OUTLINE

1. Communication

2. Delivering successful oral presentations

3. Body language

4. Barriers of oral communication

5. Analyzing the audience

6. Giving constructive feedback

7. Persuasive speaking

8. Building credibility
Introduction:

In its most straightforward sense, effective communication may be understood as occurring

when the intended meaning of the sender and perceived meaning of the receiver are the same.
Yet the level of skill required for effective communication to occur, belies the simplicity of
this definition. After examining studies involving hundreds of large organizations, Goleman
(1997) concluded that a high level of individual success at work was characterized by
‗emotional intelligence‘, or skills of social awareness and communication. Typically, these
included the ability to motivate and influence others, to give honest feedback sensitively, to
empathize and develop relationships, to monitor one‘s own behaviour, to handle emotions
both of self and others and to read interpersonal situations and organizational politics.
However it is important to note that emotional intelligence, or the skills of social awareness
and communication, can be developed and honed.
This resource aims to give a basic introduction to the area of effective oral communication as
well as other interesting relevant communicational cornerstones and will seek to increase your
awareness of forms of communication, communication skills and social or interpersonal
behaviour therein.

COMMUNICATION
Definition:
It is the process of sending and reviewing messages to share meanings.
Levels of communication:
 Intrapersonal
 Interpersonal
 Small group
 Intercultural
 Organizational
 Mass communication

Elements of the Model of communication:

Sender /Receiver

The sender is the person who sends a message. A message is directed to a receiver, being the
eventual recipient of the message. Communication is a matter of comprehending the sent
message in its true essence and thus requires a certain level of Knowledge, Skills and
Abilities –KSA on the part of the receiver to correctly interpret the message. The KSA of the
receiver is therefore paramount in the successful comprehension of the message.

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Message

The urge to satisfy a need necessitates expression. Without getting into the age old debate of
whether first is the word or the thought, the expression has to take a comprehensible form so
as to enable the receiver to decode or interpret it. This is done by using the different
conventions. The expression can be through signs and symbols. Symbols here denote the
verbal mode; or the use of words whereas the signs are non-verbal. Both symbols and signs
together make the language we use to communicate. Language, both verbal and non-verbal, is
thus employed to encode the message that is intended to be communicated. It is imperative
that the encoding be done in a language that conveys or for that matter communicates.

Channel:

Channel is the means through which the encoded message travels or gets transmitted. The
channel is the medium such as e-mail, face to face or phone conversation, letter, presentation.
The sending and feedback channels may not be necessarily the same. The type of
communication viz. formal and informal communication is an important aspect in choosing
the most appropriate channel for communicating effectively.

What is Feedback?

 Reaction of the receiver to the  Tells the sender how to send the
sender’s message. next message.

Encoding: How the sender decides to send the messages based on PREDICTIONS or prior
knowledge about the receiver.

Decoding: Applying meaning and understanding the message that has been sent. Decoding of
a message is as integral to communication as encoding it. Decoding is the process of giving
meaning to the encoded message. It can also be referred to as extracting the embedded
meaning or interpreting what was encoded by the sender. The ability of the receiver in
decoding the message correctly is decisive in understanding the message in its holistic sense.

Interference/Noise:

 External / outside influences that affect communication: noisy room; airplane overhead
Internal/ inside influences that affect communication: prejudices; anxiety; worry.
 Noise is any force that interferes with effective communication. There are three types:
External noise, physiological noise, psychological noise. External Noise refers to any
physical phenomenon that might impair a receiver‘s ability to decode a message.
 Physiological Noise: involves biological factors in the receiver or sender that interfere
with accurate reception.
 Psychological Noise: involves mental forces within a receiver or sender that might inhibit
his or her ability to either encode or decode a message correctly. For example, if a
receiver suffers from low self-esteem, they might interpret a sincere compliment as
sarcastic or condescending even though it wasn‘t.

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Environment- Fields of experience or cultural backgrounds that influence the way
communicators encode and decode messages.

Verbal Communication :

Verbal communication, also known as speaking, is an important form of communication in a

healthcare facility. During the course of a work day most healthcare workers spend time
talking with coworkers, supervisors, managers, or patients. Planning and organizing your
thoughts is a critical part of verbal communication. This involves thinking about who will
receive the message and what you want to convey. Making notes before a phone call, having
an agenda for a meeting, or researching information you wish to give to someone in advance
are all methods you can use to ensure clear communication. According to motivational
speaker and entrepreneur Pat Croce, effective communication involves much more than
choosing the right words. Mr. Croce recommends five rules to incorporate while conveying a
message, known as the 5 Cs of Communication:
1. Clear. Speak in black-and-white terms to clearly state your message. Allow questions from
the recipient of your communication to ensure you are understood.
2. Concise. Do not ramble. Your important message can be lost in the nonessential
information you include—get to the point.
3. Consistent. Make the message consistent at all times. If you are telling your supervisor
about an incident that you have observed, do not change your story to make it more dramatic.
Report your findings in a consistent, accurate manner. Do not tell one person what you saw
and later change your observations as you retell the story to another person.
4. Credible. People can tell if your words are insincere—make sure your message is real. Do
not heap praise on someone just because you want to win their favor. It is important that you
mean what you say.
5. Courteous. Words and phrases such as ―hello,‖ ―thank you,‖ ―please,‖ ―excuse me,‖ and
―I‘m sorry‖ are easy, effective ways to demonstrate respect. Being courteous when you
communicate sets the right tone and attitude. Courtesy is mandatory in the workplace, even if
you are interacting with someone you dislike. Keep your personal feelings out of your work
interactions.
Having an open mind during verbal communication is also very important. Making
assumptions about what someone is going to say before he or she speaks might cause you to
miss the essence of the message. If you have had disagreements with the speaker, you might
negatively translate a message into your assumption about what you are hearing. Keeping an
open mind and listening respectfully without emotion is critical to open, clear communication.

Oral communication:

Several studies have shown that 20 minutes is about the maximum amount of time listeners can stay
attentive. After 20 minutes, listeners’ attention levels begin to drop. Speaking is more stimulating than
listening, so although it may be exciting to talk for long periods of time, chances are your listeners
may be having a hard time staying focused.

 Oral communication is a process whereby information is transferred from a sender to

receiver usually by a verbal means which can be supported by visual aid. e.g. discussions,
speeches, conversations, questions/answers, through radio/TV/internet, telephone
conversation/voice mails, VHF radios. Receiver could be an individual, a group, or even
audience.

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 The effective interpretation, composition, and presentation of information, ideas, and
values to a specific audience (University of Virginia Oral Communication Competency
Report).
 The ability to compose, critically analyze, present, and deliver information through verbal
interactions (University of Wyoming University Studies Program).
 Information spoken by mouth; the use of speech (SIL International)
 The art of expressing and exchanging ideas in speech. It involves the ability to compose,
critically analyze, and deliver information through verbal, vocal, and visual interactions
(Old Dominion University Office of Institutional Research and Assessment).

Oral versus Written Communication :

 Written communication is…
 Formal
 Planned
 Detailed
 Official
 Elicits a response after lapse of some time
 Carries more authority and is proof of a transaction
 Oral communications is…
 More spontaneous
 More direct
 Less formal
 Elicits a prompt response of some kind.

Basic oral communication skills:

1. Asking questions
2. Listening skills
3. Providing feedback that has impact
4. Receiving feedback with grace and dignity

(1) Asking questions: Good quality questions lead to good quality information: open and
closed questions.
(2) Listening skills: Active listening is making a conscious effort to hear not only the words
that another person is saying but to understand the total message being sent.
 Look interested
 Inquire with questions
 Stay focused
 Test your understanding
 Evaluate the message
 Neutralize your feeling

Hearing and Listening :

1. Hearing is Physical process that takes place naturally.

2. Listening is a mental process that requires effort.
3. Listening is wanting to hear and understand to get an accurate perception of what is being
communicated.

How to make Oral Communication Effective

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  Be a good listener
 Give and receive feedback in a constructive way
 Be clear and to the point
 Simplify language
 Constrain emotions
 Avoid digression (gives wrong impression)
 Know your audience (behaviour, culture, education etc)
 Play back for confirmation (stop for confirmation and verify what you understand)

Nonverbal communication:
Nonverbal communication, or body language, is a critical form of communication. This
natural, unconscious language reveals your true feelings and intentions in any given moment.
When you interact with others, you continuously give and receive wordless signals. All of
your nonverbal behaviors—the gestures you make, the way you sit, how fast or loud you talk,
how close you stand to others, whether or not you make eye contact—send strong messages.
These messages do not stop when you stop speaking. Even when you are quiet, you‘re still
communicating your thoughts and feelings. Some nonverbal messages are subtle, such as
posture. Frequently, what we say and what we communicate through body language are two
different things. When faced with these mixed signals, the listener has to choose whether to
believe your verbal or nonverbal message. Often, a listener will be more influenced by
nonverbal signals because these tend to be more reliable than words.

Gender Differences in Nonverbal Communication:

Studies have shown that men and women differ in their use of nonverbal communication.
Women use facial expressions to express emotion more often than men. Women are more
likely to smile and use facial and body expressions to show friendliness. Men do not smile as
much. Women may demonstrate more friendly nonverbal cues, but their posture tends to be
tenser than men‘s. Men seem more relaxed and will use more gestures, whereas women tend
to rely more on verbal communication. Women tend not to stare, while men use staring to
challenge a powerful person. Men will often wait for the other person to turn away from an
initial gaze, whereas women are more likely to avert their eyes. The differences in nonverbal
signals between men and women further add to the complexity of communication.

Cultural Differences in Nonverbal Communication:

Hand and arm gestures, touch, and eye contact (or lack of eye contact) are some aspects of
nonverbal communication that can vary significantly depending on a person‘s cultural
background. Of course, it is important to remember that, within cultures, there is great
variation in communication. This discussion can be used to guide you in your communication
so that you do not needlessly offend someone.
Gestures:
Some gestures commonly used in the United States may be offensive to someone from
another culture. An example of this is the use of a finger or hand to indicate for someone to
―come here‖. In some cultures, this gesture may be used to call dogs. Pointing with one finger
is not done in some Asian cultures and may be considered rude. Some cultures use the entire
hand to point to something.
Touch:
In the United States, it is common for someone to pat a child‘s head as an affectionate gesture.
However, in some Asian cultures, this might be considered inappropriate because they believe
the head to be a sacred part of the body. In many Muslim cultures, touch between persons of
the opposite sex who are not related is inappropriate.
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 SIX-STEP GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS

1. Excite Step (gain the audience’s attention by introducing the topic in an interesting
manner): Use a story, quote, joke, example, fact, statistics, question, demonstration, or
presentational aid that introduces the topic in a clear and interesting way.

2. Launch Step (tell the audience what they are about to hear)

a. State the specific purpose of the speech.

b. If appropriate, define terms, orient the audience to the topic by providing essential
background information, allay any fears or reservations the audience may have about
listening to information on this topic, and/or establish your credibility as an authority
on this topic.

c. Present a specific overview of the main points of the speech.

d. If appropriate, tell your audience how you will be conducting a question and answer
session and for how long; for example, “Toward the end of my remarks, I will answer
questions for five minutes, and then I will conclude my remarks.”

3. Relate Step (give the audience a purpose for listening)

a. Present logical and motivating information regarding how the audience can benefit
from listening to information on this topic.

b. Use a transition into (or just after) the explanation of benefits that focuses attention on
the importance of the information. Use statements such as “This information is
important to you because . . .” or “For these reasons, you can benefit from reflecting
upon these ideas.”

4. Inform Step—Main Points (inform about the topic and use transitions)

a. Organize your main points in a logical manner.

b. Use supporting materials such as stories, quotes, jokes, evidence (authority testimony,
examples, facts, and statistics), audience participation, demonstrations, and
presentational aids to present your ideas in a clear and interesting way.

c. Use appropriate transitions between the steps of the six-step guide and between main
points and subpoints.

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5. Reiterate Step (tell the audience what they have heard)

a. If you conduct a question and answer session, ask for questions after finishing the last
main point and before beginning the reiterate step. Use a statement such as “I will
now answer questions for five minutes, and then I will conclude my remarks. Are
there any questions?” Finish the question and answer session by thanking the
audience for their questions. Use a statement such as “Thank you for your questions.
I enjoyed responding to them.”

b. Use a transition into the reiterate step that focuses on the fact that the speech is coming
to an end and restate the specific purpose of the speech. Do not transit into the
reiterate step by saying “in conclusion,” “in closing,“ “in summary,” or “to reiterate.”
This signals the audience to leave physically and mentally. Be subtler. Use a
statement such as “I discussed with you today. . . .”

c. Provide a clarifying summary of each of the main points of the speech. Do not merely
repeat what you said in the specific overview of main points in the launch step. Do
restate your main points, but go a step further and restate a few important ideas or
complex ideas (ideas that may have been more challenging to explain and/or
understand) from each of your main points. Include the ideas that you most want your
audience to remember. Do not include any new ideas in the summary.

6. Energize Step (bring the speech to a satisfying close for the audience)

a. Use a story, quote, joke, example, fact, statistics, question, demonstration, or

presentational aid that highlights the importance of the topic and how the audience can
benefit from the ideas presented. You might refer back to the attention getting
technique that you used in the excite step.

b. End with a topic-related definite final statement that encapsulates the specific purpose
of the speech and ensures that the audience perceives that you have finished the
speech.

c. If appropriate, add a statement that refers to the occasion or to the audience. For
example, “I enjoyed speaking with you today” or “I look forward to hearing the rest of
your speeches.”

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 DELIVERY GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS

“Our goal as presenters is to express ideas clearly and in a

personal, friendly, and human manner.” Sidney Harris

1. Use appropriate volume of speaking: Be sure that your audience can hear you. Look to
the audience for cues as to whether your volume of speaking is appropriate (either too
loud or too soft). Be aware that your voice will sound louder to you than it will to the
audience. You might ask an assistant to send you a signal if you cannot be heard easily.

2. Use variety in volume, rate, and pitch: Develop an oral/conversational speaking style.
You want to sound “said” not “read,” even when you choose to read from a manuscript.
Your style should be much like normal professional conversation.

a. Raise or lower the volume of your voice and vary your rate and pitch of speaking
according to the thoughts and feelings that you are trying to communicate in an effort
to clarify and create interest in them.

b. Use pauses to separate words into meaningful thought units, to emphasize ideas, to
give the audience some time to absorb your message, and to add drama to your speech.

c. Unless you are asking a question, be sure pitch level drops at the end of words,
phrases, or sentences. You will sound more confident in yourself and in your
message.

3. Use appropriate pronunciation and articulation: Use proper sound and accent.

a. Be sure to research the proper pronunciation of words. Consult the diacritical marks
in a dictionary. You will lose credibility fast if you mispronounce words.

b. Enunciate your words clearly and distinctly.

4. Use appropriate eye contact: Use as much eye contact as possible.

a. Practice your speech using your outline, note cards, manuscript, and/or presentational
aids. Whatever form your notes take, be sure that they truly serve as an effective aid
to your memory.

b. Look at individuals in the eyes for approximately three to five seconds at a time.

c. Establish eye contact with the entire audience not just those sitting in the front and in
the middle of the audience; that is, look at audience members who are sitting in the
front far left and front far right seats as well as audience members sitting in the back
far left and back far right seats.

5. Use appropriate facial expressions, gestures, posture, and movements: Animated and
enthusiastic physical behaviors usually engender a positive response—they make a speech
more interesting to listen to and easier to understand, and they help to release pent-up

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 (confined) energy and to communicate that the speaker knows and cares about the topic.

a. Relax and let your facial expressions and gestures be a spontaneous reflection of your
inner state of thinking and feeling.

b. Raise your hand when using a question to poll the audience. The audience will then
know exactly the response you are looking for without having to use the phrase “by a
show of hands” or “raise your hand if.”

c. When not gesturing, let your hands fall naturally to your side, keep your arms waist
level and let one hand rest naturally on the other hand, or let them rest on a table or
podium that you might be using.

d. Use a confident, poised, and natural posture. Keep both feet flat on the floor and
shoulder length apart. Place equal weight on both feet. Be sure to square your
shoulders to the audience.

e. Move on transitions or to manipulate presentational aids.

f. Avoid random movements, pacing, swaying, and turning your back to the audience.

6. Use minimal vocalized pauses (um, uh) or distracting mannerisms:

a. Using vocalized pauses is simply a bad habit. Record yourself on audio or videotape,
and see if you use distracting vocalized pauses. Once you are aware of the problem,
you will feel yourself about to use a vocalized pause. When you do, simply pause,
think about what you are saying, and then continue presenting your thoughts.

b. Avoid distracting mannerisms like playing with your hair, scratching your head or the
back of your neck, pulling on your earlobe, jingling coins in your pocket, taking your
hand(s) in and out of your pocket(s), taking your glasses on and off, tossing a pen in
the air, overusing a particular gesture, or perpetual motion.

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 Body language

Introduction

Words are only a part of our communication. According to Professor Albert Mehrabian from
Harvard University we have three channels of communication - our words, our tone, and our
body language. The results of Professor Mehrabian's experiments were published in 1968 in
the British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. He found that we do not use the three
channels equally. Our use of these channels breaks down as follows:

7% words
38% voice tone
55% body language
So 93% of our total communication relies upon aspects other than the words we use, hence
the term nonverbal communication.

Who has not experienced a situation where someone has told us one thing and yet we have
ended up believing something entirely different? At such moments we become aware of the
importance of nonverbal communication. There are plenty of examples in everyday life. For
instance, when a friend says he feels fine, yet you believe him to be upset or when somebody
insists he is listening while turning away or fiddling with an object. He may be listening, but
at the same time he shows that he is not interested in what is being said. Spoken words hit
their mark best when they are supported by the matching voice tone and body language.
Words accompanied by contradicting body language are likely to raise suspicion as the
speaker transmits mixed messages.

Body language is an inseparable part of speaking. Everybody has watched someone talking on
the phone, often without hearing a word they're saying (such as when you see someone in an
enclosed phone booth). You see a constant stream of smiles, frowns, raised eyebrows, shakes
of the head, nods, hand gestures, etc. All these things are done although the listener on the
other end obviously can't see a thing. It would take an enormous effort to suppress these
movements and gestures as we are hardly conscious of them.

Yet even without words, our bodies constantly transmit messages.

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Part 1: Body Language - an overview

"Nonverbal communication", the scientific name for what is commonly known as "body
language", is a term that is often interpreted in different ways. Here is one definition:
"Nonverbal communication takes place when a message is transmitted, received and
interpreted without using any words."

Nonverbal messages are conveyed by voice (paralanguage), body motion (kinesics) such as
facial expression, eye contact, gestures, touch, posture, the personal space we use, as well as
physical appearance and some other cues.

No matter if we are by ourselves or in the company of others, our bodies constantly transmit
signals about our emotional state to the world outside. We smile when we are happy or move
restlessly when we are nervous. This means that nonverbal communication occurs not only
between people, but also internally.

In order to interpret nonverbal messages correctly, one should bear in mind that emotions and
attitudes are expressed by a whole range of vocal and visual signs and that individual gestures
carry more than one meaning. For example, arms folded across the chest may signal distance,
but may also mean that a person is simply feeling cold.

More often than not we are unconscious of our body language or only become aware of it
while these signals are being released. This is particularly true for physiological responses to
emotions such as blushing, shaking, sweating, blinking or breathing heavily, etc. which
happen involuntarily and cannot be manipulated or learned.

With regard to primary emotions such as fear, anger, disgust, joy, sadness or surprise, body
language is more or less universal, e.g. open smiles are understood all over the world. Other
elements of nonverbal communication are taught at a very young age, actually from the
moment of birth. This is the reason why they are so deeply rooted in our minds that we react
to them automatically when we encounter them. The moment we meet a person, we judge
them by what we see and feel, a process that takes less than ten seconds. The impressions we
get are often difficult to describe and still harder to explain as our judgement is based on
intuition. If we like or dislike, trust or distrust a person, first of all depends on the emotions
that are created by our intuitive interpretation of the messages we receive.

The body language that we learn from our parents is part of their cultural background. For
example, while in most European and American countries people shake their head when they
mean no and nod when they mean yes, there are cultures, for example in Greece, where they
mean the opposite - up and down means no and shaking means yes. So naturally, if similar
gestures have different meanings in other cultures, misunderstandings are inevitable. To make
matters even more complicated, differences in body language also exist in regard to gender.

As body language carries such great significance in interpersonal relationships, it is extremely

useful and beneficial to raise our awareness for the signals we send and to learn to read and
understand those transmitted by others.

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Part 2: Voice tone: Paralanguage

The voice is an extraordinary instrument. Every time we speak, our voice adds information to
the words. It reveals our gender, the age group we belong to, our geographic background (e.g.
by the local variant of pronunciation), our level of education (e.g. by the clarity of
pronunciation), etc. Yet a lot more information is given by the manner of speaking to
communicate particular meanings. Experts call this phenomenon paralanguage. Paralanguage
comprises a number of subcategories such as inflection (the patterns of stress and intonation),
pace (rapid, slow, measured, changing, ...), intensity (loud, soft, breathy, ...), tone (nasal,
growling, tearful, trembling, demanding, ...), pitch (high, medium, low, changing, ...), and
pauses (meaningful, disorganised, shy, hesitant, ...).

A sentence such as "I did not say he took the money" can have six different meanings,
depending on which part of speech is stressed. If, moreover, the sentence is spoken softly and
rapidly in a high and tearful voice, the listener gets the impression that the speaker is timidly
trying to defend himself. In the same way we can add expression of feelings such as anger,
happiness or disappointment to the actual words. We also adapt our vocal pitch to the person
we are talking to. Compare the low and loud competitive voices of two bragging teenage boys
to the soft and high cooing sounds we use for babies or in romantic situations in order to
indicate that all is well and that we mean no harm. During phone calls we often compensate
for the lack of visual signs by putting more emphasis on the intonation.

Our conversations are full of filler words such as um, ah, uh, errr, hmm, etc. They give us
time to think and feel and therefore occur more often when the subject is difficult or
emotional or when we are not sure of ourselves. If we get positive verbal or nonverbal
feedback, we gain more confidence in a conversation and the speaking becomes more fluent.

The tone of our voice passes on information about our emotional state. A tremble can indicate
all sorts of emotions, from fear or nervousness to great excitement or expectation. Its meaning
differs for men and women as well as for each individual. Cultural differences must also be
considered. Some people react to tense situations by coughing or noisily clearing their throats.
Last but not least, breathing plays an important role in this context, e.g. when we sigh, cry,
laugh, or choke on a word.

Pauses are another important aspect in communication. When we fall silent in a conversation,
we nevertheless communicate. The message we communicate depends on the situation. Like
the filler words, pauses provide space for people to think and feel. The use of silence or "quiet
time" as a form of nonverbal communication is a common source of misunderstanding. How
much quiet time is acceptable varies considerably across cultures. While some cultures value
lively and open self-disclosure, with few if any prolonged silences, Japanese generally feel
more comfortable with longer periods of silence and often consider talkativeness to be
shallow, immature and possibly disrespectful. In our wordy western cultures silence often
takes on a threatening or embarrassing quality. Just think of the silence following a teacher's
question. It is usually accompanied by negative signs of body language of the students such as

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avoiding looking at the teacher. In a group, silence can indicate a level of comfort and
intimacy or, conversely, distrust. Many people find it hard to bear and break it with a bit of
small talk to escape their acute embarrassment. In the therapeutic world, silence is often used
to give someone the opportunity to become more aware of themselves or of what they have
just said. Generally, the more emotionally loaded or difficult a subject is, the more often will
pauses occur.

Paralanguage is a powerful communicator, yet to fully grasp a message we also need to watch
people's body language.

Part 3: Gestures

Just as we respond to the many auditory cues in a speaker's message through what we hear
(paralanguage), we also respond to multiple visual cues. All the behaviours we can observe
physically make up the category of nonverbal communication called kinesics. Paul Ekman
and Wallace Friesen, two of the leading experts in the study of body movements, distinguish
between five types of signals - emblems, illustrators, adaptors, regulators, and affect displays.

When we beckon somebody to come over to us, smile and wink at a friend as a sign of
affection or encouragement or make a hand-up gesture that means, thanks! because another
driver allows us to pull into the traffic lane in front of him, we use emblems. Emblems have a
direct verbal translation and are often used instead of a verbal message. These gestures are not
universal, but differ according to culture, age group as well as relationship.

By using our hands e.g. to indicate the size of an object or a direction, we illustrate or clarify
the verbal message with this gesture. Illustrators don't have meaning except in combination
with a verbal message.

Scratching our heads, rubbing our noses, covering our mouths, or chewing our glasses are
ways of handling anxiety, nervousness, hostility, or other negative feelings. These behaviours
help us adapt to stress or discomfort. People are usually unaware of their adaptors.

During any conversation, be it a dialogue between two close friends or a conversation among
several people, signals such as making or avoiding eye contact, head-nodding, or head-
shaking are passed from one person to another or to the group as a whole. These signals
regulate the flow of the conversation, hence the term regulator.

Affect displays reveal the speaker's internal state such as joy, self-confidence, sadness, etc.
Our internal state shows in facial expression, posture, and body movement.

Directors have long discovered the enormous importance of body language for creating
suspense in their films. The most exciting and chilling passages in thrillers are not those in
which the protagonists talk, but when their emotions are expressed nonverbally against the
background of music or even complete silence.

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Part 4: Eye behaviour and facial expression:

An old proverb says that "the eyes are the mirror of the soul". More than by any other part of
our body, nonverbal communications is always revealed in the eyes. Primary feelings such as
fear, surprise, anger, sadness, or joy are spontaneously expressed by them. A natural smile
always starts in the eyes.

In most Western cultures, direct eye contact signals sincerity; lack of eye contact signals
insincerity, disinterest, or lack of confidence. However, Asians, Puerto Ricans, West Indians,
African Americans, or Native Americans are likely to consider it to be rude, disrespectful, or
intimidating, or it may carry sexual overtones for them. Many Muslim women also avoid eye
contact with men, or children with adults, because in their culture direct eye contact is
regarded as impolite and disrespectful. Staring is rejected in all cultures.

Eye contact modifies the meaning of other nonverbal behaviours. The length of time that we
hold eye contact with another person is generally an indication of the degree and quality of
our relationship with that person. Our eye contact with a total stranger or a casual
acquaintance is usually much shorter than eye contact with a friend. If we are angry with
someone we are fairly close to, we are likely to make our eye contact with the person either
very short or much longer than usual. When we're forced to stand very close to others e.g.
inside a crowded lift or train, we'll usually compensate by avoiding eye contact. In this case
people generally look at the numbers that indicate the floors, at the advertising signs or down
at their feet. In Japan commuters usually close their eyes as soon as they have found a seat.

Apart from cultural differences, the use of eye contact also differs according to gender.
Women usually make more eye contact. They look for immediacy cues or use it to
demonstrate interest in what someone is saying. For men eye contact frequently forms part of
a power game. For example, sustained eye contact is a sign of authority and control. When
speaking, people make less eye contact than when they are listening. In the eye contact power
game, you make eye contact while speaking. When you reprimand a child, or a subordinate,
you look them directly in the eye while doing so, thereby sending power cues.

The pupil size expresses another aspect of meaning. When we look at something we find
pleasant, our pupils tend to enlarge. When we look at something we find unpleasant, our
pupils contract. We cannot consciously control the size of our pupils, though, and our
response to the pupil size of others is also largely unconscious. It only takes a few moments
till the messages of like or dislike are exchanged. Many experiments have shown that people
generally prefer to be friends with and work with people with large pupils. This is why in the
18th century Italian ladies used to touch their eyes with the poisonous plant Belladonna or
Deadly Nightshade to make their pupils large and shiny.

The importance of the eyes for communication is also reflected in the large number of
expressions in verbal language such as "I tried to catch her eye" (I wanted to get her
attention), "we were all eyes" (we watched someone or something with a lot of interest), "he

14
opened my eyes" (he made me aware of something surprising or shocking, which I had not
known about or understood before) or "she tried to pull wool over his eyes" (she tried deceive
him in order to prevent him from discovering something unpleasant). In literature, one of the
most gripping descriptions of the effect a look may have on an unsettled person is rendered in
the "Evil Eye" in E. A. Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart".

The face is the most dominant part of our body. Better than any body parts, our faces reveal
emotions, opinions, and moods. The face has many muscles, each with its own unique
function. But although we are able to manipulate some expressions such as smiles, frowns,
winks, or pouts and can pull funny faces, facial expressions reveal our true feelings and
hidden attitudes. We wrinkle the nose in disgust, clench our teeth in suppressed anger or purse
our lips signalling disagreement, blink or twitch nervously. Many facial expressions are
universal, though most may be shaped by cultural usages and rules. In some cultures facial
expressions are very guarded because no one wants to betray his position prematurely by
expressing a nonverbal opinion. The term "poker face" is an example of an attempt to keep
others from knowing one's true emotions. Nevertheless, strong emotions will be reflected in
the face.

Part 5: Posture

Posture also plays a role in communication. It refers to "how we position our body", often
indicating our feelings or attitudes at the time. As such, it conveys a degree of formality and
the degree of relaxation in the communication exchange as well as signals of our confidence.
A slumped posture is an indicator for low spirits, fatigue or a feeling of inferiority whereas an
erect posture shows high spirits and confidence. If we lean forward it implies that we are open
and interested. Leaning away shows disinterest or defensiveness. Maintaining a rigid posture
is interpreted by many as a sign of defensiveness, while a relaxed posture translates to
openness. When we place some kind of barrier in front of our body, for example by folding
our arms across our chest or crossing our legs or our ankles, we may be signalling rejection or
defensiveness and our attitude towards the other person is likely to be negative, while
uncrossed arms and legs usually indicate a willingness to listen.

Those who stand always look more powerful to those who are sitting down. This is because
they are taking up more space. It may also signify a higher status than those around. Talking
down on others may be regarded as a sign of authority. Among peers it might be interpreted
as a sign of arrogance or usurped superiority.

Watching the postures of two persons in conversation conveys a message about their
relationship. Close friends or lovers mirror each other's body language unconsciously.
Mirroring as a method is frequently used by psychotherapists, social workers, or in job
interviews to establish rapport.

Part 6: Territory and personal space: Proxemics

15
Proxemics is the study of our use of space. Proxemics can be divided into two categories:
physical territory (rooms and furniture arrangements) and personal territory (the distance you
keep between yourself and others).
Personal territory is the area surrounding a person that they psychologically regard as their
own. Most people value their personal territory and feel uncomfortable, angry, or anxious
when another person enters, or ―invades,‖ their personal territory. How much you permit
another person to enter into your personal territory, or to what degree you enter somebody
else‘s personal territory, can reveal your relationship with another person. Understanding the
concept of personal territory when working with patients, staff, and visitors increases your
ability to provide the best possible care.
There are four types of personal territory. These include intimate space, personal space, social
space, and public space .
The size of an individual‘s personal territory can vary by locale. People living in a densely
populated area tend to have a smaller personal territory, whereas people living in less crowded
areas may have a much larger personal territory. What is considered intimate space in one
culture may fit another culture‘s description of social space.
Men and women may also differ in their personal territory requirements. Women tend to stand
close to others, while men seek more personal territory. However, men may be more likely to
invade another‘s personal territory if necessary when asserting themselves during
disagreements or emergencies.

Part 7: Touch: Haptics

Shaking hands, holding, hugging, pushing, or patting on the back all convey messages. We
know by experience that touching can create both positive and negative feelings. Our feelings
are positive when the touch is perceived to be natural. A person gets the opposite feeling
when the touch is perceived to be manipulative or insincere. The sense of touch is also used as
a means to define relationships, to indicate differences in power and status, to signal approval
or disapproval, and a lot more.

Some cultures use a lot of physical contact when communicating. They referred to as "contact
groups" in contrast to "non contact groups". They are as follows:

Contact groups: Arabs in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Republic; Latin
Americans in Bolivia, Cuba, Equator, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico,
Venezuela; Europeans in France, Italy, Turkey.

Non contact groups: Asians in China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand;
Europeans in Austria, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway. Depending on their ethnic
background, US citizens and Canadians also partly belong to this group.

One of the most common forms of tactile communication in many parts of the world is the
handshake. Originally, presenting an open palm was a sign that you were not carrying any
weapons. Today it is widely used as a gesture of greeting or congratulating and serves as a
symbol for the successful conclusion of negotiations or contracts. It is an excellent example as
to how touch carries a great deal of social significance. A firm handshake is interpreted by
many as a sign of sincerity, friendliness, and earnestness. A handshake that does not show
strength or touch, on the other hand, may give people a sense of the person's indifference or
16
lukewarm attitude toward the interaction. Again, cultural and other differences must not be
neglected. In France, for instance, handshakes are shorter and softer than in other European
countries. In Muslim societies, the left hand is reserved for hygienic purposes and therefore
considered unclean. Consequently, offering the left hand for a hand shake is insulting. On the
other hand, the handshake of the Boy Scouts is made with the hand nearest the heart, the left
hand, and is offered as a token of friendship. The duration and intensity of a handshake as
well as the position of the hand can also be used to signify status and superiority.

Another area of haptics, the science concerned with the tactile sense, is the study of self-
touch. Touching oneself can indicate how a person is feeling. We unconsciously touch our
bodies when emotions run high to comfort, relieve, or release stress. Self-stimulating
behaviours such as holding an arm or wrist, massaging a hand, and scratching, rubbing, or
pinching the skin, increase with anxiety and may signal deception, disagreement, fear, or
uncertainty.

Part 8: Physical appearance and other cues

The way we look is also part of nonverbal language. Even genetic combinations such as skin
and hair colour send nonverbal messages. Many people assume stereotypical behaviour based
on colour or race. Body shape is perceived as a signal, too. A study showed that young men
who are obese are commonly believed to be lazy and unwilling to work or make any effort.
Both men and women who are obese are generally considered to have personality
characteristics that place them at a disadvantage in social and business settings.

Some physical features cannot be changed, or at least not easily, whereas others have always
been used as symbols to express personality and status. One of these ancient symbols is
clothing, which conveys much about the wearer to the viewer. Before people speak to one
another, their clothing makes a statement that expresses their sex, age, class, occupation,
origin and personality, as well as what they are or what they want to be at a particular
moment. A businessperson is recognised in a well-tailored suit.

Great importance is attached to the hairstyle. A man who is balding, might part his hair just
above his right ear and comb several long strands of hair across the top of his head toward his
left ear. The signals his hairstyle transmits are that he is either frustrated because he is
balding, is trying to look younger than he really is, or is self-conscious about his appearance.

And while white hair equals wisdom, it also sends a message of age or weakness.
Consequently, hair dye and makeup are applied to create the supposedly desirable image.

Another symbolic form is jewellery. Married people often wear wedding rings, some people
do not wear a watch, others wear highly expensive jewellery, and so on. These are passive
signals that are given out continuously to other people.

Last but not least, to find out more about the social status of a person look at their car and the
size and location of their home. These symbols speak volumes.

17
Part 9: Detecting lies

In most cases, body language will match the spoken language. However, when someone
contradicts his words through his body language, his nonverbal message is almost always
considered to reveal the truth because it is very difficult to lie through body language.

Our "emotional brain", the limbic system, which is an evolutionarily ancient part of the brain,
triggers immediate responses in our bodies when it encounters anything that might cause fear,
anger, disgust, joy, sadness, or surprise known as primary emotions. Guilt, shame, and
jealousy are combinations of these emotions. All of them are reflected in the facial
expressions before the "thinking brain" can check the reaction and hide them.

In major criminal and civil cases experts like Paul Ekman, Professor of Psychology at the
University of California Medical School, San Francisco, work as consultants to detect
deception and signs of hidden emotion by attending trials and watching video tapes of
interrogations in slow motion.

Another method of finding out the truth in interrogations is known as "kinetic interviewing".
It serves to understand a suspect's normal behaviour when asked non-stressful questions. The
questions appear to be completely harmless on the surface, but they are not. The interrogator
watches the suspect's facial expressions and body language prior to, during, and after he
answers the question. It gives the interrogator a very good idea of how the suspect acts when
he answers questions truthfully. In addition to that, the interrogator may ask questions that
will tell him important information about how the suspect's brain works while thinking, or
recalling data, a technique used in NLP (short for Neuro-Linguistic Programming), the
science of how the brain codes learning and experience. "Neuro-linguistic interviewing"
involves asking a suspect two types of questions. One set of questions requires the suspect to
remember data, and the other requires him/her to use his/her cognitive processes. The
interrogator then watches the suspect's body language to determine what type of changes take
place when the suspect thinks of information, as opposed to remembering it. The combination
of both interviewing techniques has produced very good results.

18
Quelle: http://www.e-lisa.at/journale/englisch/secure/aktuell/thema/2003_2/part0.asp

Five categories of body movement:

Five categories of body movement

Category Definition Purpose Example
Emblems Emblems are nonverbal To reinforce or replace the The nonverbal signal
acts learnt through words. for ‗okay‘ is a nod or
imitation. a smile.
Illustrators Illustrators are nonverbal To accentuate or emphasize A nod of the head and
acts that relate to, and a word or phrase. wave of the arm in a
illustrate, the spoken certain direction,
word. accompanying the
words ―over there‖.
Affective Affective displays are Unconscious displays reflect Facial muscles may
(or feeling) changes in facial feelings, whereas intentional ‗drop‘ with surprise or
displays expression that display expressions can disguise or shock; a smile may be
emotion. hide feelings. used to deceive or
disarm the listener.
Regulators Nods and other head To maintain and control the A nod to encourage
movements are flow of speaking and another person to
nonverbal acts that listening. Regulators continue speaking.
regulate communication indicate whether to
between people. continue, repeat, elaborate
or change from speaker to
listener.
Adaptors Nonverbal acts To display instinctive Scratching an itchy
performed unconsciously responses. ear; raising the arms
in response to some inner in shock or horror.
desire.

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Start Here

Barriers of oral communication

One of the essentials of being human is the requirement to share both space and time with
others. We humans use talk to make the process of sharing orderly. We organize our lives and
our societies by talking with one another. When people are unwilling or unable to talk well,
their ability to make things come out "right" is impaired. In the simplest possible terms,
making it come out "right" is the universal social goal.

The purpose of performance instruction is to change one‘s natural oral communication

behavior in order to facilitate accomplishment of social goals. It has a genuine narcissistic
appeal. Each human is a rhetor seeking to influence the thought and conduct of everyone else
(the audience). Rhetoric, thus, is the art of using oral discourse to make things come out
"right" in all social situations.
When people cannot do well at oral performance, they are very likely not to do well as
humans.
4.1 - Inept Social Behavior

Shyness. Most psychologists gather people with social communication problems into a
category called "shy." Zimbardo (1977) and Pilkonis (1986) focus on shyness as a social
phobia. Buss (1986) defines shyness as "discomfort, inhibition, and awkwardness in social
situations." A definition like this is hard to deal with. Does it mean that anyone who is
awkward is shy? Fools are often awkward and so are people from other cultures. Hence, it
might be safe to assume that "Awkward" remains a pejorative social judgment as long as the
behavioral indicators of awkwardness remain undefined.

It is not clear whether awkwardness is genetic or whether people can learn to be awkward.
Physical appearance seems to play some role, but there does not seem to be a formal
universal definition of what is appealing and what is not. Regardless of the cause, it seems
that people are socially inept in different ways in different situations. To apply the label "shy"
to all of them appears to beg questioning.

Anxiety: Whether anxiety comes from genetic or social influences, it has an unmistakable
effect on both willingness and ability to communicate. However, it is not clear whether
altering the way shy people feel about their social interaction has any effect on their behavior.
The underlying clinical assumption is when shy people are no longer anxious, their behavior

20
will change and they will no longer be shy.

In his public lectures James McCroskey often offers as an example of how anxiety works, the
case of the basketball player who clutches at the free-throw line because he fears failure.
When anxiety is removed, the basketball player regains his former skill. Simple enough.
However, if a person who could never sink free throws was anxious about it, removal of the
anxiety would not confer the skill he never had. If his survival depended on basket shooting,
it would be necessary for him to learn how to do it. Anxiety could impede both learning a
skill and performing it, but success would be contingent on learning the skill.

The successful basketball player legitimately believes he can sink baskets because he has
already done so. Each basket he sinks reinforces his belief that he can do it. On the other
hand, if an inept player believed he was skillful, it would have no effect on his skill. Neither
the skill nor the belief can exist apart from each other.
The analogy holds for social skill. Successful communicators believe they can do well
because they have done well. They are not anxious because they are confident. This is an
intriguing tautology; confidence is the absence of anxiety. Those who avoid social contact
because they are fearful, because they know they are inept must (1) learn how to try, (2) try,
(3) have some success. At that point they can be disillusioned of their anxiety. Merely
removing the anxiety would not make them skillful. A few people may be so anxious they
may have to control their anxiety even to begin learning.

In Brief, social repertoires make a difference. A person might be anxious in one situation
simply because he lacks the technique to manage it. Another person might be anxious in the
same situation because she had tried and failed on a previous occasion.

Self-esteem. Self-esteem is an elusive concept. It refers to the notion that the way people
evaluate themselves affects their social behavior. Presumably, people with high self-esteem
are willing to take risks because they believe they can succeed. People with low self-esteem
anticipate failure and take few chances. The phrase is tautological, however. It is not clear
whether we ascribe low self-esteem to people we think perform ineptly, or we respond to
people who claim low self-esteem by regarding any of their behavior as inept. The association
between low self-esteem and shyness is frequently made, but it is not clear which causes
which. For Abraham Maslow (1954), high self-esteem comes from success and those who
lose consistently have low self-esteem. Because they have often failed, they predict failure for

21
themselves in subsequent endeavors.

Marginality. Klutziness is not a trivial matter. People are rejected if they cannot meet the
norms of social behavior in a given group. The term marginal is used to describe people who
seek to be accommodated in a new social setting but play so badly they are not accepted by
the members. They either do not know the rules or follow them awkwardly. They are
somewhat like freshmen in a fraternity house. Often they overdo what they think they should
do, but mostly, they hang back and watch. Many, like immigrants, for example, never learn to
play well and remain marginal throughout their lives.
Furthermore, it is, theoretically, fairly easy to deal with representatives of other ethnic groups
because we expect them to act differently. We expect the people in our own social groups to
act as we do and we are uncomfortable when they do not. Shy people learn that they are safe
so long as they follow the prevailing etiquette. They try to be neutral. To avoid klutzy
behavior, they do not behave at all. The operating rules for shy people who wish to be
included, if not necessarily accepted, are listen silently, do not interrupt, and nod as if you
understand.

4.2 - Incompetent discourse

It is a situation that can arise from a number of disorderly processes and conditions, some of
which are amenable to modification through teaching, and some of which are not.

Genetic Inheritance: This varies from speaker to speaker. This does not doom a speaker to
competence or incompetence, but if propensities are evident, compensations can and must
be made. This is especially important with genuine speech defects.
Faulty Learning: This can affect any component of the process. Parental modeling and
instruction, learning and schooling shape the process of thinking that underlies the
composition of discourse. Failure to provide training in the techniques of effective discourse
also affects the future attempts at speaking.
Memory Problems: The speaker contains a memory (database) of past experiences and
information with evaluations of the effectiveness of various ploys, strategies, tactics,
clichés, and arguments. Each experience is stored in memory and has an effect (real or
potential) on each subsequent experience. However, memory may be defective; the speaker
may not be skillful with memory aid systems, and most likely, the speaker simply may not
have enough or proper information stored in memory. Therefore, a speaker whose memory

22
fails to exploit past experience in future encounters faces a great probability of discourse
failure.

Problems in Invention: Invention is the process in which the speaker searches through
memory and discovers relevant topics and ideas to be included in discourse. The search of
memory includes a review of past experience, to discover communication situations similar to
the present one from which ideas about content and tactics can be extracted. Potential errors
in invention include ineffective retrieval of information, erroneous interpretation of events,
biased evaluations, inadequate assessment of potential listeners, and inadequate analysis of
the social scene in which discourse is to be presented. This may result in defective goal
setting and erroneous audience analysis.

It is important to remember that deficiencies in social discourse are damaging to the

individual. We used and continue to use shyness as our main example, but the reader must
remember that rhetorical incompetence could include shyness, talkativeness, poor timing,
bragging, defective memory, lack of information, and so on.
A cognitive theory:

Aaron Beck's (1976) book on the treatment of depression is based on the premise that, in
order to improve, a speaker must understand both her own life situation and the world in
which she lives. Philosophically speaking, people live in worlds created out of their own
experience. When they encounter new situations, they draw on the memory of similar
situations they have experienced in the past. Some people, however, appear to have trouble
finding appropriate analogies. They may not have experience in situations that serve as
precedents, or they may erroneously ascribe reasons for their success or failure. They may not
even understand how communication is used in social life or be able to make an appropriate
selection of a strategy to use. Because of this intellectual confusion, they may refrain from
social participation or restrict themselves to simple and safe responses.

_______________________________
Phillips, Gerald M.; Kelly, Lynne; Rubin, Rebecca B.; Communication Incompetencies: A Theory of Training Oral
Performance Behavior. Southern Illinois University Press: 1991. Pp. 01-13.

23
 Analyzing the audience:

Checklist: Identifying the audience

Who will be in the audience? (e.g., lecturer, peers, colleagues, potential employers,
practising professionals, general public)
What will the audience already know about the subject? (lots, a bit, not much)
Will they be interested in it? Why should they be?
What will they expect from the presentation?
How much background should I present so that they will understand the current
situation?
Has anyone else talked to them about this subject, and if so, what did they say? Can
I build on what has gone before?
Will they be receptive or hostile towards the subject? How will I deal with this?
Will they know anything about me? What will they need to know?
Should my presentation be formal or informal?

 Strategies for analyzing the audience

When preparing the presentation, it is useful for students to anticipate how their audience may
respond. Analysis of likely audience composition will help achieve this.

 Audience demographics:
 What cultural factors will influence how the audience receives the message?
 What is the average age of the audience?
 What gender is the audience?
 What are the educational and intellectual levels of the audience?
 What are the occupations, incomes, and status of the audience?
 What are the religious affiliations of the audience?
 What are the political affiliations of the audience?
 Physical analysis:
 What is the size of the audience? A larger audience suggests a more formal presentation,
while a smaller audience allows speakers to be less formal.
 Where will the presentation be delivered? Know if you will be speaking indoors or
outdoors and whether you will be able to utilize technology if your presentation calls for
it.
 What is the occasion of this presentation? Are you an invited guest or someone the
audience has to listen to?
 What time of the day will the presentation be given? Obviously, it is important to
consider this, as speakers will have different expectations of a morning audience and an
afternoon audience. Be sure to tailor the message to the time of day.
 What is the sequence of events? Will the presentation be first, in the middle, or last?
This is important to know so that you will be able to adapt to other messages and plan
your time accordingly.
 Psychological analysis

24
  How willing is the audience to listen to the message? If they are compelled to be there,
be sure to give them specific reasons to listen.
 How favourable is the audience towards you and the topic? If you think that your
audience will be unfavourable, stress commonalities of interest.
 How knowledgeable is the audience? Don‘t talk down to your audience or talk over their
heads so that no one understands what you are saying.
 How homogenous is your audience? If the audience is made up of people with similar
backgrounds and interests, it is easier to conduct an audience analysis. If your audience
is made up of individuals who have different attitudes, values, and beliefs, it is more
difficult to determine how you can persuade everyone.

Adapted from: Charlesworth, D. (2000). Strategies for Analyzing your Audience. Southeast Missouri State University.
(Retrieved from the World Wide Web 16 September 2004) http://ustudies.semo.edu/oralcom/str_anal_audience.htm

Giving Constructive Feedback:

Types of feedback
 Positive – simple praise and reinforces why/how the other did well.
 Constructive – how the other can do better, sensitively delivered, focus on observable facts.
 Negative – describes a perceived negative behaviour without proposing a solution, destructive,
happens accidentally or aimed at terminating relationship.

 Why it can be difficult to provide honest feedback?

It is normally not difficult to give positive feedback to people doing well or in general, to give
information that people want to hear. Most of us can do this fairly well. However, giving
negative or critical feedback, or information that people do not want to hear, can be much
more problematic. Nevertheless, it is critical that feedback be honest.
 Why are practice educators – and others, so reluctant to provide feedback?
The reasons are many:
• Fear of the other person's reaction. People can become defensive and emotional when
confronted with critical feedback, as their basic needs to feel competent and accurate are
threatened. Some practice educators are fearful of the reaction.
• The practice educator may feel that they do not have enough concrete, objective evidence to
back up their feedback, should the student refuse to accept it.
• Fear of causing tension in the work environment.
• Many practice educators would prefer to take on the role of a supportive coach rather than a
judge. However, giving feedback often forces a change in this role.
 Feedback Skills:
It is important to note however that practice educators owe their students nothing less than
clear, honest, concise feedback, so they know where they stand at all times.

Students simply will not develop their full potential if practice educators fail to tell them
where they need improvement. Honest feedback allows the student to know where they are
and what steps they can take to improve themselves.
Feedback can also be reinforcing. If given properly, feedback is almost always appreciated
and motivates people to improve. Honest feedback can also strengthen the credibility of the
practice educator.
However, it is also important that feedback is given in a supportive and encouraging way, so
that the student does not feel constantly criticized, afraid and tense.

25
There are a number of guidelines toward giving feedback effectively, i.e. so that it can be used
constructively rather than incurring overly defensive reactions. The following points are
recommended by Levinson (quoted in Goleman, 1996 p.153):
• Be Specific: Feedback should highlight specific events or examples rather than just general
advice. It should also be specific about what the person did. (Avoid generalizations i.e. words
such as ‗never‘, ‗always‘, ‗all‘ etc).
• Offer a solution: Feedback should suggest ways of resolving any problems. There is little or
no point in offering negative feedback where there is no way that a person can improve.
• Deliver the feedback face to face.
• Be sensitive: This is simply a reminder that feedback, even negative feedback, should be
delivered in a positive way rather than simply attacking the other person.
Further guidelines are given by Wertheim (2005)
• Be problem oriented, not people oriented: Feedback should focus on issues, not the person
since the individual usually has little control over personality. It is important that we refer to
what a person does rather than to what we think he is
• Be descriptive, not evaluative: People more readily receive information if the sender
describes what happened and communicates the personal effect it had, as opposed to
evaluating its goodness or badness, rightness or wrongness.
• Own rather than disown the feedback. Use "I have a problem with your work", not "others
have been complaining".
• Check with the other, that they understand what has been said. Check whether they are
willing and able to accept it. One way of checking understanding is to have the receiver try to
rephrase the feedback. No matter what the intent, feedback is often threatening and thus
subject to considerable distortion or misinterpretation.
• Be open to hear new and possibly disconfirming information: Non-verbal behaviours such
as tone of voice, facial expression, posture and gestures, as well as choice of words are crucial
here.
• Be Validating, not invalidating, and supportive. It is important to acknowledge the other
person's uniqueness and importance.
• Feedback should be helpful to the receiver and directed toward behaviour which the
receiver can do something about. A person gets frustrated when reminded of some
shortcoming over which he has no control. Ideally feedback should be solicited, not imposed.
• Feedback is useful when well timed (soon after the behaviour; depending, of course, on the
person's readiness to hear it, support available from others, and so forth). Excellent feedback
presented at an inappropriate time may do more harm than good.
• It involves the amount of information the receiver can use rather than the amount we
would like to give. To overload a person with feedback is to reduce the possibility that he may
be able to use what he receives effectively. When we give more than can be used, we are
more often than not satisfying some need of our own rather than helping the other person.
Still further characteristics of effective feedback beyond those mentioned, are offered by
McClure (2005, P.9):
• Feedback should be regular.
• It should be reciprocal.
• It should include recommendations for improvement.
• It should deal with decisions and action rather than assumed intentions or interpretations.
• It should be based on information which is objective by first hand observation.

To conclude…
Better ways of giving a feedback:
 Focus on the person‘s behavior not the personality.

26
  Feedback should focus on issues not the person.
 If possible give feedback in private.
 Feedback is useful when well timed.
 Describe, do not negatively evaluate.
 Be specific, not general.
 Use ‗feedback sandwich‘

Receiving feedback with grace and dignity

 Discuss the feedback with those whose opinions you respect.
 Be attentive to the person giving feedback.
 Take it as a sincere gift that will help you grow.
 Take notes, record the words the giver used.
 Ask for examples to support the point.
 Avoid being defensive.
 Stay calm.

Summary of this section:

• While giving negative or critical feedback can be difficult, it is nevertheless vital that such
feedback is given honestly, in order to allow the student to know where they are and what
steps they can take to improve their work.
• People are likely to become defensive when they feel threatened or attacked, and will be
more concerned with constructing a defence rather than on listening to you.
• When a person feels put-down or insignificant because of the communication with you, they
are likely to invest in attempts to re-establish self-worth; and will be more concerned with
portraying self importance rather than listening to you.
• There are a number of guidelines toward giving feedback effectively, e.g. being specific,
offering a solution, checking it is understood, being descriptive, supportive, validating, open
to receiving feedback and focusing on the problem rather than ‗attacking‘ the person, etc.
• Steps for giving more formal feedback include agreeing when & where the meeting should
occur and what will be discussed; beginning by asking open questions; emphasizing the
constructive purpose of the feedback; being open to receiving both positive and critical
feedback from the student; and developing a plan for improvement.
• It is important to monitor, evaluate and continue to develop feedback effectiveness.

Further Reading:
Marsh, S. et al, (2005) Managing Failing Students in Practice
Making Practice Based Learning Work Learning Material
http://www.practicebasedlearning.org/resources/materials
/docs/reflectiononpractice.pdf

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Start Here

Persuasive speaking

• You want to convince others to vote for a candidate in whom you believe deeply.

• You need to persuade your staff to embrace a new management philosophy.

• As the coach of a soccer team, you want to talk to the teenage players about the dangers of drugs and
persuade them not to experiment.

• You want members of your fraternity to commit to a community service project.

• You want to persuade a potential client to award its account to your company.

• You want to convince the town council not to build a commercial center on the border of your
neighborhood.

Welcome to persuasive speaking

Although most of us won‘t give persuasive speeches regularly, nearly all of us will do so at times. In
some cases, we‘ll be asked to make persuasive presentations. For instance, your manager might want
you to persuade a potential client that your firm can provide it with the best service. In other cases,
your own values and commitments will compel you to speak in an effort to persuade others to ideas or
actions that you think are right or desirable.

In this chapter we‘ll focus on persuasive speaking. As you will discover, much of what you‘ve
learned in previous chapters applies to the specific communicative occasion of persuasive speaking.
First, we‘ll clarify what persuasivespeaking is. Second, we‘ll discuss three cornerstones of persuasion
and means of building your credibility as a speaker. Next, we‘ll identify organizational patterns that
are particularly effective for persuasive speeches. Fourth, we‘ll identify guidelines for effective
persuasive speaking. To close the chapter, we‘ll consider a sample persuasive speech, noting how it
embodies principles covered in this and preceding chapters.

Understanding Persuasive Speaking

Persuasive speeches are presentations that aim to change others by prompting them to think, feel, or
act differently. You may want to change people‘s attitudes toward policies, candidates for office, or
groups of people. You may want to alter the strength of attitudes toward or against particular ideas,
people, or policies. You may want to change how people act, perhaps convincing them not to smoke or
drink, to use seatbelts, to donate blood, or to volunteer for community service. In each case, your
goal is persuasive: You aim to change the people with whom you speak.

In thinking about persuasive speaking, it‘s important to keep three characteristics in mind (Table
17.1). First, like all other communication, persuasive speaking is interactive. The transactional model
of communication that we discussed in Chapter 1 is as relevant to persuasive speaking as to other

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kinds of communication. Effective persuasion is not something speakers do to listeners. Instead, it is
engagement between a speaker and listeners. Although the speaker may be in the spotlight, the
listeners are very much part of effective persuasive speaking, from planning to delivery. Speakers
should consider listeners‘ experiences, expectations, values, and attitudes when they first think about
topics and how to approach them. In developing strong persuasive speeches, speakers need to keep
listeners in mind: What kinds of evidence will they find impressive? Which experts will they respect?
What is likely to lead these particular listeners to respect the speaker? In delivering persuasive
speeches, speakers need to establish and maintain visual and personal connections with listeners and
respond to feedback. After a persuasive speech, listeners may ask questions. Effective speakers
respond in an open-minded manner that demonstrates respect for listeners. Throughout persuasive
speaking, then, speakers and listeners are engaged in a transactional communicative process.

Persuasion is also not the same as coercion, or force. The great rhetorical scholar Aristotle
distinguished between what he called inartistic proofs and artistic proofs. Aristotle taught that
persuasion relies on artistic, not inartistic, proofs. An inartistic proof is one that doesn‘t require any art
or skill on our part. We don‘t have to consider or respect others to get what we want using inartistic
proofs. For instance, if you hold a gun to someone‘s head and say, ―Give me $100 or I‘ll shoot you,‖
you may get the money. In that sense, you‘ve been effective, although you might wind up in jail
for breaking the law.

However, you haven‘t been artistic, and you haven‘t engaged in persuasion. To do that, you would
need to provide the other person with reasons that convince her or him to give you the money. You
would use reasons and words to motivate—not force—the other to do what you want.

Finally, persuasive impact usually is gradual, or incremental. Although sometimes people

undergo rapid, radical changes, that‘s the exception more than the rule. Usually, we move
gradually toward new ideas, attitudes, and actions. When we hear a persuasive speech, we compare
its arguments with our experience and knowledge. If the speaker offers strong arguments, good
evidence, and a coherent organization, we may shift our attitudes or behaviors. If we later encounter
additional persuasion, we may shift our attitudes further. Over time and with repeated encounters with
persuasive material, we may change our attitude or behaviors.

Qualities of Persuasive Speaking

Figure 8.1 Qualities of Persuasive Speaking

• Is interactive between speaker and listeners

• Is not coercive
• Impact usually is incremental or gradual

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This incremental character of persuasion suggests that to be effective, speakers should
understand the attitudes and behaviors of listeners and adapt the persuasive goal accordingly. For
example, assume you believe the electoral college should be abandoned in national elections, and you
want to persuade others to your point of view. How would an effective persuasive speech differ if you
knew in advance that listeners strongly favored the current electoral college system or if you knew that
they already have some reservations about the electoral system? The incremental nature of persuasion
suggests that it would be unrealistic and ineffective to try to persuade listeners in the first case to
support repeal of the electoral college. A more realistic and effective initial speaking goal would be to
persuade listeners that there are some disadvantages to the current electoral system. In this instance,
you would be effective if you could reduce the strength of their position favoring the electoral college.
In the second case, it might be appropriate to try to persuade listeners to sign a petition advocating
abolition of the electoral system. Because the second group of listeners already have reservations, you
can build on those and lead them closer to a particular action.

Now that we have a foundation for understanding persuasive speaking, we‘re ready to consider how
the process works.

The Three Cornerstones of Persuasion

The cornerstones of effective persuasion were identified more than 2,000 years ago. Teachers in
ancient Greece and Rome understood that effective speaking, especially persuasive speaking, is
essential to democratic societies. Thus, learning to speak effectively and persuasively was central to
the education of citizens. These ancient teachers recognized three cornerstones of persuasion, which
are also called three forms of proof, or reasons people believe.

One of the greatest ancient teachers was Aristotle. He labeled these three kinds of proof ethos,
pathos, and logos (Kennedy, 1991). Although these three forms of proof are also important in
other kinds of speaking, they assume special prominence when we engage in persuasion
(Figure 8.1). We‘ll discuss each of these and why it contributes to persuasive impact.

Ethos

Ethos refers to the perceived personal character of the speaker. We are more likely to believe the
words of people whom we think are good and ethical. We tend to attribute high ethos to people if we
perceive that

• They have integrity

• They can be trusted
• They have good will toward us
• They know what they are talking about
• They are committed to the topic (show enthusiasm, dynamism)

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Listeners will have confidence in you and what you say if they think you mean well, are trustworthy,
have relevant expertise, care about your topic, and have good character. Conversely, listeners are
likely not to place confidence in speakers they think are uniformed, uninvolved with the topic,
untrustworthy, manipulative, or otherwise of poor character.

–Carl–

Last year I had a teacher who didn‘t know anything about the subject. She made a lot of
really vague statements and when we tried to pin her down on specifics, she would blow
off hot air—saying nothing at all. Nobody in the class thought she had any credibility.

Because ethos is critical to persuasive impact, you should do what you can to demonstrate to your
listeners that you are of good character. Table 8.2 identifies specific ways that you can influence
listeners‘ perceptions of your ethos.

Table 8.2:

Dimensions of Ethos Ways to Demonstrate

-Identify common ground between you and listeners
-Show respect for listeners‘ attitudes and experiences
Good will toward listeners
-Show that what you‘re saying will benefit them

-Provide strong support for your claims

-Document sources of support
Expertise
-Address concerns or objections to your position
-Demonstrate personal knowledge of the topic
-Be ethical in using supporting materials
-Fairly address other points of view
Trustworthiness
-Demonstrate that you care about listeners

-Speak with strong volume and inflection

-Assume a confident posture
Dynamism -Use gestures and kinesics to enhance forcefulness
-Be energetic in presentation

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 Pathos

The second reason people believe speakers is pathos. Pathos refers to emotional proofs, or reasons to
believe in something. Logical proofs are not the only ones that affect what we believe. We are also
influenced by our feelings: passions, personal values, and perceptions. Emotional proofs address
the more subjective reasons we believe in people, ideas, causes, and particular courses of action

Aristotle taught his rhetoric students that emotions can affect judgments, including whether listeners
agree with what a persuasive speaker advocates. In preparing your persuasive presentation, you want
to develop ways to help your listeners not just understand your ideas but also feel something about
them.

You may want them to feel positively about what you advocate. You may want them to feel negatively
about some problem you are seeking to solve. You may want them to feel outraged about an injustice,
compelled to help others, or afraid of a policy or possibility. Arousing feelings such as these adds to
the persuasive impact of your speech. Table 17.3 identifies concrete ways to enhance pathos in your
speech.

–Melanie–

Last night I saw an ad on television that was asking viewers to help children who were
starving in other countries. At first, I paid attention, but it just went over the top. The
pictures were so heartbreaking that I just couldn‘t watch. I felt disgusted and guilty and
mainly, mainly what I really felt was turned off.

Melanie makes an important point. Appeals to emotions are powerful— and dangerous. They easily
alienate listeners instead of involving them. We don‘t like to feel bad, to feel unpleasant emotions, so
we‘re likely to tune them out, as Melanie did. Emotions that tend to lead to discomfort include fear
and guilt, so speakers should be very cautious in appealing to them. You may want your listeners to
fear what will happen if they don‘t do what you advocate, but you don‘t want them to be so
overwhelmed by fear that they are paralyzed and thus unable to act. If you appeal to listeners‘ fears, do
so in moderation and without excessive dramatics. Guilt can also be both aversive and disabling.

Table 8.3:

Way to Enhance Pathos in Persuasive Speaking Examples

-Include detailed examples of people, situations
that help listeners connect personally with the
topic
-Tell stories that give listeners a sense of being in
Personalize the issue, problem, topic
situations, experiencing problems
-Translate statistics to make them interesting and
personal

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 - Show how what you advocate satisfies listeners‘
needs, is consistent with their values
- Use examples familiar to listeners to tie your
ideas to their values and experiences
Appeal to listeners’ needs and values - Show listeners how doing or believing what you
advocate helps them live up to their values
- Include quotations from people whom listeners
respect

- Use visual aids to give listeners vivid, graphic

understanding of the problem you are addressing,
the dangers of a policy you are opposing, the
desirability of what you advocate
Bring material alive - Use striking quotes from people involved with
your topic
- Rely on strong, vigorous language to paint
pictures for listeners

Generally, it‘s more effective to encourage listeners to do something they will feel good about (send
money to help starving children overseas) than to berate them for what they are or aren‘t doing (eating
well themselves while others starve, not contributing in the past). The bottom line is that you want to
appeal to listeners‘ emotions to get them involved with your speech, not for the sake of emotional
arousal itself.
Logos
The third reason we believe in things is logos, which is rational or logical proofs. For many of
us, logical proofs are what first come to mind when we think about persuasion. We provide logical
proofs when we offer arguments, reasoning, and evidence to support claims in persuasive speeches.
Forms of Reasoning

Most reasoning can be divided into one of two basic forms. Inductive reasoning begins with
specific examples and uses them to draw a general conclusion. Deductive reasoning begins with a
conclusion and then shows how it applies to specific examples. Suppose you want to present a speech
arguing that global temperature change is damaging our environment. To reason inductively, you
would start by citing specific places where global climate change is occurring and document the
harm in each case.

Then you would advance the general conclusion that global climate change threatens life on our
planet. Reasoning deductively, you would reverse that order, beginning with the general conclusion
and then showing how it is supported by specific cases.

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 Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
Inductive Deductive

Ice is melting on Alaska’s North Slope, causing We must act to prevent further global climate change.
increased temperatures on the plains.
Because
The sea level is rising by 1 inch each year on the
eastern coast. As it does, marshlands and barrier Melting ice on Alaska’s North Slope, is causing rising
islands are being destroyed. temperatures on the plains.

The ozone layer is thinning, allowing more harmful Rising sea levels on the east coast are destroying
ultra-violet rays to get through. In turn, these cause marshlands and barrier islands.
skin cancer, cataracts, and weakened immune
systems. The ozone layer is thinning, causing more harmful
ultraviolet rays to get through. These rays cause skin
Therefore cancer, cataracts, and weakened immune systems.

We must act to prevent further global climate change.

The Toulmin Model Another way to think about reasoning was provided by philosopher
Stephen Toulmin (1958; Toulmin, Rieke, & Janik, 1984). Toulmin explained that logical reasoning
consists of three primary components: claims, grounds for the claims, and warrants that connect the
claims and the grounds for them. In addition to these three basic parts of logical reasoning, Toulmin‘s
model includes qualifiers and rebuttals. Figure 17.2 shows the Toulmin model of reasoning.

The first component of Toulmin‘s model is the claim. A claim is an assertion. For instance, you might
advance this claim: ―The death penalty doesn‘t deter crime.‖ On its own, that claim is not convincing.

To give persuasive impact to a claim, you need to provide some grounds for believing it. Grounds are
evidence or data that support the claim. As we saw in Chapter 14, evidence includes examples,
testimony, statistics, analogies, and visual aids. For example, you might cite statistical evidence
showing that crime has not diminished when states enacted the death penalty or that crime has not
risen when states repealed the death penalty.

Consider a second example. You assert the claim that global climate change is harming the planet.
Grounds, or evidence, to support that claim might include statistics to document the occurrence of
global climate change, detailed examples of people whose lives have been negatively affected
by changes in the earth‘s temperature, testimony from distinguished and unbiased scientists, or visual
aids that show changes over time. All these kinds of evidence support your claim that global climate
change is harming our planet.

Grounds are necessary to support claims. However, they aren‘t sufficient. There must be something
that links the grounds to the claim. That something is a warrant, which justifies the relevance of the

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grounds to the claim. You‘ve probably heard the word warrant in connection with law
enforcement. If a police officer wants to search the home of Pat Brown, the officer must
obtain a search warrant from a judge. The officer shows the judge evidence suggesting that Pat Brown
has engaged in criminal activity. If the judge agrees that the evidence links Brown to criminal activity,
a search warrant is issued. However, if the judge thinks the evidence is insufficient to link Brown to
criminal activity, a warrant is not issued.

Warrants operate the same way in persuasive speaking. If listeners perceive your evidence as relevant
to the claim and as supporting it, they‘re likely to believe your claim. Let‘s return to a previous
example. To support your claim that the death penalty does not deter crime, you provide statistics
showing that crime rates do not increase when states repeal the death penalty. If the statistics were
compiled by the Department of Justice, your listeners may perceive them as justifying the claim.
However, if your statistics were compiled by a group dedicated to opposing the death penalty, your
listeners might not accept your claim. In the second case, listeners might perceive the source of the
evidence as biased and therefore not trustworthy. In that case, there would not be a warrant to justify
linking the evidence to the claim.

A qualifier is a word or phrase that limits the scope of your claim. ―Women are more
interpersonally sensitive than men‖ is a very broad claim— so broad that it is difficult to support. A
more supportable claim would be qualified: ―In general, women are more interpersonally sensitive
than men‖ or ―Some women are more sensitive than some men‖ or ―In many situations, women
tend to be more interpersonally sensitive than men.‖ The three qualified claims are more supportable.

Finally, Toulmin‘s model includes rebuttal, which anticipates and addresses reservations that listeners
are likely to have about claims. As we‘ve noted repeatedly, effective speakers consider listeners. Part
of the process of considering listeners is to anticipate their reservations or objections to claims that you
will advance. You demonstrate respect for listeners when you acknowledge their reservations
and address them in your speech. In thinking about listeners‘ reservations about the claim that the
death penalty does not deter crime, the speaker might realize that listeners could say to themselves, ―It
may not deter all crimes, but I‘ll bet it deters serious crimes such as homicide.‖ If the speaker has
reason to think listeners may resist the claim on this basis, the speaker would offer a rebuttal to the
reservation. It would be effective for the speaker to cite the New York Times 2000 investigative report
that shows that since 1976 states without the death penalty have not had higher rates of homicide than
states with the death penalty.

Logical proof is essential to effective persuasion. By developing careful reasoning, you should be able
to create logical appeals that are sound, effective, and ethical. Later in this chapter we‘ll discuss some
of the most common kinds of reasoning fallacies so that you can avoid them when you make
persuasive presentations.

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 Building credibility

We‘ve already introduced the term ethos and noted its importance to effectiveness in persuasive
speaking. Now we want to consider ethos in more depth because of its critical role in persuasion.

Understanding Credibility

Another word for ethos is credibility, which is the willingness of others to believe a person has
personal integrity, is positively disposed toward them, and can be trusted. Notice that credibility is tied
to the willingness of others to believe things about a person. This means that a speaker‘s
credibility doesn‘t reside in the speaker. Instead, it is conferred by listeners or not conferred if they
find a speaker untrustworthy, uninformed, or lacking in good will.

In recent years, we‘ve heard a lot about credibility gaps and lack of credibility of national figures. This
means that many people have lost confidence in many politicians and other public figures. They no
longer find many politicians credible. It‘s easy to understand why citizens don‘t find some
national leaders credible. When a senator campaigns on a promise to restrict illegal immigration and
then she or he is found to employ an undocumented alien, credibility withers. Likewise, when
congressional representatives proclaim the importance of fiscal responsibility while bouncing
checks themselves, they lose credibility as advocates of government financial responsibility. We
believe in people who practice what they preach, and we grant credibility to people who seem
to have personal experience with what they talk about.

–Soyana–

The greatest teacher I ever had taught a class in government policies and practices. Before
coming to campus, he had been an adviser to three presidents. He had held a lot of
different offices in government, so what he was teaching us was backed up by personal
experience. Everything he said had so much more weight than what I hear from
professors who‘ve never had any practical experience.

Credibility arises from the three cornerstones of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos. Listeners
are likely to find speakers credible if they demonstrate their personal integrity, establish emotional
meaning for their topics, and present ideas logically and with good evidence.

Types of Credibility

Credibility is not a static quality. Instead, it can change in the course of communication (Figure 17.3).
Have you ever attended a public speech by someone you respected greatly and been disappointed in
the presentation? Did you think less of the speaker after the speech than before? Have you ever gone
to a presentation without knowing much about the speaker and been so impressed by what he or

36
she said that you changed an attitude or behavior? If so, then you know from personal experience that
credibility can increase or decrease as a result of a speech.

Initial Credibility Some speakers have high initial credibility, which is the expertise and
trustworthiness listeners recognize before a presentation begins. Initial credibility is based on titles,
positions, experiences, or achievements that are known to listeners before they hear a speech. For
example, most listeners would grant General Colin Powell high initial credibility on issues of
military goals and strategies. A former inmate of a state prison would have high initial credibility in a
speech on prison conditions.

Derived Credibility In addition to initial credibility, speakers may also gain derived credibility,
which is the expertise and trustworthiness that listeners recognize as a result of how speakers
communicate during presentations. Speakers earn derived credibility by organizing ideas clearly
and logically, including convincing and interesting evidence, and speaking with dynamism and force.
Speakers who are not well known tend not to have high initial credibility, so they must derive
credibility from the quality of what they say.

Terminal Credibility The credibility that a speaker has at the end of a presentation is terminal
credibility, which is the cumulative expertise, goodwill, and trustworthiness listeners recognize in a
speaker. It is a combination of initial and derived credibility. Terminal credibility may be greater or
less than initial credibility, depending on how effectively a speaker communicates.

Building Credibility

As you plan, develop, and present a persuasive speech, you should aim to build your credibility
so that you can be most effective. To summarize what we‘ve discussed about credibility, here are
ways in which you can establish your initial credibility and build it throughout a speech:

• State your qualifications for speaking on this topic: experiences you have had, titles or jobs you hold,
research you have done.

• Show listeners that you care about them—that your speech is relevant to their welfare.

• Appeal to listeners‘ emotions, but be careful of overwhelming or alienating listeners with overly
dramatic appeals.

• Reason carefully, and avoid reasoning fallacies.

• Use effective and ethical supporting materials.

• Use verbal and nonverbal communication to show you care about the topic and are involved with it.

• Respond to questions with open-mindedness and fairness.

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