Principles of Effective Oral Communication

Methods of Communication

Oral
1)Presentation
2)Audience
Awareness
3)Critical
Listening.

Written
1)Academic
Writing
2)Revision and
Editing
3)Presentation
of data
4) Reports

Non-Vebal
1)Personal
Presentation
2) Body
Language.

What is Oral Communication ?

Oral communication is a process whereby information is transferred from a sender to receiver
usually by a verbal means which can be supported by visual aid.
For e.g. Discussions, speeches, conversations, announcements, communication through
Television and Radio etc.

Definition of Terms

Oral communication: It is the conveyance of ideas and information in forms that can be

listened to or spoken.
Verbal Oral Communication: It is the conveyance of ideas and information in forms that
can be listened to or spoken using words.

Non Verbal Oral Communication: It is the conveyance of ideas and information in forms

that can be listened to or spoken using no words.

Examples of Non-verbal Oral Messages
Intonations
Grunts
Sighs
Pitch
Volume
Silence

Means of Oral Communication

Face to face talking
Meetings
Conference calls
Phone calls
Presentations
Video or audio recordings
Radio or TV
Internet
Other forms of oral communication

Essence of Oral Communication

When to talk, when not to talk, but LISTEN.
For e.g., In Group Discussions, Certain Etiquettes have to be followed. They are :1.Dont call your fellow colleagues by their names

2. Dont try to outwit others by showing your supremacy

3. Avoid personal comments

GD ETIQUETTES

4. Avoid pin pointing fingers at others

5. Always be calm and composed and appreciate the viewpoints of others.

6. Carry a pen/pencil and a notebook with you.

7. Dont scream or shout. Its not a debate competition. You should focus on modulating
your voice to emphasize your points. But avoid shouting.
8. Dont disrupt people much when they are speaking. You can do so when someone has
deviated from the topic or has given some wrong or contradictory views.

How to talk (Tone, Pitch, and Modulation).

Tone :- It Refers to the sound of distinct pitch, quality, and duration a note and
The particular or relative pitch of a word, phrase, or sentence.
ABOUT 38 % OF ORAL COMMUNICATION IS
MADE EFFECTIVE THROUGH VOCAL AIDS

Tone is essential for effective Oral Communication because it reflects confidence, Strength,
and Assurance.
Pitch:- Use of Pitch in an effective way convinces the audience to believe in what you
communicate.
Modulation:- Modulation is when you control or adjust something, like when you lower your
voice to a loud whisper in order to make what you're saying more dramatic and mysterious.
It is very essential because certain contents need to conveyed sympathetically or
empathetically to achieve effectiveness. Voice Modulation is a sign of the communicators
maturity.

Attitude

A settled way of thinking or feeling about something is known as attitude.

A QUOTE ON
ATTITUDE
BY JOHN C.
MAXWELL

To Quote People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude John C. Maxwell
1) Attitude is an important and integral part of communication because Effective
Communication in one-on-one encounters, meetings, on the phone, via e-mail and text,
and anywhere else starts with the right attitudes.
Attitude of a person is judged on the basis of the following criteria:

Tone:- Tone of voice, whether in written or oral messages, conveys your attitude toward
the person receiving the message. For e.g., The tone used with young employee is not
likely to be appropriate for an important prospective client.
Audience :- In a single day, a manager might communicate many times with many
people. Attitude and Tone must be adapted to the target audience. The tone must be
adapted to the Listener Primarily. In crafting the message the, the primary audiences
attitude towards the subject matter should be considered.
Goodwill :- Creating goodwill enhances the image of the Communicator . the
communicator s attitude during interactions can promote goodwill or erode it. You can
evince an attitude of goodwill by considering the concerns of the message receiver,
focusing on what the receiver wants to know and protecting the receivers ego. This is
called you-attitude approach. So to focus on the receiver, I should be eliminated. For
instance, saying, Your order shipped Monday is better than I shipped your order
Monday."
Context:- Context can change the perceived attitude of a message in dramatic ways. In
business, Power dynamics must be considered when crafting a message. Communicating
with a superior requires increased politeness and formality than you would use with peers.
Use courtesy titles Ms. and Mr. and last names. Conveying a respectful attitude
across cultures may require research, as standards of politeness differ.

Therefore considering the above points, it can be concluded that attitude plays
an important role in Oral Communication.

Types of Oral Communication

The Different Types of Oral Communication are :-

Face to face.
Video Conferencing.
Telephone.
Active-Passive Communication.
Interviews.
Group Discussions.
Presentations.
Grapevine.

Description of terms

Face to face :- Face to Face Communication may be defined as communication when the
communicator transmits his message in person to the receiver in person verbally and even
non-verbally. Thus face to face communication is both verbal and non-verbal. All
face communication is oral, but all oral communication need not to be face to face For
E.g. the telephonic talk is oral but not face to face.
Video Conferencing :- Video Conferencing is the conduct of a video tele conference by a
set of telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to
communicate by simultaneous two way video and audio transmissions.
Telephone:- It is a telephone meeting among two or more participants involving a simple
two-way phone connection. It permits conversations to be carried on between people
separated by almost any distance. STD (Subscriber trunk dialling), ISD (International
Subscriber dialling) are popular terms in this type of oral communication.
Active-Passive Communication :- Active Communication is communication over a
channel that demands high attention and response. A channel that is highly active will get
the attention of a receiver and strongly compel that receiver to reply. Active
communication, thus, tends to be more immediate, more synchronous, and overall, more
likely to foster communicative exchange. These facets are present in channels like faceto-face communication or the telephone and less present in channels like email and text
messaging. Passive communication, on the other end of the spectrum, has both low
attention- and response-demand. Communication over this channel does not signal the
receiver to its existence nor require any response from the receiver.
Interviews :- formal discussion between a hirer and an applicant or candidate, typically in
person, in which information is exchanged, with the intention of establishing the
applicants suitability for a position. The interviewee is asked questions either directly or
indirectly to measure their knowledge, skills and patience. The different types of
interviews are telephone interview, Face to Face interview, Panel interview, Group
interview, Competency Based Interview etc.,
Group Discussions :- A discussion group is a group of individuals with similar interest
who gather either formally or informally to bring up ideas, solve problems or give
comments. The major approaches are in person, via conference call or website. For
etiquettes of a group discussion , please refer Page 2.
Presentations :- The oral presentation means delivering an address to a public audience. It
also refers to public speaking and/or speech-making. It is a brief discussion of a defined
topic delivered to a public audience in order to impart knowledge or to stimulate
discussion. Every oral presentation contains an introduction, main body and conclusion.
Though it is a formal speech in nature or vocal performance to an audience, it may
occasionally require adequate planning and thorough preparation in using one's voice,
body language and visual aids such as slideshows to present and illustrate the points more
effectively and to achieve the desired results.
Grapevine :- To hear something through the grapevine is to learn of something
informally and unofficially by means of gossip and rumour. The usual implication is that
the information was passed person to person by word of mouth, perhaps in a confidential

manner among friends or colleagues. It is used to overcome the psychological barriers to

effective communication, Both Written and oral.

Principles of Effective Oral Communication

There are many Barriers to effective oral communication like Badly Expressed messages,
words with different meanings, Faulty Translation, unclarified assumptions, technical Jargon,
Body Language and gesture Decoding etc.,. To overcome these barriers and to achieve
effectiveness, the principles of effective oral communication are followed. They are as
Follows :

Well Planned :- Before presenting something, there should be proper planning regarding
the audience, topics to be delivered, timing and other factors: So, a person must be wellprepared to deliver his speech.
Clear Pronunciation :- To make oral messages meaningful to receivers, words should
be clearly and correctly pronounced. There should not be any lack of clarity,
otherwise the communication would be confusing one.
Brevity:- Effective oral communication desires that a message should be brief. If the
sender took a long time for talking, his message may not get attention of the receiver.
Precision :- Precision is needed to make oral communication effective. There should not
be any confusing words rather message to be delivered should be specific so that there is
no misunderstanding.
Natural Voice :- Any sort of unnatural voice may distort the message. Natural voice can
do a lot to make oral communication effective.
Logical Sequence :- Ideas should be organized in a sequential way to make the message
communicative and attractive. Unorganized ideas do not provide clear sense while logical
sequence of ideas gives clear sense.
Suitable words :- Words have different meanings to different people in different situations
in oral communication, a speaker should use the common, simple and familiar words so
that receiver can react to the message without any problem.
Courteous :- Courtesy costs nothing but can earn many things. So, a speaker should be
courteous while addressing listeners. It helps create good impression in the mind of
listeners regarding the speaker.
Attractive Presentation :- It is another principle to make oral communication effective. A
speaker should deliver his speech in a very nice and sweet language so that receiver is
attracted to take part in the communication.
Avoiding Emotions :- Speaker must control his emotions to make oral communication
effective. Too much emotion will take the speaker away from the main subject.
Emphasis:- The speaker must be knowledgeable regarding the portion of speech where he
should give emphasis. Giving emphasis on respective points will help draw attention of
the audience.

Controlling Gesticulation :- Speaker at many occasions, consciously or unconsciously,

gesticulates for expressing his ideas or thoughts. This is a habit and should be avoided.
Otherwise, application of such habit may lead to 100% disinterest of the audience.

Conclusion
Therefore it can be concluded that effective oral communication is an
indispensable part of our daily life and the corporate world. And effectiveness
can be achieved through the application of the principles of effective oral
communication.

Nandan.M