Lecture notes on business communication. Учебное пособие

41

LECTURE 3. VERBAL & NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1.Identify and describe the principles of verbal communication.

2.Explain how the rules of syntax, semantics and context influence language.

3.Describe how language serves to shape our experience of reality.

4.Demonstrate nonverbal communication and state its role in communication process.

5.Explain the principles of nonverbal communication.

3.1. Principles of verbal communication

Verbal communication is the process which includes words, use of sounds and language to convey a message. In this type of communication, information is shared among two or more persons using speech and language. It is vital to the processes of learning and teaching as it makes use of words, vocabulary, numbers and symbols and is organized in sentences. Verbal communication is based on several basic principles. Further we’ll examine each principle and explore how it governs communication. Principle 1. Language Has Rules

There are three types of rules that control our use of words. You may not know that they exist, but from the moment you put a word into text or say it, these rules start to control your process of communications.

1. Syntactic rules govern the order of words in a sentence. In some languages, such as English being an analytical language, syntax or word order is strictly prescribed. In Russian language being a syntactic one, the syntax, on the other hand, is absolutely flexible and open to style. It is equally correct to say in English, “Please, come to the lecture on Business Communication in auditorium 324 at 8.10 a.m. on Saturday” or, “Please, come to the lecture on Business Communication on Saturday at 8.10 a.m. in auditorium 324.” But it would be incorrect to say, “Please to auditorium 324 on Saturday to the lecture on Business Communication at 8.10 a.m. come.”

42

On the contrary, in Russian language it’s quite ok to say “Пожалуйста,

приходите на лекцию по Деловым Коммуникациям в субботу в 8.10 утра в аудиторию 324”; or “В субботу в 8.10 утра приходите в аудиторию 324 на лекцию по Деловым Коммуникациям, пожалуйста”; or “В 8.10 утра в субботу приходите, пожалуйста, на лекцию по Деловым Коммуникациям в аудиторию 324”; or even “Пожалуйста, приходите на лекцию по Деловым Коммуникациям в аудиторию 324 в субботу в 8.10 утра”.

2.Semantic rules govern the meaning of words and how to interpret them. Semantics is the study of meaning in language. It considers what words mean, or are intended to mean, as opposed to their sound, spelling, grammar function. Is the statement true or false? What does the sender or receiver should know in order to understand its meaning? These are questions addressed by semantic rules. In this respect it is necessary to know and feel the difference between denotation and connotation (which will be explained later) in order to make the right choice of words in a certain business context.

3.Contextual rules govern meaning and word choice according to context and social custom. Two types of context are usually singled out: linguistic and non-linguistic. In a linguistic context only the words and their meanings are the basis for understanding. In non-linguistic context besides the words we need other signs to understand the speaker correctly. In a request of a teacher to a student “Move the table to the right”, in order to understand the right meaning (be it a piece of furniture or a set of systematic figures) a speaker should use a gesture or a sign pointing to the correct object.

Principle 2. Our Reality Is Shaped by Our Language

What would your life be like if you had been raised in a country other than the one where you grew up? China, for example? Italy? Or suppose you had been born male instead of female, or vice versa. You would have learned another set of customs, values, traditions, other language patterns, and ways of communicating. You didn’t choose your birth, customs, values, or your language. You didn’t even choose to learn to

43

read this sentence or to speak with those around, but somehow you accomplished this challenge. As an adult, you can choose to see things from a various perspectives, but what language do you think with? It’s not just the words themselves, or even how they are organized, that makes communication such a challenge. Your language itself, always changing and growing, in many ways determines your reality.

By taking into account your audience’s background and experience, you can become more “other-oriented,” a successful strategy to narrow the gap between you and your audience. Our experiences are like sunglasses, tinting the way we see the world. Our challenge, perhaps, is to avoid letting them function as blinders and allowing us to see the whole life in its complexity.

Principle 3. Language Is Arbitrary and Symbolic

Words, by themselves, do not have any meaning. Humans give meaning to them, and their meanings change across time. Our language system is primarily made up of symbols. A symbol is something that stands in for or represents something else. Symbols can be communicated verbally (speaking the word hello), in writing (putting the letters H-E-L-L-O together), or nonverbally (waving your hand back and forth). In any case, the symbols we use stand in for something else, like a physical object or an idea; they do not actually correspond to the thing being referenced in any direct way.

The symbols we use combine to form language systems or codes. Codes are culturally agreed on and ever-changing systems of symbols that help us organize, understand, and generate meaning. There are about 6,000 language codes used in the world, and around 40 percent of those (2,400) are only spoken and do not have a written version.

The symbolic nature of our communication is a quality unique to humans.

Since the words we use do not have to correspond directly to a “thing” in our “reality,” we can communicate in abstractions. This property of language is called displacement and specifically refers to our ability to talk about events that are removed in space or time from a speaker and situation.

44

3.2. Denotation and connotation

Words have two types of meanings: denotative and connotative. Attention to both is necessary to reduce the possibility of misinterpretation. The denotative meaning is the common meaning, often found in the dictionary. Denotation refers to definitions that are accepted by the language group as a whole, or the dictionary definition of a word. For example, the denotation of the word cat is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal with soft fur, a short snout, and retractable claws that is widely kept as a pet or for catching mice. A more abstract word, like change, would be more difficult to understand due to the multiple denotations. Since both cat and change have multiple meanings, they are considered polysemic words. Monosemic words have only one use in a language, which makes their denotation more straightforward. Specialized academic or scientific words, like computer, are often monosemic, but there are fewer commonly used monosemic words, e.g., handkerchief.

The connotative meaning is often not in the dictionary but in the community of users itself. It can involve an emotional or experience-based association with a word, positive or negative, and can be individual or collective, but is not universal. To go back to our previous words, change can have positive or negative connotations depending on a person’s experiences. A person who just ended a long-term relationship may think of change as good or bad depending on what he or she thought about his or her former partner. Speaking about cat, we can say about a person “She is a cat”, or "Look at that cool cat over there" meaning a person, who is considered to be "cool". In this case we add our emotional evaluation, using this word in its connotation meaning. With a common vocabulary in both denotative and connotative terms, effective communication becomes a more distinct possibility. But what if we have to transfer meaning from one vocabulary to another? That is essential when we translate a message. Also, understanding our ideas with words is a challenge when both conversational partners speak the same language, but across languages, cultures, and generations the complexity multiplies exponentially.

45

Next we shall discuss how words can serve either as a bridge, or a barrier, to understanding. Our purpose of effective and efficient business communication means the knowledge of inherent value of words and terms that keeps the bridge clear and free of obstacles. All the examples further possess connotative meaning so we should think before using them in an appropriate context.

Cliché

A cliché is a once-clever word or phrase that has lost its impact through overuse. If you speak or write in clichés, what can be the reaction of your audience? Let’s try it. How do you react when you read this sentence: “A cliché is something to avoid like the plague, for it is nothing but a tired old war horse, and if the shoe were on the other foot you too would have an axe to grind”? As you can see, the problem with clichés is that they often sound silly or boring.

Clichés can be a symptom of lazy communication—the person using it hasn’t bothered to search for original words to convey the meaning.

As a result, they can be barriers to successful communication. Jargon

Let’s imagine you are given a task of preparing a short presentation on your company’s latest product for a group of potential clients. It’s quite a big responsibility. You only have one opportunity to get it right. What words do you use to communicate information about your product? Is your audience familiar with your field and its specialized terms? As potential customers, they are probably somewhat knowledgeable in the field, but not to the extent that you and your colleagues are; even less so compared to the

“techies” who developed the product. For your presentation to succeed, your challenge is to walk a very sensitive line between using too much profession-specific language, and “talking down” to your audience.

Jargon is an occupation-specific language used by people in a given profession. Jargon does not necessarily imply formal education, but instead focuses on the language people in a profession use to communicate with each other. Members of information technology department have a

46

distinct group of terms that refer to common aspects in their field. Jargon exists in just about every occupation, independent of how much formal education is involved—from medicine and law to financial services and banking.

Slang

Think about the words and expressions you use when you communicate with your best friends. If a coworker was to hang out with you and your friends, would they understand all the words you use, the music you listen to, the stories you tell? Probably not, as you and your friends can use certain words and expressions in ways that have special meaning to you. This special form of language, which in some ways resembles jargon, is slang. Slang is the use of existing or newly invented words to replace traditional words with the intent of adding a nonstandard, humorous, or rebellious effect. It differs from jargon in that it is used in informal contexts, among friends, rather than by professionals in a certain industry.

Since our aim in business communication is clarity, and a slang word runs the risk of creating misinterpretation, it is generally best to avoid slang.

Sexist and Racist Language

Some forms of slang involve put-downs of people belonging to various groups. This type of slang often crosses the line and becomes offensive, not only to the groups that are being put down, but also to others. Currently there is no place where sexist or racist language is appropriate. In fact, using such language can be a violation of company policies.

Sexist language uses gender as a discriminating factor. Referring to adult women as “girls” or using the word “man” to refer to humankind are examples of sexist language.

Racist language discriminates against members of a given race or ethnic group. While it may be obvious that racial and ethnic words have no place in business communication, there can also be issues with more subtle references to “those people” or “you know how they are.” The key is that

47

mentioning racial or ethnic groups should be done with the same respect as you would desire.

Euphemisms

A euphemism is substituting an acceptable word for an offensive, controversial, or unacceptable one that conveys the same or similar meaning. The problem is that the audience still knows what the expression means, and understands that the writer or speaker is choosing a euphemism for the purpose of sounding more educated.

Euphemisms can also be used sarcastically or humorously—“H-E- double-hockey-sticks,” for example, is a euphemism for “hell” that may be amusing in some contexts. If your friend has just got a new job as a janitor, you may jokingly ask, “How’s my favorite sanitation engineer this morning?” But such humor is not always appreciated, and can sometimes convey disrespect.

Euphemistic words are not always disrespectful, however, e.g., when referring to death, it is considered polite to say that the person

“passed” or “passed away,” rather than “died.” Similarly, people say, “I need to find a bathroom” when it is understood they do not wish to take a bath. Still, these polite euphemisms are exceptions to the rule. In business communication the goal is clarity, and the very purpose of euphemism is to be vague.

Doublespeak

Doublespeak is the deliberate use of words to disguise, obscure, or change meaning. Doublespeak is often present in bureaucratic communication, where it can serve to cast a person or an organization in a less unfavorable light than simple language would do.

Doublespeak can be quite dangerous when it is used deliberately to obscure meaning and the listener cannot predict consequences based on such communication. When a medical insurance company says, “We insure companies with up to twenty thousand lives,” is it possible to forget that those “lives” are people? Ethical issues quickly arise when humans are dehumanized and referred to as “objects” or “subjects.” Again, our goal

48

continues to have clear and concise communication with a minimum of misinterpretation, so it’s better to avoid such words.

3.3. Nonverbal Communication

Any communication where no words are used to convey a message is known as nonverbal communication. In a normal face to face conversation between two people, nonverbal cues constitutes major portion of the total communication. When compared with verbal communication, nonverbal communication differs in certain aspects such as unstructured and less intentional. In case of nonverbal communication, a person involved in a face to face communication is considered as the message. The actions or even the presence of a person can be decoded and interpreted to conclude a meaning out of it. Interpretation of a non verbal cue is totally dependent on the decoder of the cue. Same action can have different meaning for different people. With a nonverbal cue we can support, negate, replace, or highlight the verbal communication. In the simplest words, a nonverbal communication is the communication without the use of a language. Following are the dimensions of nonverbal communications:

Kinesics or body language

Paralinguistics or language of voice

Proxemics or language of space

Chronemics or language of time

Other dimensions like touch, colour and smell.

The same as with verbal communication, nonverbal one is based on a set of principles, further we shall present and explain each of them. Principle 1. Nonverbal Communication Is Fluid.

Nonverbal communication is the process of transmitting a message without the use of words. It can include gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice, timing and where you stand as you communicate. It can help or hinder the understanding of your message, but it doesn’t reveal what you are really thinking. Nonverbal communication is far from being simple, and its complexity makes our study a challenging goal. Nonverbal

49

communication involves the entire body, the space it occupies, the time it interacts, and not only the words that are not said, but how they aren’t said. Let’s think about eye contact. What does it mean by itself without context to flag interest?

We perceive time as linear. We did one task, then another task now, and we are planning on doing something else all the time. Sometimes we place more emphasis on the future, or the past, forgetting about us actually living at present moment. Nonverbal communication is always in motion, and is never the same twice.

Nonverbal communication is irreversible. In written communication, you can write a correction. Spoken communication may allow corrections on the spot: you can explain confusing point in hope to clarify your idea. But you can’t separate one nonverbal action from the context of all other verbal and nonverbal communication actions, and you can’t take it back.

In speech, nonverbal communication is continuous in the sense that it is always occurring, and because it is so fluid, it can be hard to determine where one nonverbal message starts and another stops. If we try to single out speaker’s gestures, smile without looking at how they all come together we may miss the point and draw the wrong conclusion. A very popular saying is “Actions speak louder than words” – and this is true in the sense that people often pay more attention to your nonverbal expressions than to your words.

Principle 2. Nonverbal Communication Is Fast.

Let’s pretend you are discussing some issue with your colleague. You are quite a reserved person trying not to show your emotions. But suddenly your interlocutor says something that seems insulting to you. Within several seconds you keep yourself and stay calm but your nonverbal signs (such as brows, eyes, mimics, etc.) can easily reveal your real attitude to what you have heard. Your emotional response is immediate.

Nonverbal communication gives our thoughts and feelings away before we are even aware of what we are thinking or how we feel. People

50

may see and hear more than you ever anticipated. Your nonverbal communication includes both intentional and unintentional messages, but since it all happens so fast, the unintentional ones can contradict what you know you are supposed to say or how you are supposed to react.

Principle 3. Nonverbal Communication Can Add to or Replace Verbal Communication.

People tend to pay more attention to how we say it than what we actually say. In the process of speech this is especially true. We communicate nonverbally more, and often use nonverbal expressions to add to, or replace, words we might otherwise say. In this respect learning the body language, or kinesics, may strongly help us in the process of business and other type of communication. The word kinesics comes from the root word “kinesis”, which means “movement,” and refers to the study of gestures, hand, arm and leg movements, facial expressions, eye contact and stance or posture. Researchers Ekman and Friesen established five basic purposes that these kinds of movement serve: emblems, illustrators, affect displays, regulators and adaptors. Let's look briefly at each.

We use a nonverbal gesture called an illustrator to communicate our message effectively and reinforce our idea. Your colleague Alexander may say to you, “Let’s go to the cafe”, and you simply nod and say “yeah.”

Alexander may respond with a nonverbal gesture, called an emblem, by signaling with the “OK” sign showing that he is glad with your decision.

In addition to illustrators or emblematic nonverbal communication, we also use regulators. Regulators are nonverbal messages that control, maintain or discourage interaction. E.g., if someone is telling you a message that is confusing to you, you can just hold up your hand meaning that you want the speaker to stop talking.

Affect displays are nonverbal communication that express emotions or feelings and often are unintentional. An affect display that might accompany holding up your hand for silence would be to frown and shake your head from side to side.