Verbal communication is communication with words, speech, the process of exchanging information and emotional interaction between people or groups using speech means. Verbal communication, in which the main thing is conveyed by speech, is distinguished from non-verbal communication, where influence occurs through intonation and a change in facial expression, through gestures, changes in posture, distance in communication and other non-verbal means.
It is widely believed that verbal communication is much inferior in importance to non-verbal communication, that the main body of information between people is transmitted through intonations, facial expressions, postures and gestures — but this is not entirely true. This is quite true for interpersonal and affiliative communication, when people get to know each other and quarrel, when they share their feelings and express them, when they have fun in communication, when they arrange chatter in communication. But in business communication, the situation is changing, and if the order of the head is primarily content, and not intonation, this is WHAT is said, and not HOW.
The most important requirement for verbal communication is the clarity of content, the presentation of thoughts in such a way that you can be understood. It must be admitted that this is not always easy: few people know how to express their thoughts clearly and clearly, immediately formulating the main thing that he (or she) wants to say. And at the same time, when one person speaks vaguely, the other (in the usual way) listens to him inattentively, distracted, thinking about his own or understanding him through the prism of his emotions and prejudices …
In such a situation, sometimes you just have to be surprised that people still somehow understand each other.
What should we learn to improve our verbal communication?
Let’s just list these skills, abilities and techniques that make us so happy in skilled communicators:
- Ability to speak in theses, clearly formulating the main idea; the art of speaking clearly and persuasively.
- The ability to listen carefully, supporting the interlocutor and hearing what he says, without being distracted by his own. A good criterion is the ability to verbatim repeat what the interlocutor has just said. Are you getting it?
- The ability to hear, the ability to understand what is said. Sometimes the interlocutor speaks confusingly, starting from the end, sideways and being distracted by the superfluous and missing the important, and it is difficult to understand him. In this situation, you have to do most of the intellectual work for him, put things in order in what he says, look for the main thing and help the interlocutor understand his own thoughts.
- An excellent skill is an internal translator, the ability to translate the words of the interlocutor in the direction we need. Most often, a positive translator helps, the ability to understand the best intentions of the interlocutor.
- And we also love interesting interlocutors, and sometimes it is important for us to be interesting ourselves. How to learn it?