When I say “public speaking” what comes to mind? Dread? Nervousness? Excitement? “Public speaking” often brings uneasy feelings to first year students, as standing in front of a classroom ranging from first year to fourth years may seem a lot more intimidating than one full of your long-time high school classmates. You have a well-written and researched speech and you have already sought out a peer review from the Writing and Communication Centre, but the easy part is over. Delivering your speech involves more than a professional tone and a confident voice; you will convey the real impact of your message through nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication is the communication we engage in that isn’t written or spoken language, but still creates meaning. Show Eye contact, one of the most important nonverbal cues, keeps your audience engaged, makes you believable, and opens up communication. Looking at individual members of the audience establishes an interpersonal connection with them. While maintaining eye contact is important, gestures are useful when emphasizing certain points. Gestures are an excellent way to channel your nerves into movement, as long as you ensure they are not repetitive or taking away from your message. Using immediacy behaviours, that is, literally or psychologically making your audience members feel closer to you, can establish more relationships as a speaker. Moving closer to your audience or smiling are simple ways to create a closer relationship between you and your listeners. The audience sees your face before they are going to hear your voice and thus, you have the opportunity to set an emotional tone before you even start speaking. As a speaker, you can decide how your facial expression can alter the atmosphere of your speech in a meaningful way. In many instances, audience members will mimic your emotions, so if you want your audience to feel a certain emotion, its best to express that emotion yourself. Although your face and voice play a major role in communicating a specific emotion, your posture will communicate the intensity of that emotion. You might be overwhelmed at the long list of unconscious habits to consider when delivering a speech. Delivering a hard hitting, persuasive or informative speech is not easy, but it is an important and useful skill for your post-secondary education and beyond. If you need ideas, feedback, or strategies in creating and delivering a speech, the Writing and Communication Centre is a hub for practice, development and collaboration that can work with you to help develop your individual voice in your academic work. With practice, knowledge and a bit of help, public speaking does not have to be a daunting task, but an opportunity to share your ideas and leave a memorable impression as a speaker.
Learning Objectives
Verbal communication is perhaps the most obvious and understood mode of communication, and it is certainly a powerful tool in your communication toolbox. Put simply, verbal communication is the sharing of information between two individuals using words. Spoken versus Written CommunicationWhile we typically focus on speech while talking about verbal communication, it’s important to remember that writing is also a form of verbal communication. After all, writing uses words too! Imagine for a moment that you’re a college student who is struggling with material in a class. Rather than simply giving up, you decide that you’re going to ask your instructor for the guidance you need to make it through the end of the semester. Now, you have a few choices for using verbal communication to do this. You might choose to call your instructor, if they’ve provided contact information, or talk to them in person after class or during office hours. You may take a different approach and send them an email. You can probably identify your own list of pros and cons for each of these approaches. But really, what’s the difference between writing and talking in these situations? Let’s look at four of the major differences between the two:
Benefits of Spoken CommunicationSpoken communication can be a conversation, a meeting, or even a speech. Spoken communication is powerful in that it allows for input from every part of the social communication model. You encode your thoughts into the spoken word and look to your audience to decode and take the message in. You can ask for feedback directly to confirm understanding of your message. In a world where we do most of our talking by email and text, spoken communication is a breath of fresh air. Leverage the power of spoken communication to create relationships—you can establish a rapport and a sense of trust with your audience when you speak with them. Spoken communication allows you to bond on a more emotional level with your listeners. Spoken communication also makes it easier to ensure understanding by addressing objections and clearing up misunderstandings: you can adjust your message as you communicate it, based on the feedback you’re getting from your audience. Spoken communication allows you to walk away from a conversation with a higher degree of certainty that your message was received. Verbal communication is a powerful tool, and it’s made even more powerful when paired with listening and nonverbal communication. Nonverbal CommunicationWe’ve already employed a little bit of nonverbal communication with the active listening skills we’ve previously discussed: nodding, facial expressions, leaning toward the speaker to show interest—all of those are forms of nonverbal communication. Body language can reinforce your spoken message or it can contradict it entirely. There’s a myth that says that when you speak, only 35 percent of your communication is verbal and 65 percent of it is nonverbal. That’s not entirely true because so much depends on the context and situation. It is, however, absolutely true that nonverbal communication can make or break your message. Here are some types of nonverbal communication and the effects they can have on the success of your communication:
Nonverbal communication reveals a lot about you as a communicator and how you relate to other people. It pays to be aware of the elements of your nonverbal communication so you can maximize the impact of your message. Contribute!Did you have an idea for improving this content? We’d love your input. Improve this pageLearn More |