Verbal Communication Strategies

Verbal communication is used to express emotion, to teach and to inspire. Verbal communication is the exchange of messages using orally spoken words. Verbal communication examples are talking on the phone, talking to someone in person or making a presentation. Using verbal communication strategies can help improve your verbal communication skills and effectiveness. Implement different strategies to achieve the goal of accurately relaying a messages and ensuring you’re hearing the proper message being sent back to you.

During the process of verbal communication, the message can get muddled or confusing due to the use of jargon, ambiguity or a difference in defining the words used. For example, one person may define the word “successful” differently than another person. Questions are a verbal communication strategy that can help to ensure clarity and accuracy of the messages being exchanged. Questions are used for clarity and to inspire more conversation. If you have a difficult time starting a conversation, use questions about the other person’s life and interests to spark momentum in the dialogue.

Think about what you’re going to say before you say it. If a person attempts to communicate a message orally without thinking through the words he will use, the message can be unorganized and lacking in clarity. Determine who the audience is that the message is going to be communicated to and plan the delivery and word usage accordingly. This strategy works well if you are going to be speaking publicly or giving a presentation. Pre-meditated verbal communication is more accurate, precise and condensed, making it more effective.

Repeat the message you heard back to the person who sent it. Repeating the message back in your own words will help your perspective and evaluation of the message. It will expose areas of misunderstanding or lacking clarity. If you’re the person sending the verbal message, ask the recipient to repeat the message back to you so you can assess if she understood what you were attempting to say.

The use of nonverbals with verbal communication helps to deliver the message more effectively. Nonverbals that are commonly used to increase verbal communications effectiveness are visual aids, body language and charts. For example, if you’re verbally telling someone how to change the oil in their car, you should demonstrate the action in order to provide accuracy to the recipient.