rad)i(ation), (glor)i(ous)
	a(bout), (comm)a, (comm)o(n)
u	(inf)u(ence), (sit)u(ation), (biv)ou(ac) - although the weak vowel system also includes
I	i(ntend), (rabb)i(t) (if not ә)
	(stim)u(lus), (ed)u(cate) (if not ә or u) and the syllabic consonants (see below).

Consonants

The English consonants are p, b, t, d, k, g, tf, d3, f, v, 9, 3, s, z, J, 3, h, r, 1, j, w, m, n, (].

The symbols p, b, t, d, k, f, v, h, r, 1, w, m, n stand for the English consonant sounds usually so spelled. Keywords for the remaining consonant sounds are as follows:

 

t∫	church
θ	thin, author, path
s	cease, sister
∫	ship, ocean
j	yet
g	go, give, gag
	judge
∂	this, other, smooth
z	zone, roses
	vision
ŋ	sing, long, thanks

 

Stress is shown by a mark placed at the beginning of the syllable in question, as in the following examples:

 

primary word stress	re’MEMber
secondary stress	ACa’DEMic; ’BUTter FINgers
in prefixes) stressed, but level undefined: primary or secondary as appropriate.

How to Improve Your Pronunciation

The type of pronunciation to be spoken is known as received pronunciation (RP). In business interactions, this is the model followed by educated executives.

Some Common Errors of Pronunciation to Be Avoided

The correct sound of “r”. Some of us roll it too much. For pronouncing “r” correctly, the tongue is slightly curled from the sides and drawn back slightly to touch the ridges of the teeth. The single “r” in the middle and at the end of the words is mostly silent in English, whereas Indians mostly pronounce it clearly. Try to pronounce the following words without “r”

army, car, carpet, iron, barge, merger, finger, corner, market, soldier, shoulder, border, hired.

 

Exceptions   Single “r” is pronounced in the middle of words when it appears before vowel sounds. For example: career, paragraph, various.

 

Double “rr” must be pronounced   “rr” in a word is to be pronounced. For example, “Ferret”, “curry”, “barrage”, “sorry”.

The “r” at the beginning of a word is pronounced, but it should not be rolled.

Say this aloud.

Round the ragged rock, the ragged rascal ran.

Notice the position of the tongue while you say these rs at the beginning of the above words. It is not curled.

Avoid mixing up “w” and “v” sounds. For example the words, “vine” and “wine” or “water” and “vendor” should not be spoken in the same way, “v” should not sound like “w”. In the above words “v” is pronounced with lower lip touching the upper row of teeth, but “w” is pronounced with lips in the rounded form. To practice the distinction between the sounds of “v” and “w” say these words:

Love-low, shove-show, cove-cow, cover-cower, hovel-howl, ever-ewer.

Avoid unclear pronunciation of “T” and “D”. Say the following words: Time, dime, candour, bridal, demand.

Finally, the test of effective spoken English is easy in intelligibility of words and their quickest response in the desired manner.

CHARACTERISTICS AND PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE AND SUCCESSFUL ORAL COMMUNICATION

There are three communication situations in which oral communication takes place:

1. Face-to-face
2. Intercultural
3. Via electronic media

Oral communication is indispensable in any group or business activity. Here are some of the characteristics and principles of effective oral communication:

• Purpose: The purpose of talking effectively is to be heard and understood by the listener.
• Lively rhythm: Oral communication should, first of all, have a lively rhythm and tone.
• Simple words: It is important to use language that is free from long-winded sentences, clichés, and old-fashioned words and phrases. It is best to employ commonly used words and short and simple sentences.
• Pitch: The pitch of the speakers voice should take into consideration the distance between the listener and the speaker.
• Tone and body language: The speakers tone should be marked by sincerity and confidence. The listener, unlike the reader of a written communication, has the advantage of watching the speaker in the act of verbalizing his or her ideas and feelings, and is able to note subconscious body language that may contradict the intent of the spoken words. Therefore, in face-to-face communication, the message is both heard and seen. A speaker has to be very careful, both about his or her choice of words and the manner of speaking them. The manner of speaking is, at times, more important than the actual words, which communicate only 7 per cent of the total meaning of the message. Albert Mehrabian's research reveals astonishing facts about how exactly different factors contribute to a speakers total message:
  • Verbal factors (words): 7 per cent
  • Tone of voice and modulation: 38 per cent
  • Visual factors (facial expressions, body movements, and gestures): 55 per cent

    Effective speakers learn to control and use their tone and body language to support their words.

• Pace of speaking: Unlike the written word, the spoken word is ephemeral and short-lived. Listeners cannot refer back to the spoken word as readers can in case they missed something. This is an inherent limitation of speech. To overcome this limitation, the listener has to listen closely and attentively and the speaker should converse slowly, with proper semantic pauses, to enable the listener to receive and register what is said. There should be a correlation between the pace of speaking and the rate of listening. Research has established that an individual speaks nearly 125 words a minute, but the listener can process the information nearly 4-5 times more rapidly than this. If the gap between hearing and registering is too wide or too narrow based on the pace of speaking, comprehension will too be adversely affected. Hence, an important principle of oral communication is to speak fluently, without long pauses or without rushing.

   

  Research has established that an individual speaks nearly 125 words a minute, but the listener can process the information nearly 4-5 times more rapidly than this.

• Fluency: Fluency is described in the Oxford English Dictionary as “the quality of being able to speak or write a language easily and well.” A fluent speaker is one who is heard with ease. The listener does not have to strain his or her mind to receive, register, and interpret the message. Listening is activated and helped when the speaker delivers his or her words in an ordered manner. Each word is distinctly heard and easily connected with other words to form the structure of the message.

   

  Listening is activated and helped when the speaker delivers his or her words in an ordered manner.

Guidelines for Effective Oral Communication

Oral communication should provide a platform for fair and candid exchange of ideas. The communicator should keep in mind the following tips and guidelines:

• Consider the objective.
• Think about the interest level of the receiver.
• Be sincere.
• Use simple language and familiar words.
• Be brief and precise.
• Avoid vagueness and generalities.
• Give full facts.
• Assume nothing.
• Use polite words and tone.
• Eliminate insulting implications.
• Include some information that is interesting and pleasing to the recipient.
• Allow time to respond.

BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE ORAL COMMUNICATION

Managers have to communicate individually with people at different levels—superiors, subordinates, peers, customers, and public figures. The oral mode of communication is easy, efficient, and functionally helpful in resolving issues. But, oral communication demands great control and communicative competence to be successful. The foremost barrier to oral communication is poor listening. Listening is a psychological act affected by several factors, such as the speakers status, the listener's receptivity and retention, language barriers, and so on.

Language Barrier

The language of communication should be shared by the speaker and the listener. In business, English is widely used in most parts of the world. The ability to converse in English is essential for executives in a multi-lingual country like India. English is now the global medium for conducting business, and the lack of knowledge and practice of spoken English acts as a barrier to verbal communication.

The listener should also be familiar with the accent of the language in use, as a new accent can often be difficult to follow for those unfamiliar with it. For instance, in India, even those who speak English fluently need special training to work in call centres so that they can understand what overseas callers say over the phone. Workers involved in outsourced businesses tend to overcome their initial language barrier through training and exposure to the foreign accent.

The effects of most of these barriers that interfere with the proper response to oral messages can be reduced or even removed through effective listening. In order to develop good listening skills, we must first identify and understand the characteristics of effective listening.

Besides the barriers in listening discussed in this section, there may be other factors that affect listening. For instance, many studies show that men listen mostly with the left side of the brain while women tend to use both sides. Further, studies also suggest that left-handed people may use a part of the brain to process language that differs from their right-handed counterparts. Such differences in brain dominance and lateralization could affect listening, either positively or negatively.

TO BE ASSERTIVE WITHOUT BEING AGGRESSIVE

Being Assertive Without Being Aggressive

At the workplace, hierarchy may make some individuals submissive. Sometimes, asserting one's point of view runs the risk of being perceived as rude. In such a situation, the skills of assertive conversation become useful.

To be assertive is to be confident. An assertive person does not say “yes” when he or she means “no”. Assertive individuals can say “no” in a positive and firm manner; being firm requires stating one's point of view clearly and without hesitation. This is the key to being assertive. It is important not to fumble or be indirect when conveying ones concerns.

An assertive and firm person should be able to analyze the situation as he or she sees it, and should indicate relevant concerns by drawing the attention of seniors to the consequences. Firm communication with seniors or supervisors compels them to evaluate their assumptions, even if there is to be no change in the line of action to be taken.

In business, you have to be assertive when you strongly believe that someone's course of action involves risk and danger and may have undesirable consequences that you might be held responsible for. In such situations, say what you must say.

 

Negative thinking results from a negative attitude or negative perception, which, at times, is part of a person's personality. Some persons always focus only on the dark side of a situation. They say things, such as “This is impossible”, “It is too difficult”, or “This is useless”.

When negative consequences are foreseen as a result of an expert's critical thinking, their assertion is valuable to discussion. Sometimes, even pointing out loopholes in assumptions is necessary. For example, take the case of the Bhopal gas tragedy that took place on 2 December 1984. The internal reports of the U.S.-based undertaking, Union Carbide, show that the officials were aware of the growing safety and maintenance problems since 1982 when management cut staff at the methyl isocyanate (MIC) facility from twelve to six operators and reduced the number of maintenance workers. Faulty safety devices remained unattended for weeks. In fact, a 1982 report by a group of Carbide's U.S. engineers had listed the problems, but the parent corporation made no effort to ask the Indian executives responsible for running the plant to correct them.

Obviously, the U.S. engineers failed to assert the need for safety. The Indian executives, also responsible for day-to-day operation of the plant, failed to point out the loopholes in the management's extensive cost-cutting plans. The management was attempting to reduce losses by cutting maintenance costs. The failure of engineers and executives to be assertive on the subject of safety measures led to one of the worst disasters of the twentieth century.

CONVERSATION

What Is Conversation?

The art of conversation is an essential interpersonal skill that helps build a pleasing personality. Effective conversation helps in getting friendly cooperation in social and professional situations. Conversation involves speaking and listening in a sequence. It is an oral exchange of sentiments, bservation's, opinions, and ideas. The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines conversation in the social context, which is the ordinary context of everyday life, as “an informal talk in which people exchange views, feelings and thoughts”. The Merriam- Webster Dictionary defines conversation in the professional context as “an informal discussion of an issue by representatives of governments, institutions or groups”.

What distinguishes ordinary conversation from other forms of oral communication, such as debates, public speaking, negotiations, or business discussions, is its informality, in the sense that it is relaxed and friendly without being restricted by the rules of formal behaviour. Conversation, in general, is spontaneous, friendly, and casual. The use of direct, informal, and commonly used phrases constitutes the conversational style.

Social Conversation

Social conversation, also known as chit-chat or small talk, attempts to establish a sociable atmosphere. At a tea-party or social gathering, the conversation reveals feelings of togetherness, rather than communicating ideas or any specific meaning. Words are used in symbolic ways, as verbal social gestures. This social use of words is known as phatic communion.

The words and phrases used in phatic communion, such as “It was a pleasure meeting you”, “Do come again”, or “How is your family?” can be best described as expressions of togetherness and camaraderie and an indication of the speaker's culture and sensibility as a social being. Hayakawa points out that it is regarded as a social error not to say these things, even if the speaker does not mean them, and that it is completely impossible for us in society to talk only when we “have something to say”². According to Hayakawa, “the togetherness of the talking is the most important element in social conversation; the subject matter is only secondary”.

Greetings and farewells, such as “Good morning”, used to greet someone in the morning; “Take care”, used to wish good luck while parting; or “How do you do?”, used when being introduced to someone, do not carry literal meaning and are phatic in nature. According to Bronislaw Malinowski, phatic communion is a type of speech in which ties of union are created by a mere exchange of words. The words fulfil a social function and “that is their principal aim, but they are neither the result of intellectual reflection, nor do they necessarily arouse reflection in the listener”. The Oxford English Dictionary explains phatic communion by saying, “they [the words] are used to convey general sociability rather than to communicate a specific meaning; for example, Nice morning isn't it?” Similarly, the phrase “How are you?” is not a question about the listener's state of health, and “Take care” is not a warning against danger. Phatic utterances are used to break silence. Their purpose is to initiate conversation. This type of conversation does not aim at discussing an idea that may provoke disagreement. Instead, the conversation is usually about some common, shared feeling that can be instantly appreciated, such as appreciation of fine weather or natural beauty. Fuller communication can grow from small, ice-breaking remarks made upon making someone's acquaintance.

 

Exhibit 3.2 illustrates how small talk and informal, friendly conversation about unimportant subjects creates a relaxed atmosphere for discussing business.

 

Exhibit 3.2 How Small Talk Facilitates Business Conversations

Social conversation in the form of chit-chat, small talk, or phatic communion is not bound by any rigid order or sequence of subject matter. Its order and nature depends on the extent of both parties’ desire to establish a relationship. People who are drawn to each other talk with the goal of reaching a stage where they have a better understanding and exchange of ideas. This is achieved by avoiding subjects that would lead to disagreements. With each point of agreement, no matter how commonplace or obvious, doubt and suspicion of the new acquaintance wear away and the possibility of friendship increases. And finally, when more intimate conversation reveals common tastes, opinions, and views, friendship replaces misgivings and communication in the real sense is made possible. Thus, social conversation is psychologically structured, beginning in casual chit-chat and developing into genuine communication expressive of friendship and cooperation. Exhibit 3.3 shows how one can make small talk and break the ice.

 

 

Exhibit 3.3 Tips for Successful Small Talk

In their daily interactions, people are constantly involved in the exchange of facts and opinions. In these conversations, it is important to avoid what is known as the binary mode and adopt a multi-valued approach. Sometimes, people tend to present facts and opinions in a binary manner, in which they try to prove that what they are saying is correct and what the other person has to say is totally wrong. This view tends to antagonize both participants and can lead to arguments. In some conversations, there may be a visible attempt at what Stephen Potter calls “one-upmanship”—an attempt to make oneself seem better than other people. A valuable part of a conversation is wasted when the participants want to prove that they are correct; instead, they should use the opportunity more profitably to exchange facts and opinions.

Rational human beings should follow what Karl R. Popper says, “Faith in reason is not only a faith in our own reason, but also and even more in that of others. Rationalism, is therefore, bound up with the idea that the other fellow has a right to be heard and to defend his arguments”. According to this view, no person is wholly wrong even if we do not accept him or her as correct. Rationally speaking, reality cannot be truly categorized into an “either-or” system of thinking. Reality is not simply right or wrong, or good or bad. This perception is further refined when truth is viewed in terms of a scale of values, such as 0 to 5 or 0 to 100. To value reality as 0 and 1 is to miss the vast design of reality that consists of numerous shades, not just black and white. Conversation should be inspired by the multiple possibilities of truth/reality and be characterized by tolerance and positivity.

Effective Conversation

Humans begin conversing from the time we begin to prattle as children. From infancy, we develop the basic tool of conversation that is language. Gradually, we become familiar with complex uses of language suited to our purpose: to inform and to persuade. However, even though we naturally pick up the ability to converse, we may lack the skills of a good conversationalist, which include knowing how to speak as well listen. Conversation is not a monologue, it's a dialogue. Good conversation is characterized by the following features:

1. It has natural directness and spontaneity.
2. It is live in the sense that it takes place face-to-face, and the participants can see and hear each other at the same time. The live presentation of conversation is enriched and made effective with the added power of body language—a great source of communicative effectiveness.
3. It is sensitive and flexible in that it can change quickly according to the participants’ reactions.

These characteristics are clearly illustrated in Communication Snapshot 3.1, which is a conversation between Catherine and Linton in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.

REVIEW YOUR LEARNING

1. Give five reasons for choosing the oral mode of communication instead of the written form.
2. What skills does a speaker need to be successful in communicating with others? Give an example of difficulty or failure in oral communication.
3. Discuss some of the principles of effective oral communication.
4. In intercultural conversation, both how you talk and what you say is equally important for building good professional relations. Give examples and explain.
5. Why do conversations go wrong? Illustrate your answer with analysis of a situation you have actually experienced.
6. Explain the nature and purpose of “phatic communion”. Describe an example of such a conversation in your personal life.
7. What is conversation control? Discuss with examples.
8. “A key conversation skill is to know the difference between opinion and fact and to use it to your advantage”. Discuss.
9. Discuss the principles of successful oral communication.

REFLECT ON YOUR LEARNING

1. “You can be assertive without being aggressive”. Discuss.
2. How important is informality in conversation?
3. How important is it to notice the pauses and speech pace to understand the speaker's state of mind?
4. How would you improve your fluency of spoken English?
5. Give five reasons for choosing oral mode of communication, instead of written form.