Informal Oral Communication

You will spend more time than writing in business.

Most of your oral communication will be informal.

But some of it will be formal, as in meeting, telephone cells, dictation, speeches, and oral reports.

This and the following chapter cover these types of oral communication.

Informal Talking

We often take talking for granted and overlook the need for improving our talking ability.

We need to be aware of its nature and qualities, in order to improve it.

We need to assess our abilities and work to overcome our shortcomings.

Definition of Talking• Think about having no words to speak. If you try to

express yourself, you probably become frustrated.• Words enable one to communicate with others more

exactly and relate better to the world about you and to some extent to control it.

The definition would be derived as:

Talking is the oral expression of knowledge, viewpoints, and emotions through words.

Also we can see that talking replaces many of the body movements we made before we were able to talk.

As a first step in improving your talking ability, think about the quality you like ina good talker.

1. One with whom you would enjoy talking in ordinary conversation.

Then think about the opposite. 2. The worst conversationalist you can

imagine.Now you will have a good picture of the

characteristics of good talking. The mental picture includes good voice quality, excellence in talking style, accuracy of word choice, and adaptation.

Elements of Good Talking

The techniques of good talking may be summarized by four basic elements:

(1) Voice quality

(2) Style

(3) Word choice

(4) Adaptation

Voice QualityBy voice quality we mean the vocal sounds

one hears when another speaks.Good voice quality helps one communicate.

It involves pitch, delivery speed, and volume.Study the quality of your voice and compare

it with what experience tells you is good.Fit what you hear into impressions you have

gained from your life experiences. Then do what you can to improve.

It will take conscious effort.

StyleStyle is the blending of pitch, speed. And

volume to form unique talking personality.A self-analysis of your talking should show

you your talking style and the image it projects.

Word ChoiceChoose words in your listener’s vocabulary.Select those that appropriately convey the

morality and courtesy you intend and respect the listener’s knowledge.

AdaptationAdaptation is fitting the message to the

listener.It includes word selection, but here we refer

to the combined effect of words, voice, and style.

Courtesy in Talking• Good talkers are courteous. They don’t

attempt to dominate.•They are aggressive, but they treat others as they want to be treated.

CONDUCTING AND PARTICIPATING IN MEETINGSMeeting involve oral communication.These meeting range from extreme

formalities to extreme informality.In a meeting you will be either a leader or

a participant.

Techniques of Conducting Meetings

To lead some formal meetings, you should know generally accepted rules of conduct called parliamentary procedure.

Keep in mind that every meeting has goals and that such departures should never hinder you from reaching them.

Plan the MeetingDevelop and arrange an agenda by selecting

the items that need to be covered to achieve the goals of the meeting.

Follow the planFollow the plan item by item, new item may

tend to come up.Keep the discussion track. The new items

should be taken up at the end or postpone them to a future meeting.

Move the Discussion AlongThe agenda should be in control and

proceeded item by item.The goal is to permit complete discussion and

to avoid repetition, excessive details, and useless comments on the others.

Control Those Who Talk Too MuchA few people tends to dominate and talk too

much, your task is to control them as a leader.

Encourage Participation from

Those Who talk Too littleAs a leader your job is to encourage the

people who talk less and are at lower than those of other group members.

Control TimeYou should know that how much time will

be needed to cover each item, if time is limited.

Summarize at Appropriate

PlacesAfter an item is discussed it should be

summarize that what the group has covered and concluded.

Techniques for participating in a Meeting

As a participant in a meeting you should:

(1) Follow the agenda

(2) Participate

(3) Do Not Talk Too Much

(4) Cooperate

(5) Be Courteous

USING THE TELEPHONEMany business People are discourteous

and inefficient in telephone communication.

Need for favorable Voice Quality

Telephone conversation is a unique form of oral communication.

Because only sound is involved, friendly voices are important.

So one should talk as if you were in a face-to-face conversation.

Techniques of Courtesy Be courteous When calling, immediately introduce yourself and ask

for the person you want or explain your purpose. When receiving a call, identify your company or office;

then offer assistance. Assistants should avoid offending callers by asking

misleading questions, by making misleading comments.

Being inconsiderate in placing caller on bold. Let the callers choose, and check on te hold status continually.

Assistants often screen calls. They should do this courtesy and honestly.

Effective Telephone Procedures

When calling, state your purpose early. Then cover your points systematically. Plan important calls.

Be considerate, listen and do not dominate. Use time efficiently.

Courteous procedure is much the same in a telephone conversation as in a face-to-face conversation.

You listen when the other person is talking.

Effective Voice Mail TechniquesVoice mail is becoming common in business.Use it much as you would any other telephone

call.

Wireless Telephones and Their

Courteous UseWireless telephones are widely used But there

use can be annoying.You can reduce these annoyances by

following these suggestions.

DICTATING MESSAGES AND REPORTS

Dictation is an underutilized input method.

Today’s software make this process easy and inexpensive.

Techniques of Dictating(1) Gather the facts(2) Plan the Message(3) Make the words Flow(4) Speak Clearly(5) Give paragraphing, Punctuation, and

Other Instructions as Needed

(6) Play Back Intelligently

(7) Proofread for a Accuracy

Illustration

LISTENING Poor listening is a major cause of

miscommunication.

The Nature of Listening Listening involves sensing, filtering, and

remembering.

Sensing Our sense of sensing spoken words is

determined by: (1) Our ability to sense sounds (2) Our attentiveness

FilteringFiltering is the process of giving symbols

meaning through the unique contents of each person’s mind.

RememberingRemembering what we hear is a part of

listening.According to the authorities, we even

quickly forget most of the message in formal oral communication.

Improving Your Listening AbilityTo improve your listening, you must want to

improve it.Be alert. Force yourself to pay attention.Concentrate on improving your mental

filtering.Think from the speaker’s viewpoint.In addition, follow these practical guidelines: 1. Stop talking 2. Put the talker at ease 3. Show the talker you want to listen 4. Remove distraction

5. Empathize with the talker 6. Be patient 7. Hold your temper 8. Go easy on argument and criticism 9. Ask questions10. Stop talking

THE REINFORCING ROLE OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

•Nonverbal communication accounts for more of a total message than words do.•The nature of nonverbal communication and some types of it.

Nature of Nonverbal CommunicationNonverbal communication means all

communication without words. It is board and imprecise.

Cross-cultural aspects give many meanings to nonverbal communication.

Be sensitive to intended nonverbal meanings. Go beyond the obvious.

Realize that nonverbal symbols can have many meanings.

Types of Nonverbal Communication

We will look at the four common types of Nonverbal Communication:

(1) Body language

(2) Space

(3) Time

(4) Paralanguage

Body LanguageOur bodies send nonword message through

arms, fingers, expressions, posture, and so on.

The face and eyes are the most important.Gestures (physical movements) send

nonword messages.Physical appearance- clothing, hair, jewelry.

Cosmetics, and so on- also communicates.Remember that appearance is an important

part of the body message that are sent and received in oral communication.

SpaceSpace is another type of nonverbal

language.There are four further types of Space 1. Intimate 2. Personal 3.Social 4.PublicCommunication behavior differs in each.Communication behaviors are learned

from cultures.

TimeThere is also a time language.Time orientations are not always the same

especially in the cross-cultural arena but they do communicate.

Monochronic people tend to view time as linear and always moving ahead.

Polychronic people has more indefinite view of time.

ParalanguageParalanguage meaning “like language”.It is the closest to communication with word

symbols.You can change the meaning of spoken

sentences by accenting different words in each.

Paralanguage creates meanings because of speed, pitch, volume, and connection of words.

Degrees of consistency between what and how someone says something convey meaning.

Expectancies about background, appearance, and personality are part of paralanguage.

Other Types of Nonverbal Communication Two other nonverbal types exist, but they

are minor. One is color. Another is physical context-Office, carpeting,

decorations, and such.

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