Etiquets

Continuing with the series of etiquettes in communication, about what we need to keep in mind while communicating verbally.

Oral communication can be plagued by many barriers, though it constitutes a very common form of communication.

These can include the tone, pitch, accent and pace and more importantly the lack of a reference point, which the audience can go back to at a later point (unless of course the conversation has been recorded).

Though completely ironing out the barriers may not always be possible, a little bit of care and courtesy can go a long way in facilitating the process.

One can reduce the issues that affect oral communication by being aware of and working on the following areas:

The content and vocabulary used need to be tempered to suit the target audience. While a simple vocabulary may become simplistic for an audience well versed with the subject, vocabulary loaded with jargon (extremely technical vocabulary) can well serve to alienate the average receiver. It is therefore important to choose vocabulary as per the large section of the audience that one is covering.

Moreover, one needs to also be careful not to alienate audience of a particular gender, age group or community.

For example, if the reference is constantly to 'he', the women in the audience may get alienated.

Image: Be aware of who you are speaking with else you will lose their interest

Very often while delivering a speech/interacting with others face to face or through a medium, one tends to take many things for granted. This leads to gaps in communication, which becomes difficult for the listener(s) to bridge.

So too, if one's ideas are not logically ordered and if one moves back and forth in the content,  one may put off the listener, make him/her lose out on important aspects or make the person lose a sense of connectivity.

Image: Make sure your content is well-structured to avoid questioning looks from the audience

The content as well as the pace,...