IMPORTANCE OF VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Verbal Communication

As the story indicates effective verbal communication can change the outcome of any situation. Much of the communication in an office is verbal and effective communication is the key to success. One-on-One verbal communication is the most effective. Effective verbal skills can be learned. The way to learn effective verbal communication is:

• Speak slowly and clearly.
• Don't sound monotonous, inflection helps convey meaning.
• Depending on the distance between the speaker and the listener keep control on your volume of speech.
• Use correct pronounciations.
• Use the right word, don't use a word if you are not sure of its meaning.

I can remember a funny incident about verbal communication going wrong. When we arrived in Canada one of the first things I learned in the kitchen was we need not boil the milk before preserving it in the fridge which is a common practice in my country India. I was so glad, as when I was India often I would forget that I had kept the milk to boil and had to clean the gas stove as well as deal with the mess of spilt milk and the horrible stench. And I happily told my husband that the milk does not need boiling in Canada. 

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After a few weeks, one day my husband decided to heat up some milk for drinking as I was fast asleep. And I woke to his shout of pain and cursing. I immediately ran into the kitchen and discovered he had boiled the milk and burnt his fingers while trying to hurriedly remove the pan. I asked him how all this happened as he by nature is a very alert person. What he told me was so hilarious that I could not stop laughing for hours.

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He said that I had told him few days ago that the milk in Canada never boiled over. So here I was cleaning a gas stove again and dealing with the horrible stench of burnt milk because of verbal miscommunication about not needing to boil the milk and milk not boiling over.

Therefore, the need to say what you mean and convey exactly what you meant is very important if you don't want to deal with spilt milk.