Oral Communication

By V P Bhagat

Oral Communication
Communication as a process of exchange of thoughts and ideas, puts demands on speaker for attaining effectiveness. This is true for oral as well as written communication, both of which are expected to be purposeful and create an impact on the listener. Oral communication is as challenging as written communication. What makes written communication different from oral communication is that it is permanent and forms a part of documentation that can be referred to as and when required. Both the forms of communication depend on the basic fulfillment of the factors concerning the sender, i.e. the process of encoding, the message, the channel, the receiver, the decoding and the feedback.

Effective Oral Communication

Speakers roles of successful and effective communication: Contents One must make sure that all the information required has been gathered and have been planned what one is going to speak in the capacity of a speaker. Audience - The more the speaker knows about the people to whom he will be speaking, the more likely he will be able to tailor his communication to meet the needs. The speakers communication should be firmly directed to what his audience wishes to know and not just what he wants to tell them. Adaptation The speaker must adapt his communication according to the size of his audience. The smaller the audience, the more flexible he should be. Clarifications When in doubt, the communicator must ask before the presentation, if he is unsure what to include and how long to make it. One should not assume or take chance.

Factors that Matter in Oral Communication

1. 2.

3.
4. 5.

6.
7.

Projection Articulation Modulation Pronunciation Enunciation Repetition Speed

1. Projection

An effective voice is not only clear but as loud as the occasion and the listeners demand. When you make a presentation to a group, ensure that you are heard even at the end of the room. But in small group communications, it is necessary to adjust to the level of the volume required. A loud voice can be misunderstood as anger or rudeness, and it can be a major point for misunderstanding in a multicultural environment.

2. Articulation
It means speaking all the parts of a word carefully. Incorrect articulation occurs because of carelessness on the part of the speakers. It involves: Deletion Is leaving off parts of a word. It is the most common mistake that occurs in articulation. Youngsters are heard uttering words like going as goin, making as makein, doing as doin. This type of deletion occurs with the ing words. Words ending with th also are a problem with careless speakers. Words like with, myth, birth, mirth and similar ones are spoken as wit, myt, birt and so on. Not only the end of words, but also the beginning of some words, is carelessly spoken. For example, that, this, there, those, are spoken as dat, dis, dare, dose. Addition Implies that extra parts are added to words like ath-a-lete for athlete. Incentive becomes incentative, oriented becomes orientated. Words that are needlessly added are to the beginning or end of words are you know, like, right?, you see?, etc. can be maddening. Slurring - Is caused when speaker, in hurry, speaks two or more words at once. Thus expressions like sort of become sorta, kind of become kinda. In the American style of speaking, one often hears wana for want of and that is the way as thatsway Many speaker use verbal tics such as eths, ums, errs, to buy time to think and then speak.

3. Modulation
Modulation means the rise and fall in pitch and this pattern of speaking makes the voice pleasant interesting. If you do not vary the pitch, you will risk being labeled as monotonous speaker. Listener like a controlled pitch

4.Pronunciation
Pronunciation basically deals with the stress, non stress of consonants and vowels and opening. and closing of the mouth. Some of the prominent mispronounced words as spoken: Snack is pronounced as snake and many more words such as Hall, Law, Wrapping, School, And love etc. Similarly Speakers at conferences pronounce the words as given below: Culture is pronounced as kol-ture- half closed vowel First as fairst - the front vowel is stretched long Suggestions as so-gesstions half round vowel Mechanism as me- ka- nism, alternative as el-ternative and many other words like corporate, research, automobile etc Some other words pronounced wrongly such as atha-lete for athlete, natcherly for naturally, etc..

5.Enunciation
Enunciation Means the care and precision with which you use your tongue jaw to produce clear speech sounds. While consonants provide sharpness/ crispness to sounds, vowels add melody and richness.

6.Repetition
The

Key phrases are used with different vocal emphasis for creating an impact on the listeners. By repeating you help the person to assimilate the thoughts well.

7.Speed

The rate and timing of the words when you are actually speaking is called speed. It is important to bear in mind that we do not speak words in sentences at a stretch. While commas are used in written communication, we use pauses to punctuate our thoughts. If we try to speak very fast, we tend to slur and this amounts to loss of information. Poor speakers inadvertently amuse people with incorrect pronunciation. Once you master the art of speaking clearly correctly, speaking then becomes an enjoyable experience.