Tenielle Guppy L:6:2 Communication Studies Verbal vs. Non-verbal communication When using verbal communication, choosing exactly the right words increase the chances of your listener understanding the message you want to send. A cause of misunderstanding during verbal communication is that new words are created and meanings of established words change with the generations. Interference can also contribute to miscommunication e.
g. foreign noises or unstable working conditions.Non-verbal communication can complement or contradict the spoken message. Non-verbal communication e.
g. facial expression, hand movements and body gestures show the sender’s true feeling and the receiver’s honest reaction through feedback. The communication process consists of the sender who presents a message to the listener (can be more than one person), a message which the sender conceptualizes, a medium through which the message is sent and the receiver. However, while the message is being sent, interference can occur due to a bad choice of medium.Non-verbal communication can effectively and successfully take place in a certain place and time.
However non-verbal vocal communication can work just as well if used in the right place e. g. at work for a presentation but if you were to use a power point presentation filled with words to explain something to a group of 5 year old, your audience may be lost. A combination o both verbal and non-verbal communication is a good strategy for effectively conveying your message.Smiling, laughing and using a friendly tone of voice while saying, “That is so funny” lets your listener know that you really do think the situation is funny.
However, making the same statement while using an unfriendly tone of voice accompanied by no smile clearly lets your listener know that your do not, in fact, find this situation humorous and that you are probably being sarcastic (sarcasm is also one of the generation’s changes in speech which has become like a second language).Pointing a finger in the direction you are describing is also an example of combining the verbal with the non-verbal for successful communication. We have therefore concluded that there are certain places, times and audiences where verbal and non-verbal communication can be used alone but when you can, one should incorporate both verbal communication-which says what you really mean and non-verbal communication-which says how you honestly feel, for successful communication.
