Verbal Communication is referred to as a mode of communication that involves the help of words which eases your way through the process of conveying your ideas, thoughts, feelings and the objective to a another person in a clear, precise, brief and a straight forward manner. Verbal Communication can be done in forms of speaking or listening that is oral communication and writing the text or reading the text. Examples of verbal communication include: orally conveyed speeches, debates, orders and many more comes under the category of verbal communication (oral) and written exams, interviews, printed articles, written orders, text messages all are categorized under written form of verbal communication as all of them uses words as a medium of conveying and exchanging ideas. Advantages of Verbal Communication Verbal Communication done in forms of words and content can be of a great advantage as it helps to convey your thoughts to a different person and enables you to express whatever you feel like in a way that you want it to be. Communication is the key to survival and at some point in our lives we all need to have healthy and accurate conversation with someone. Some advantages of verbal communication are just mentioned below: Quick feedback, Feedback is very necessary in any form of communication and it completes the conversation as the receiver is able to clarify doubts if any at the same time without any delay. Clear and precise message is been delivered to the receiver and there is no discrepancy in the delivered message, therefore no difficulties which is possible in this mode of communication only as it the most convenient form of conveying. Legality of the content, the information conveyed can be saved for future use if conveyed using verbal communication as the information will be communicated in the form of written method. Thus we can have a record of all the important information of the done conversation in case if ever needed in forms of evidence which can be very useful and productive. However this is not the case with oral or non-verbal communication. Quick exchange of ideas, verbal Communication helps you to convey your ideas and thoughts really quick and saves time. There is no back and forth conversation about the information and the ideas exchanged can be precise and to the point where the sender and receiver both can exchange ideas mutually and can understand each other as it is done in a quite simple and basic language and can make changes in the content conveyed. Therefore, it makes the conversations real short with no loss of real ideas and information and obviously saves a lot of time. Effective persuasion, Use of words is quite useful in the marketing business where you need to persuade the customer about the product and its durability. Verbal Communication helps you achieve this motive as written and oral forms of communication helps in persuasion a little more effectively in comparison with the non-verbal communication. It is more convenient and makes the information look more powerful thus benefitting the business. Fastest and most effective, this kind of communication is the fastest mode of communication where the message conveyed is received by the receiver in no time without any delay and on the spot. The receiver can comprehend the message and can reply quickly as well which makes the conversation more effective with no chaos and loss of information and this can be reliable as well. Disadvantages of Verbal Communication There are pros and cons to everything that is present in the nature and so does this mode of communication has. Due to some barriers and difficulties, sometimes the message conveyed isn’t the same as the sender intended it to send which makes it problematic in the future at some time or the other and can end up doing the wrong task. Some of the disadvantages that occur in this form of communication are mentioned below: Language barrier, the biggest disadvantage of verbal communication is the language barrier where the receiver is unable to understand the language a sender uses or sometimes even a different dialect or speech tone of a person makes it difficult to have a clear conversation between 2 people thus leading to zero or minimal exchange of ideas. In this case, verbal communication becomes really difficult and we have to use some other kind of technology or maybe a moderator to help translate the language in order to make it understandable and easy in comprehending. Inconvenient for long messages, this verbal communication HAS a lot of inconvenient for long messages as the actual information gets lost in the middle of the whole long text and becomes difficult to memorize in case of a series of tasks assigned. This way the most ineffective conversation takes place. However the written form of communication can be used for long messages but it always gets lethargic and boring to write long texts. No rectification, there is no procedure for rectification of the words spoken or written during a conversation. Words once blurted out can’t be taken back and can hurt the receiver’s sentiments too at time which can ruin the whole point of a conversation and exchange of the idea. Also it takes a lot of time to fix the errors made during typing thus adding on to waste of time and the gap in the conversation making the communication boring and ineffective. Thus it is very necessary to convey the information using the right language and words with 0 errors from the beginning itself. Distortion of the actual message, due to any reason like noise, network problems or language barriers or by a chain of command, sometimes the actual message gets distorted in the time being it reaches the receiver. It is possible that the receiver comprehends the message wrong if the information isn’t too clear and expressed in easy language which can cause a major trouble. Like if a series of instructions is been given and the receiver intends the wrong interpretation, it can lead to a whole different set of task as to what is expected. Therefore, the message conveyed should always be in easy and clear words. Chances of leak of secret information, there are chances of leak of information to a wrong or unintended person if the information is all stored in form of texts or written form. It can be wrongly procured by a con man and can be used for wrongful purposes which can be risky. Even the information obtained orally can be leaked and incurred if the person is under influence of alcohol. Uses of lie detector or polygraph can be used too which can be of disadvantage in case of verbal communication. Non-verbal communication occurs without using any oral or written word. Instead or oral words, it relies on various non-verbal cues like physical movements, tasks, colors, signs, symbols, signals charts, and others to express feelings, attitudes or information. Although no word is used in non-verbal communication, it can effectively communicate many human feelings more accurately than verbal methods of communication. Common types of nonverbal communication are; eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, posture and body orientation, body language, touch, para-linguistic, silence. Advantages of non-verbal communication Well Expression of the Speaker’s Attitude, Various non-verbal cues of the speaker like physical movements, facial expression, a way of expression, etc. play an important role in expressing the inner meaning of the messages in face-to-face conversation and interview. For example, the facial expression of the speaker indicates his attitude and determination depth of knowledge. Communicating Common Message to All People, in some cases, non-verbal cues can effectively express many true messages more accurately than those of any other method of communication. For example; the use of red, yellow and green lights and the use of various signs in controlling vehicles on the roads. Communicating with the Handicapped People, Non- verbal cues of communication greatly help in communicating with the handicapped people. For example; the language of communication with the deaf depends on the movements of the hands, fingers, and eyeballs. Conveying Message to the Illiterate People, Communication with illiterate people through written media is impossible. There may also be some situations that do not allow the use of oral media to communicate with them. In such situations, non-verbal methods like pictures, colors, graphs, signs, and symbols are used as the media of communication. For example; to indicate danger we use red sign and to mean dangerous we use a skull placed between two pieces of bone put in a crosswise fashion. Quick Expression of Message, Non-verbal cues like sign and symbol can also communicate some messages very quickly than written or oral media. For example; when drivers of a running vehicle are to be communicated that the road ahead is narrow or there is a turn in the road ahead, we generally use signs or symbols rather than using any written or oral message. Presenting Information Precisely, Sometimes quantitative information on any issue may require a lengthy written message. But this quantitative information can be presented easily and precisely through tables, graphs, charts, etc. Disadvantages of non-verbal communication Lack of formality, non-verbal communication is not formal and well-structured as like as written and oral communication. Most of the cases, people instinctively and usually engaged in non-verbal communication by moving the various parts of the body. So it cannot be used in any formal situation. Expressing contradiction with the verbal statement, though non-verbal cues help in expressing the meaning of verbal messages more accurately, they may express contradictory meaning with verbal statement. Nonverbal messages can be quite inaccurate because there is no use of verbal words so it becomes very difficult how the other perceives. Ambiguity, when the sender uses the ambiguous or unfamiliar non-verbal cues, the receiver may fail to understand the meaning of the message. Difficult to understand and requires a lot of repetitions in non-verbal communication. As a result, communications between them may also fail. Culture boundless, the use of non-verbal cues is generally culture-bound. Therefore, non-verbal cues of one culture cannot be used in another culture. Although some cues remain the same across cultures, their meaning differs significantly. The difference in a message can lead to negativity and offensive. Lack of explanation of message, although non-verbal cues can convey a message like verbal communication, it cannot carry any explanation of the message to the receiver. Few people do not desire to use nonverbal skills. They think it may be unprofessional, unimpressive and less influential. The problem relating to preserving information, non-verbal communication occurs through various body movements, symbols, signs, colors, sounds, etc. Since it uses gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, touch, sign, sound, paralanguage, etc. for communicating with others, there is a great chance in deformation of information in non-verbal communication. As a result, such information cannot be preserved for use in the future. Despite all the above said advantages and disadvantages, verbal form of communication is far better than non-verbal form where there is literally minimal clarity of ideas, takes huge amount of time and energy, language barrier obviously, uncertainty in the delivered message and many more.
