LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Learn the nature of spoken communication
Know the primacy of oral communication in business transaction and personal interaction
Understand when to choose oral communication as against written communication
Know various barriers to oral communication
Learn key skills of oral communication
Know how to use skills of conversion control at meetings,oral presentation,negotiation to influence,motivate the listener(audience) by your ideas

Oral communication skills and effectiveness principles
What is oral communication?
Oral communication also know as verbal communication is the interchange of verbal messages between sender and receiver
Verbal communication is more immediate than written communication
Verbal communication is more natural and informa l

Oral Communication
The ability to speak /articulate single words and later on speak groups of words in meaningful sequence comes to us in due course of our growth as a child
We develop this ability to from listening to verbal sounds(words)
As compared to written communication our ability to communicate through the spoken word(speech)is an ability naturally developed(provided we are not deaf or dumb)

Oral Communication
Need for oral communication
A manager should be able to talk/speak/discuss/converse/argue or negotiate an issue
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Should be able to converse or discuss persuasively,effectively and convincingly
Manager needs oral communication skills that include abilities:-
To help problem solving
To resolve conflict
To influence people to work together
To persuade others to be involved in organisational goals without being aggressive
To develop listening skills
To be an effective negotiator
To make a proposal

Oral Communication
One has to know
-when to talk
-when not to talk but listen
-how to talk
-the tone,pitch and modulation
-to be able to interpret the listeners facial expressions,physical gestures and movements,attitude together with knowledge of his own body talk,(leakage) which consciously or unconsciously flows out to the listener
It does not matter what you say, what matters is how you say it

Oral Communication
Objective of Oral Communication
All business activities except telephoning involve face to face verbal communication/a telephone conversation is one one to one oral communication that requires control of tone, voice, pitch and precise use of words
Managers maximum time is devoted to oral communication manager is engaged in :meetings,discussion,negotiations,seminars,presentations,interviwes,peer conversation, subordinate instructions and telephonic conversation

Oral Communication
Choice of form of Communication
A manager ‘choice between oral and written communication is guided by considering the suitability of oral or written form for the purpose and nature of the subject of communication
Both written and oral forms have advantage and limitations

Comparative Advantages and limitations of oral and written communication
Oral Communication Written Communication
 More personal and informal
 Better for complex and difficult subjects facts and opinions
 Makes immediate impact  Better for keeping records of messages exchanged
 Provides opportunity for interaction and feedback
 Helps us to correct ourselves(Feedback/non verbal cues received)
 Provides opportunity to refer back
 Can be read at receiver’s convenience or pleasure
 Better for conveying feelings and emotions
 Can be revised before transmitting
 Can be circulated

Comparative Advantages and limitations of oral and written communication
Oral Communication
Limitations
 Demands ability to think coherently as you speak
 A word once uttered cannot be taken back
 Hard to control voice pitch and tone, especially under stress, excitement or anger
Very difficult to be conscious of our body language
Written Communication
 Never know if the message is ever read
 Impersonal and remote
 Immediate feeback is not available for correction on the spot
 Reader is not helped with non verbal cues that contribute the total message
 Many people do not like reading if business/official
 Time consuming

Oral Communication
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Principles of Successful Oral Communication
Oral Communication is indispensible in any group or business activity
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The purpose of effective talking is to be heard and understood by the listener
Our communication should have:
The rhythm and tone of a living voice-to achieve this quality use language that is free from long winding sentences cliches old fashioned words and phrases
The pitch of the voice should consider the distance between listener and speaker
The tone should be marked by the accent of sincerity and confidence

Oral Communication
The listener unlike the reader of a written communication can watch the act of verbalising the ideas and feelings of a speaker
The listerner is able to note the unconscious body language which may contradict the intent of the spoken words and is constantly affected by the tone of endearment, hostility, superiority, conceit, sincerity or insincerity
Speaker has to be very careful about his words and manner of speaking them
Albert Mehrabiam’s research reveals astonishing facts about how different factors contribute to speakers total message-
Verbal------7%
Tone of voice------38%
Visual -----------55%

Oral Communication
The nature of the spoken word:
Unlike the printed word (of the written message) the spoken word (in oral communication)is short lived
The listener cannot turn back to the spoken word as the reader can in case he misses its meaning while reading it
To overcome this the limitation the listener has to listen closely and attentively
The speaker should converse slowly with proper semantic pauses-so that the listener registers it in his mind
Research has established that speakers speak nearly 125 words a minute
Brain of the listener processes nearly 4-5 times more rapidly
If gap between the process of receiving and registering morecomprehension will be difficult/speak fluently

Oral Communication
What is Fluency?
Fluency usually means ease as a condition of speaking/But a fluent speaker is one who is heard with ease
The listener does not have to strain his mind to receive register and interpret the message heard
Listening is activated and helped when the speaker delivers his words as if they are moving in an ordered procession
Each word is distinctly heard and easily connected with other words to form the verbal structure of the message

Oral Communication
Characteristics of effective oral communication
According to Francis J Bergin oral communication is characterised by seven
Cs--------
1.CANDIDNESS-unbaised/frank/outspoken
2.CLARITY-(getting the meaning from your head into the head of the listener
/readers )
3.COMPLETENESS-Contains all the facts
4.CONCISENESS-say in the fewest possible words
5.CONCRETENESS-Being specific/definite and not vague
6.CORRECTNESS-message should not contain wrong information
7.COURTESY-Focus on you attitude instead of I attitude

Oral Communication
Characteristics of effective oral communication
In simple term the communicator should follow the following
 Consider the objective
 Think about the interest level of the receiver
 Be sincere
 Use simple language/familiar words
 Be brief and precise
 Avoid vagueness
 Give full facts
 Assume nothing
 Use polite words and tone
 Cut out insulting message
 Say something interesting and pleasing to the recipient
 Allow time to respond

Oral Communication
Characteristics of effective oral communication
Four S’s of Communication
1.SHORTNESS
2.SIMPLICITY
3.STRENGTH
4.SINCERITY

Oral Communication
Barriers to effective oral communication
Managers have to communicate individually with people at different levels – superiors/subordinates/peers/customers/public figures
The oral mode of communication is easy time saving and functionally helpful in resolving issues
Oral communication demands great control and communicative competence to be successful
Oral communication shares with written communication all barriers
The foremost barriers to oral communication is poor listening
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LISTENING: Listening is a psychological act affected by several factors such as-
Status
Halo effect(-when speaker is trusted-buyer trusts the seller and buys )
Complexes-lack of confidence or superiority
Closed and all knowing mind-know everything
Poor retention

Oral Communication
Contd of LISTENING
 Premature evaluation and hurried conclusions as distortions-prejudging
 Abstracting:-partial listening/selective on some aspects of the conversation)
 Slant-biased presentation of a matter by speaker instead of straight talk speaks in an oblique manner:-almost telling a lie
 Cognitive dissonance:-At times the listener fails to accept or respond to assumptions underlying the new information communicated (unprepared to change from old belief and knowledge)
 Language barrier:-The language of communication should be the medium shared by both speaker and listener
-In business English I widely used in all parts of the world(essential in a multilingual country like India- English a global medium)

Oral Communication
 The barriers that interfere with oral communication can be reduced or removed through skills of conversation control
What is Conversation Control?
 The art of conversation control consists on our ability to listen with concentration and reply well
 Conversation control involves skills of listening and talking in a positive and meaningful way at an appropriate time
 It includes:-
 Techniques of changing the direction of conversation smoothly
 The ability to allow a discussion to develop along key issues in an uninterrupted way towards the desired end
 Conversation control helps us carry on and conclude our conversation
(dialogue/discussion )effectively on a note of satisfaction as a result of mutual understanding and agreement

Oral Communication
In business the following situations require application of conversation control
Skills:-
 How to sell or buy
 How to negotiate
 How to interview
 How to participate in a meeting
 How to disagree without being rude
 How to protest without offending
 How to compliment/praise
 How to respond to personal criticism

Oral Communication
The following skills will help your oral communication:-
 Interacting with people in meetings in a convincing way
 Handling objections to a proposal made by you
 Being able to react to criticism in a confident manner
 Developing skills in interviewing
 Learning how to get correct information quickly

We have understood what is Oral and Aural communication
 Oral Communication : Paralinguistics
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Paralinguistics-Paralanguage or paralinguistics is used to the study of non verbal communication
Some call the study of body language-
-facial expressions
-eye movements
-gestures etc which add meaning to what is being said
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Paralanguage- refers to all vocally produced sound that is not direct form of linguistic(human voice communicates something beyond language)crying laughing groaning whining
Body language(Kinesics)
Spatial language(proxemics)

Communication
Verbal
Channel
Non verbal
Paralanguage
Oral Audio-visual Written Sign Language Body Lang
(Kinesics)
Spatial lang
(proxemics)
Language Paralinguistics
(Speech)
Linguistics signs
(Natural Language
For writing)
Visual signs Aural signs