3.4: Improving Verbal Communication

The words we use and the grammatical structure of how we use those words can impact our communication success in school, work, and our personal lives. Here are some tips to help you improve your verbal skills.

Choose Words Appropriate for Your Audience and the Communication Context

Your word choice should be determined by the audience you are communicating with and the communication context. Choose words that will have meaning to your listeners and that are appropriate for the situation. For example, using profanity in a classroom discussion might be understood by your listeners, but would be inappropriate for the setting. Using “textspeak” on a class discussion board or an email to your instructor would be inadvisable because textspeak is too informal. Be aware that many words may have both denotative and connotative meanings, and that you need to choose and use words consciously and strategically. Always avoid biased language, which is inappropriate for all contexts.

Define Unfamiliar Terms

Even when you are careful to craft your message clearly and concisely, some of your receivers may not understand every word you say or write. As a conscientious communicator, you know it is your responsibility to give listeners every advantage in understanding your meaning. Yet your presentation would fall flat if you tried to define each and every term—you would end up sounding like a dictionary! The solution is to be aware of any words you are using that may not be familiar to your receiver, and provide clues to meaning in the process of making and supporting your points. Give examples to illustrate each concept. Use parallels from everyday life. Rephrase unfamiliar terms in different words.

Choose Specific, Concrete Words

Think back to the ladder of abstraction discussed earlier in the chapter, and choose specific, concrete words that paint as vivid and accurate a mental picture as possible for your listeners. If you use language that is vague or abstract, your meaning may be lost or misinterpreted. Your paper or presentation will also be less dynamic and interesting than it could be.

• Abstract:  Clumber spaniels are big dogs.
• Concrete: The Clumber Spaniel Club of America describes the breed as a “long, low, substantial dog,” standing 17 to 20 inches high and weighing 55 to 80 pounds.

• Abstract:  It is important to eat a healthy diet during pregnancy.
• Concrete: Eating a diet rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean meats, low-fat dairy products can improve your health during pregnancy and boost your chances of having a healthy baby.

Check for Understanding

Check to see that your message is understood. If you are giving a speech or are engaged in conversation, one way to do this is to stay alert to nonverbal feedback. If your listeners are frowning or otherwise indicating confusion, it is important to check for understanding. Even if listeners are smiling and nodding at you when you talk, this does not necessarily mean that they comprehend. Let’s say you are training a new employee for an important job responsibility. Even though the employee might be nodding and smiling, it is still a good idea to ask questions to evaluate understanding. But instead of asking a question like “Did you understand everything?” it would be more beneficial to say, “Let’s go back through this so I can make sure I explained this clearly. What did you understand me to say?”