OVERVIEW OF ORAL COMMUNICATION

09/27/2021
The South Korean film Parasite made history at the 2020 Oscars when it became the
first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. For his acceptance
speech, director Bong Joon Ho said, “Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles,
you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.”

Bong was trying to change the way people perceive foreign language films. And he did.
His words resonated not just with the South Korean audience, but with moviegoers worldwide.

Not every speaker leaves a lasting impression on their audience. But imagine if you
could always speak with impact in your professional setting.

Strong oral communication is one of the best skills you can have in the workplace. Not
only can you move, persuade and encourage others to think and act differently, your speaking
skills also help you stand out among your co-workers.

Let’s explore the importance of different types of oral communication you need to

become a competent professional.

WHAT IS ORAL COMMUNICATION?

Oral communication is communicating with spoken words. It’s a verbal form of

communication where you communicate your thoughts, present ideas and share
information. Examples of oral communication are conversations with friends, family or
colleagues, presentations and speeches.

Oral communication helps to build trust and reliability. The process of oral
communication is more effective than an email or a text message. For important and sensitive
conversations—such as salary negotiations and even conflict resolution, you can rely on oral
communication to get your point across, avoid misunderstandings and minimize confusion.

VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Verbal communication (using words in communication) is further divided into oral and
written communication.

Oral communication uses spoken words. Its advantage is that it is the most efficient way
to pass on a message (but not necessarily the quickest); its disadvantage is that it cannot be
edited and corrected. One more disadvantage if we talk about corporations is the lack of weight
and official commitment potential that it has compared with recorded written communication.
Written communication uses written words in the form of e-mails, signs, procedures, and so
forth. In business environments, it is the most common form of communication. Even more so,
oral communication is often transformed into a written form so as to be legitimate, such as
meeting minutes, formalization of tasks, and reports. Written communication can be directed
and general. Directed communication such as e-mails sent to a specific person or group has a
much greater impact than, for instance, general e-mails sent to the entire organization or
posters calling for, for example, security awareness. That does not mean that we will not use
posters or mass e-mails, but those will certainly not be our only methods of communicating but
rather reminders of messages that we have previously communicated directly. We also use
verbal communication both written and oral, in emergencies, to direct an evacuation, for
example.

IMPORTANCE OF ORAL COMMUNICATION

In a professional setting, effective oral communication is important because it is built on

transparency, understanding and trust. Your oral communication skills can boost morale,
encourage improved performance and promote teamwork.
Here are some benefits of oral communication:

 It saves time by letting you convey your message directly to the other person
and getting their response immediately.

 It’s the most secure form of communication for critical issues and important
information

 It helps to resolve conflicts with face-to-face communication

 It’s a more transparent form of communication as it lets you  gauge how others
react to your words

09/29/2021

TYPES OF ORAL COMMUNICATION

There are different examples of oral communication in a business setting. You need

several oral communication skills for career advancement. Let’s look at different types of oral
communication:

1. ELEVATOR PITCH
Imagine you meet the CEO of your organization in the elevator. Now, you have 30
seconds to introduce yourself before they get out on the next floor. This is your elevator
pitch. It’s a form of oral communication where you have to succinctly explain who you
are and what you want from the other person.
 2. FORMAL CONVERSATIONS
These are common at work because you have to constantly interact with your managers,
co-workers, and stakeholders such as clients and customers. Formal conversations are
crisp, direct, and condensed. You have to get your point across in a few words because
everyone has only limited time to spare.

3. INFORMAL CONVERSATIONS
These are conversations that you have with your team members or friends and family.
They are mostly without an agenda. You can talk about your day, what you’re going to
eat for lunch or discuss weekend plans. These are friendly conversations peppered with
light banter.

4. BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS
This is where you need to make the best use of your speaking skills. Public speaking is an
important skill to develop if you want to command a room full of people.

5. SPEECHES
Speeches are important in businesses like event management or community outreach. In
a corporate setup, speeches are reserved for top management and leaders.

Arming yourself with effective oral communication skills will boost your confidence,

prepare you for challenging tasks like meeting, and impressing clients.

Oral Communication in Context course is carefully designed to teach you how to improve
your communication skills. You’ll learn about both oral and nonverbal communication with
important frameworks like the Rule of Three and Aristotle’s Appeals of logic, credibility, and
emotion. Persuade your audience, deliver well-crafted ideas, and connect with others with
advanced speaking skills.

Modes of Oral Communication

Research studies have shown that 80% of communication by executives of a company is in the
oral form. The modes of Oral Communication include:
• Telephone/Cellular phone
• Messages
• Intercom
• Face-to-face discussion
• Meetings/Conferences
• Presentation
• Dictaphone/Dictation
• Conversation
• Radio
• Teleconferencing
• Speeches
• Brainstorming sessions
• Grapevine
• Interview

Advantages of Oral Communication

 Immediate Feedback - The biggest advantage of oral communication is that it provides

immediate feedback to both the sender and the receiver. Each can therefore ask for
clarification and elaboration on the spot.
The speaker can immediately understand the reaction of the audience or group, s/he is
addressing while the hearers get a number of clues about how their behavior is being
perceived by the speaker.

 Time Saving - Oral communication is very fast. It saves the time involved in writing the
message and delivering it through a channel like the postal or courier services.

 Economical - Oral communication saves the money spent on stationery and the channel
of communication.

 Personal Touch - Oral communication builds up a healthy climate in the organization by

bringing superiors and subordinates closer. It is also an effective tool for persuasion.

 Flexibility - Oral communication provides an opportunity to the speaker to correct

himself and make himself clear by changing his voice, pitch, tone, etc. A number of
other factors like context, body language, etc. can be used to reinforce and modify what
is spoken through the words.

 Secrecy - Oral messages can be more easily kept confidential than written messages. All
one has to do is to ensure that there is no one within the hearing or recording distance.

 Group Communication - Oral communication is extremely useful for communicating

with groups in meetings, conferences, etc. No classroom teaching would be possible
without oral communication.

 Effectiveness - Because oral communication involves the real or virtual presence of both

the parties, therefore, the message transfer is more effective and that helps in achieving
the goal of the communication more efficiently.

 Persuasive power - Persuasion is the process of guiding people toward the adoption of
an idea, attitude or action by rational means. It relies on “appeals” and convincing
arguments. We live in a world where persuasive oral messages are around us.
Disadvantages of Oral Communication

 Poor Retention - The listener cannot retain oral messages in his memory for a long time.
The speaker himself may not recall what he actually said.

 No Record - Oral communication does not provide any record for future reference. In
the absence of a record, oral messages have no legal validity.

 Time Consuming - Oral communication may not always be time saving. Precisely

because there is no binding medium like a page or a book, this form of communication is
virtually endless. Sometimes meetings continue for a long time without arriving at any
satisfactory conclusion.

 Misunderstanding - Oral communications are likely to be misunderstood due to poor

expression and noise. The speaker may not be able to make himself quite clear or the
listener may be inattentive. This is likely to be truer when the two individuals are not on
good terms with each other.

 Lengthy Messages - Oral communication is not suitable for transmitting lengthy

messages. Some parts of vital importance may not receive adequate attention.

 Lack of Responsibility - Oral messages are not recorded. Therefore, it becomes difficult
to hold persons responsible for mistakes, inaccuracy or falsity in oral communication.

 Imprecise - People usually take less care when speaking than when writing. Therefore,
spoken words tend to be less precise than written words. Often the exact point the
speaker is trying to make is lost in a mass of words.

How to Make Oral Communication Effective?

The following steps should be taken to make oral communication effective:

 Clarity - The speaker should pronounce his words “clearly” and “correctly”. He must talk
distinctly and slowly. When a person speaks fast or munches words the oral message is
likely to be misunderstood. The way a person speaks his dialogue exercises much
influence on the audience. Clarity of expression is the aim at all times.

 Brevity - Oral communications often suffer from too much of talking. When a speaker
keeps on talking for long, his message is lost in a sea of words and his listeners tend to
become inattentive. Therefore, the message must be kept as short as possible.
However, the speaker should not appear unclear, abrupt or discourteous.

 Precision - An oral message becomes more effective when it is precise and concise.
 Example: It is better to say ‘cut down costs by 100 instead of saying ‘reduce costs’. The
message should not be vague or incomplete. Words ought to mean clearly what they
are intended to say.

 Right words - The first caution is to ensure that you know the meaning of the words that
you use. Some words have more than one meaning while some others carry different
meanings for different persons. Be sure about what your words will convey to a trained
reader.

Example: City, town and metropolis are three different words and care should be
exercised before using them. You will find that the word ‘metro’ has at least three
different meanings in day-to-day usage. Find them out for yourself.

Therefore, words should be chosen carefully and their meaning clarified in the context
of usage. The speaker should not presume that the listener would mean the same thing
from a word, which s/he means.

 Avoid Hackneyed Phrases - Speakers often use hackneyed phrases and clichés like ‘you
know’, ‘I see’, ‘you see’, ‘what I mean’, ‘isn’t,’ etc.

Such phrases interrupt the flow of speech and obstruct the quick grasp of meaning
besides causing boredom. Speakers should ensure that they do not use these phrases
unconsciously or consciously.

Most of us use them as connectives, filling up a gap when we do not have the correct
word/phrase. Keeping them consciously out of your usage would mean that you will
have to remain silent for those gaps. But don’t worry. Once you stop using fillers like
those, appropriate words will come to you with a little effort at articulation.

 Understand the Listener - A good speaker must understand the listener before talking.
People vary in terms of their education, culture, intelligence level, maturity, etc.

 Natural Voice - The speaker should use his natural way of speaking. In order to look
sophisticated, some speakers use a foreign accent. This reduces the effectiveness of
communication.

 Logical Sequence - Before speaking, different ideas to be conveyed should be arranged

in a logical order. It helps to make the speech forceful.

 Conviction - A speaker must have conviction in what he says. Careful understanding, the
sincerity of speech, and intelligent planning are required to develop conviction in
speech.