Unit 2: Oral Communication

• Meaning
• Principles of successful oral communication
• Barriers to communication
• Conversation control
• Reflection and Empathy: two sides of effective
• oral communication
• Modes of Oral Communication
• Listening as a Communication Skill
• Non-verbal communication
 WHY WE NEED GOOD ORAL
COMMUNICATION SKILLS?
• Possessing good oral speaking skills will make you a
more effective communicator as you will be able to
influence people.

• This is beneficial for you at a personal level as well as

socially and professionally. i.e.
• Building Friendships
• Knowledge Acquisition
• Developing Workplace Competencies
 When Oral Communication is Preferred?
• Following are the circumstances where oral communication is more
effective-
• Immediate Communication
• Immediate Response
• Oral Explanation
• Maintaining Secrecy
• Develops Direct Relation between sender and receiver
• Illiterate Communicators
• Face-to-Face Communication
• Time Saving
• Reaching to Large Audience
 Meaning
• Oral communication describes any type of interaction that
makes use of spoken words.

• It implies communication through mouth

• It includes individuals conversing with each other, be it

direct conversation or telephonic conversation.

• Speeches, presentations, discussions are all forms of oral

communication.

• Face to face communication (meetings, lectures,

conferences, interviews, etc.) is significant so as to build a
rapport and trust.
 Definition
• According to Griffin, “oral communication takes place
in face-to-face conversation. Group discussion,
telephone calls and other circumstances in which
spoken world is used to express meaning.”

• According to Bovee and Others, “Oral communication

is the expression of ideas through spoken words.”

• S. K. Kapur says, “Oral Communication takes place

when spoken words are used to transfer information
and understanding from one person to another.”
 Principles of successful oral communication
• Well-Planned
proper planning regarding the audience, topics to be delivered, timing and other
factors
• Clear pronunciation
To make oral messages meaningful to receivers, words should be clearly and
correctly pronounced.
• briefness
Effective oral communication desires that a message should be brief. If the sender
take a long time for talking, his message may not get the attention of the receiver.
• Precision (accuracy)
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.
• 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
A speaker should be courteous while addressing listeners. It helps create a good impression in the
mind of listeners regarding the speaker.

• Attractive presentation
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 (weightage)
The speaker must be knowledgeable regarding the portion of the speech where he should give
emphasis. Giving emphasis on respective points will help draw the attention of the audience.

• Controlling Gesticulation (sign)

Speaker at many occasions, consciously or unconsciously, gesticulates for expressing his ideas or
thoughts.
• Eye contact
 Barriers to communication
• It is an obstacle in a place that prevents us
from completing certain tasks.

• Communication barriers can be defined as the

aspects or conditions that interfere with
effective exchange of ideas or thoughts.
 Barriers to communication
• Semantic Barriers
• Organizational Barriers
• Interpersonal Barriers
• Individual Barriers
• Cross-cultural Barriers
• Physical Barriers
• Technological Barriers
 Semantic barriers Organizational Barriers
•Orgn. Culture and climate
•Words
•Rules and regulations
•Badly expressed message
•Status relationship
•Wrong interpretation •Complexity in organizational
•Technical language structure
•Picture/symbols •Inadequate facilities
•Lack of cooperation
Physical Barriers Individual Barriers
•Noise •Style
•Environment •Perception
•Defects in medium •Halo effect
•Status relationship
•Poor attention &
Retention
Cross- cultural /Geographic •Inattention
Barriers •Defensiveness
•Personality
•closed mind
•Language •State of health
•Values and norms
•Social relationship
•Filtering
•Non verbal communication
Technological Barriers
•Filtering
•Meta communication
•Noise
Inter-personal Barriers
Barriers from Superiors
•Little time for employees
•Lack of trust
•Wish to capture authority
•Fear of losing power of
control
•Bypassing
•Information overload
Barriers from subordinates
Lack of proper channel
No interest to communicate
Lack of co-operation
Lack of trust
Poor relationship
Fear of penalty
 MERITS OF ORAL COMMUNICATION
• Saves time
• More forceful
• Shades of meaning are conveyed
• Immediate feedback
• Immediate clarification
• Promotes informal communication
• More effective with groups
• Better for conveying feelings & emotions
LIMITATIONS OF ORAL COMMUNICATION

• Distance is a hurdle
• Unsuitable for lengthy messages
• Message cannot be retained for long
• Word once uttered cannot be taken back
• Hard to control voice pitch & tone
• Demands thinking coherently as one speaks
• May lead to misunderstandings
Types/ Modes of Oral Communication

• Face To Face
• Video Conferencing
• Telephone
• Active-Passive Communication
• Interviews
• Group Discussion
• Presentations
• Grapevine