Verbal and non-verbal means of communication

Communication is the most complex process of interaction between people, aimed at achieving mutual understanding, gaining certain experience. Every day a person rotates in society, comes into contact with colleagues, classmates, households, friends. In order to achieve his goal in communication, a person uses verbal and non-verbal means.

Let's consider these two groups separately.

Verbal Communication: The Functions of Language

Verbal communication is the use of words to convey information. The main instrument is speech.

There are different goals in communication: to make a message, find out the answer, express criticism, express your opinion, stimulate action, come to an agreement, etc. Depending on them, speech is built - oral or written. The language system is being implemented.

Language is a set of symbols and means of their interaction, which act as a tool for expressing feelings and thoughts. The language has the following features:

• Ethnic - language various peoples own, which is their hallmark.
• Constructive - puts thoughts into sentences, sound form. When it is expressed verbally, it acquires clarity and distinctness. The speaker can appreciate it from the outside - what effect it produces.
• Cognitive - expresses the activity of consciousness. A person receives most of the knowledge about the surrounding reality through communication, language.
• Emotional - colors thoughts with the help of intonation, timbre, diction features. The function of the language works at the moments when the speaker seeks to convey a certain emotion.
• Communicative - language as the main means of communication. A full exchange of information between people is ensured.
• Contact-establishing - acquaintance and maintenance of contacts between subjects. Sometimes communication does not carry a specific goal, does not contain useful information, but plays an important role for further relationships, serves as the basis for the emergence of trust.
• Accumulative - through the language a person accumulates and stores the knowledge gained. The subject receives information, wants to remember it for the future. Effective way will make a record, keep a diary, but suitable paper is not always at hand. Word of mouth is also a good method of assimilating information. Although the book, where everything is structured and subordinated to a specific purpose, the meaning is, of course, the most valuable source of important data.

Speech activity: forms of language

Speech activity is a situation in which communication between people occurs due to verbal components, language. There are different types:

• Letter - fixing the content of speech on paper or electronic media.
• Speaking is the use of language to convey a message.
• Reading is the visual perception of information captured on paper or a computer.
• Listening is audio perception of information from speech.

Based on the speech form, communication is oral and written. And if we consider it depending on the number of participants, it can be divided into mass, interpersonal.

There are also literary and non-literary forms of the language, which each nationality has its own, they determine the social and cultural status of the nation. Literary language is exemplary, structured, with stable grammar rules. It is also presented in two forms: oral and written. The first is the speech that sounds, the second can be read. At the same time, oral appeared earlier, was the original one that people began to use. Non-literary speech - dialects of individual nationalities, territorial features of the oral language.

But highest value in the psychology of communication has non-verbal communication. A person unconsciously uses various signs: gestures, facial expressions, intonation, posture, location in space, etc. Let's move on to the consideration of this extensive group.

Non-verbal communication

Non-verbal communication is body language. He does not use speech, but uses other means, which allows him to perform important functions:

1. Emphasis on what's important. Without mentioning unnecessary words, a person can use a gesture or take a certain pose, which will indicate the significance of the moment.
2. Inconsistency. The speaker says one word, but thinks in a completely opposite way. For example, a clown on stage is unsmiling and unhappy in life. The slightest mimicry movements on his face will help to understand this. How to expose a lie if a person seeks to hide it behind an insincere smile.
3. Addition to what has been said. Sometimes each of us accompanies enthusiastic words with a gesture or movement, indicating a strong emotionality of this situation.
4. Instead of words. The subject uses gestures that are understandable to everyone, saving time. For example, shrugging your shoulders or pointing in the direction doesn't require further explanation.
5. Repeat and enhance the effect of speech. A verbal call is sometimes quite emotional, and non-verbal means are designed to emphasize the firmness of your statement. Nodding or shaking the head at the appropriate answer "Yes" or "No" shows confidence and intransigence.

Types of non-verbal means

A large group is kinesthetics - external manifestations of feelings, emotions of a person in the course of communication. This:

• facial expressions
• Gestures
• Pantomime

Gestures and postures

Evaluation by the interlocutors of each other occurs long before the beginning of the conversation itself. A pose, gait, a look can give out in advance a person who is insecure or, on the contrary, self-confident, with claims to power. Gestures usually emphasize the meaning of speech, give it an emotional connotation, place accents, but their overabundance can also spoil the impression, especially in a business meeting. In addition, among different nationalities, the same gestures mean completely opposite phenomena.

Intense gestures determine the emotional state of a person. If his movements are sharp, there are many of them, then the subject is overexcited, agitated, overly interested in conveying his information to the opponent. What can become both its plus and significant disadvantage depending on the circumstances.

Posture plays an important role. If the subject has his arms crossed over his chest, then he is skeptical and does not trust you very much. Perhaps closed, does not want to communicate in principle. If the interlocutor turned his body to you, did not cross his arms and legs, then, on the contrary, he is open and ready to listen. In psychology, for effective communication, it is recommended to mirror the opponent’s posture in order to achieve relaxation and trust from him.

facial expressions

A person's face is the main source of information about his internal state. A frown or a smile are the factors that determine further communication with the subject. Eyes do reflect the human essence. There are seven types of basic emotions, each of which has its own characteristics: for anger, joy, fear, sadness, longing, surprise, disgust. They are easy to remember, identify and then observe in people for a better understanding of the mood of others.

Pantomime

This includes walking. A closed or upset person most often stoops, lowers his head, does not look into his eyes, but prefers to look at his feet. Angry people walk with sharp movements, hurried, but heavy. A confident and cheerful person has a springy gait, or a wide step. It changes depending on how you feel.

There is a section of non-verbal means that takes into account the distance between speakers - proxemics. It determines the comfortable distance between the interlocutors. There are several communication areas:

• Intimate - 15-45 cm. A person lets only those closest to him go there. Intrusion into it by unfamiliar personalities can be perceived as a threat that requires immediate protection.
• Personal - 45-120 cm. Acceptable for good friends, colleagues.
• Social and public - typical for business negotiations, major events and speaking at them from the podium.

Takeshika is a section of communication dedicated to the role of touch. If they are incorrectly applied, not taking into account the difference in social status, age, gender, then you can get into an awkward situation, even become a cause of conflict. A handshake is the most harmless form of touch. It is especially characteristic of men who, through it, check the strength of their opponent. They choose, so to speak, which of them is the most powerful. Sometimes uncertainty, or disgust, or compliance is easily given out when a person shakes only the tips of his fingers.

Voice characteristics

Intonation, volume, timbre, rhythm of the voice can serve as an example of a combination of two types of communication. The same sentence will sound completely different if you alternate listed methods. Both the meaning and the effect on the listener depend on this. Speech may also contain pauses, laughter, sighs, which color it with additional colors.

Let's summarize. It is important to understand that a person unconsciously transmits more than 70% of information to his opponent by non-verbal means. The receiving subject must correctly interpret in order to avoid misunderstandings and quarrels. The perceiver also evaluates the signals sent by the speaker more, perceives them emotionally, but still interprets them not always correctly.

In addition, a person speaks verbally only 80% of what he originally intended to convey. The opponent listens attentively, distinguishing only 60%, and then forgetting about another ten percent of the information. Therefore, it is very important to take into account non-verbal signs in order to remember at least the purpose, the meaning of the message of the addressee, which they so wanted to convey to you.

They teach to express their thoughts with the help of words, at school they teach writing, literacy. But speech and text are not the only ways we can convey information. The very first in our life, natural and simple way of expressing thoughts - with the help of gestures and body language. Throughout our lives, we successfully combine these two modes of communication: verbal and non-verbal communication.

What is verbal communication

- the most familiar way for a person to transmit and receive information through oral or writing. Such communication occurs between two or more people. To reproduce speech, a person has clear diction, a certain vocabulary and knowledge of the rules of communication.

Vocabulary and syntax play an important role in the process of human communication through verbal communication. The first implies a certain set of words belonging to specific language. The second dictates the rules for the formation of thought.

Verbal interaction has two important functions:

1. Significative. With the help of words, a person can present any description, have an idea about any information received. Vocabulary helps a person to analyze the information received, build links between the objects about which information is received, and distribute the degree of significance (main, secondary).
2. Communicative. Its task is to convey attitudes towards received or reproduced information. When speaking, this is expressed with the help of pauses, accents, intonation of the voice. In the letter - accuracy of writing, punctuation marks and text direction.

In spite of greater degree importance of verbal communication in human life, it has a number of disadvantages:

• the inability to formulate one's idea clearly and convey it;
• difficulty in understanding someone else's story;
• misunderstanding of the received information;
• polysemy of the same words;
• language difficulties between native speakers different cultures, religions, ages, etc.

Scientists believe that verbal communication occupies a minimal, in terms of importance, place in human interaction skills. The quantitative indicator of utility is only 15% compared to non-verbal skills. Science has allocated 85% of significance to them.

How to explain the concept of "non-verbal communication"

Non-verbal communications are interactions between individuals without the use of words, linguistic means of communication. To convey thoughts, emotions, a person in this case actively uses body language: facial expressions, posture, visual impact. Non-verbal communications can be unconscious, these include the above methods of transmitting information and special ones. The second includes: the language for the hearing impaired, the deaf and dumb and Morse code.

Body language helps a person create a connection between interlocutors, give meaning to words and express emotions hidden in the text. The key to such communication is honesty. A person who does not know the psychology of such communication is not able to control his emotions and body language. All non-verbal signs have their own character: thoughtful, open, insecure, benevolent, militant, doubting and others.

Important! Understanding possible non-verbal signs gives a person an advantage over the interlocutor.

With such knowledge, he can capture the attention of the public and tune in to his point of view. Businessmen and managers in important negotiations, with the help of the body language of the opponent, decide on his honesty and the correctness of the actions performed.

In a conversation, posture, gestures, body language is of paramount importance. Scientists have found that with differences between verbal information and visual information perceived by a person, it is the latter that will remain in the subconscious. With the help of the interlocutor, he can convince himself that he is right or question his words.

Visual elements include:

• manner of holding (movements, actions in a given situation);
• emotional overtones (hand movements, facial expressions);
• body contact (touching, shaking hands, hugging);
• visual contact (change of pupils, intentness, duration);
• movements (gait, location when in one place);
• reactions (response to some events).

Types of verbal and non-verbal communication

Verbal and non-verbal means of communication refer to the ways of conveying information. Each of them, in turn, has a wide division into types.

Verbal communication involves the presentation of information using words, which is divided into oral presentation and written speech. Each of them, in turn, has subspecies. Oral speech includes:

1. Dialogue (exchange of information between one or more people). It includes:
   • conversation - the exchange of information in the process of simply natural communication;
   • interview - a dialogue process in order to obtain certain professional information;
   • dispute - a verbal exchange of information in order to clarify the situation, discuss the conflict;
   • debate - reasoning in front of an audience in order to obtain a unified position on a particular difficult situation;
   • controversy - a dispute using different scientific opinions.
2. A monologue is a continuous speech by one person. It includes:
   • report - pre-prepared information based on journalistic, scientific materials;
   • lecture - comprehensive coverage of a particular problem by a specialist;
   • speech - a short presentation of pre-prepared information on a specific topic
   • message - a small analytical summary containing information supported by facts.

Written verbal speech is divided into:

• Instant (transmission of textual information immediately after writing, followed by a quick response).
• Delayed (response information is received after a significant period of time or does not come at all).

It is worth noting! In a special category of verbal communication, one can single out a tactile form of communication. Such communication is typical for people with a lack of hearing or vision. At the time of transmission of information, they use the "manual alphabet".

Both verbal and non-verbal communication are studied, which allows using the specific categories to correctly assess communication. As a result of many years of research, there are generally accepted ways of interpreting certain forms of information transfer.

Non-verbal communication also has a number own species communications. These include:

• kinesics - a set of body movements (gestures, postures, facial expressions, views);
• tactile actions - ways of touching the interlocutor;
• sensorics - the perception of the interlocutor from the point of view of the senses (smells, tastes, color combinations, thermal sensations);
• proxemics - communication taking into account the comfort zone (intimate, personal, social or public);
• chronemics - the use of time categories in communication;
• paraverbal communication - the transmission of certain rhythms during communication (rhythm of voice, intonation).

Features of verbal communication

The verbal way of communication is characteristic exclusively for human culture. Only humans can express their thoughts through words. This is what is the main hallmark such a relationship. In addition to it, we can distinguish:

1. variety of styles (business, colloquial, scientific, artistic and others);
2. exclusivity (words can describe any sign system);
3. the ability to tell about a person (culture, level of knowledge, upbringing, character);
4. fixing expressions, phrases for certain cultures, social groups(fascism, communism, nihilism, democracy);
5. the need for implementation in life (lack of verbal communication skills can become an insurmountable obstacle in personal and professional growth).

Features of non-verbal communication

The main feature of non-verbal communication is the difficulty of controlling one's own body movements, hands, facial expressions and other important elements of such communication. Other features of non-verbal communication include:

• duality of signals (there are signs of the body, mimic movements that are accepted all over the world, others will differ, depending on the culture of the population);
• truthfulness (it is impossible to completely hide all the signals that reflect real emotions);
• creating a strong relationship between interlocutors (the overall picture helps people to get a complete picture of a person, to form their attitude towards him);
• strengthening the meaning of words in verbal communication;
• the ability to explain the formed thought before the appearance of suitable verbal descriptions.

How verbal and non-verbal communication helps in everyday life

Verbal and non-verbal interaction are integral parts of each other. Only the combination of these forms of communication gives us a complete picture of the information received. To interact effectively with others, you need to have skills in both of these areas.

Verbal and non-verbal communication give a brief impression of a person a few minutes after the start of communication. The level of proficiency in oral and written speech will tell about the culture and level of intelligence of the individual. Gestures and facial expressions will let you know about emotional state and attitude to the situation.

Not good enough for public speaking. The speaker must have the skills to influence the public. There are certain speech construction techniques that allow you to interest the audience. But words alone are not enough. The speaker must be able to behave in public, make certain gestures, perform movements that attract attention, lure with intonations of the voice.

Verbal and non-verbal means of business communication are integral knowledge of the top management of any company. In many countries, not only directors of companies, but also ordinary managers need to know how a person behaves at the moment of ordinary communication, at an interview and when making important decisions.

With the help of gestures in the course of a conversation, a person may try to explain things that are difficult to reproduce in words. The interlocutor most often perfectly understands what they wanted to convey. Trying to talk with foreigners, not having enough vocabulary, people actively gesticulate when communicating. In mathematical classes, explaining some function, the lecturer can accompany the words with a drawing in the air, for him this is a way to visualize words, for the audience - a little help in understanding.

Finally

Man daily resorts to various forms and methods of communication. This is our natural need. Verbal and non-verbal means of communication briefly provide an opportunity to form a definite opinion about the interlocutor, speaker or opponent from the very first minutes of communication. It is impossible to single out any one, the most important way of transmitting information. Both forms of communication are informative and fully complement each other.

Verbal communication- this is a communicative mutually directed action that takes place between one individual, several subjects or more, which involves the transmission of information of various directions and its reception. In verbal communicative interaction, speech is used as a communication mechanism, which is represented by language systems and is divided into written and oral. The most important requirement for verbal communication is the clarity of pronunciation, clarity of content, accessibility of the presentation of thought.

Verbal communication can cause a positive or negative emotional response. That is why each individual simply needs to know and correctly apply the rules, norms and techniques of speech interaction. For the effectiveness of communications and success in life, any person should master the art of rhetoric.

Verbal and non-verbal communication

As you know, the human being is a social being. That is, the subject can never become a person without society. The interaction of subjects with society occurs through the tools of communication (communication), which can be verbal and non-verbal.

Verbal and non-verbal means of communication provide communicative interaction of individuals all over the world. Although a person has a primary thought, but for its expression and understanding by other individuals, such a tool of verbal communication as speech is needed, which reveals thoughts into words. Indeed, for an individual, a phenomenon or concept begins to exist only if it acquires a definition or name.

The most universal means of communication between people is language, which is the main system that encodes information and an important communication tool.

With the help of words, a person makes clear the meaning of events and the meaning of phenomena, expresses his own thoughts, feelings, positions and worldview. Personality, its language and consciousness are inseparable. However, at the same time, the vast majority of people treat language the same way they treat air, i.e. uses it without noticing. Language quite often overtakes thoughts or does not obey them.

During the communication interaction of people at each stage, barriers arise that impede the effectiveness of communication. Often on the way to mutual understanding is the use of the same words, gestures and other communication tools to define completely different phenomena, things, objects. Such barriers appear due to socio-cultural differences, psychological and other factors. Individual differences in human needs and their system of values ​​often make it impossible to find mutual language even when discussing universal topics.

Violations of the process of communication human interaction cause errors, blunders or failures in the encryption of information, underestimation of worldview, professional, ideological, religious, political, age and gender differences.

In addition, the following factors are incredibly important for human communications: context and subtext, style. So, for example, an unexpected familiar address or cheeky behavior can nullify the entire information richness of the conversation.

However, most of the information about a communication partner is transmitted not with the help of verbal tools, but with the help of non-verbal means. That is, the idea of true feelings subjects draw on the interlocutor and his intentions not from his speech, but from direct observation of the details and manner of his behavior. In other words, interpersonal communication interaction is mainly carried out thanks to a whole range of non-verbal tools - facial expressions and gestures, symbolic communicative signs, spatial and temporal boundaries, intonation and rhythmic characteristics of speech.

As a rule, non-verbal communications are not the result of a conscious behavior, but of subconscious urges. Verbal communication mechanisms are quite difficult to fake, which is why they should be trusted more than verbal formulations.

Verbal and non-verbal means of communication in the course of communication interaction of people are perceived simultaneously (simultaneously), they should be considered as a single complex. In addition, gestures without the use of speech are not always consistent, and speech without facial expressions is empty.

Types of verbal communication

Verbal communication includes externally directed speech, which in turn is divided into written and oral, and internally directed speech. Oral speech can be dialogic or monologue. Inner speech manifests itself in preparation for oral conversation or, especially, for written speech. Written speech can be immediate and delayed. Direct speech occurs when exchanging notes, for example, at a meeting or lecture, and delayed speech occurs when exchanging letters, when it can take quite a long time to receive an answer. The conditions of communication in written speech are strictly mediated by the text.

Also, tactile speech is considered a peculiar form of verbal communication. It includes the manual alphabet, which is a substitute for oral speech and serves for the interaction of deaf or blind persons with each other and people familiar with dactylology. Dactyl speech marks replace letters and resemble printed type letters.

Feedback affects the accuracy of understanding by the person who perceives the information of the meaning of the speaker's statements. Feedback is established only on the condition that the communicator and the recipient will alternately change places. The task of the recipient is to use his statements to make it clear to the communicator how he perceived the meaning of the information. It follows that dialogue speech is a successive change of roles of the communicative interaction of the speakers, during which the meaning of the speech statement is revealed. A monologue speech, on the contrary, can last quite a long time without being interrupted by the remarks of other speakers. It requires preliminary preparation from the speaker. Monologue speech includes lectures, reports, etc.

Important components of the communicative aspect of communication are the ability to accurately, clearly express one's own thoughts and the ability to listen. Since the fuzzy formulation of thoughts leads to a misinterpretation of what was said. And inept listening transforms the meaning of the transmitted information.

Verbal communication also includes the well-known type of interaction - conversation, interview, dispute and discussion, dispute, meeting, etc.

A conversation is a verbal exchange of thoughts, opinions, knowledge, information. A conversation (conversation) involves the presence of two or more participants, whose task is to express their own thoughts and considerations on a given topic in a relaxed atmosphere. Participants in the conversation can ask each other questions in order to familiarize themselves with the position of the interlocutor or clarify incomprehensible points that arose during the discussion. Conversation is especially effective when there is a need to clarify an issue or highlight a problem. An interview is a specially organized conversation on social, professional or scientific topics. A dispute is a public discussion or dispute on a socially important or scientific topic. A discussion is a public dispute, the result of which is the clarification and correlation of different points of view, positions, the search and identification of the correct opinion, finding the right solution to the controversial issue. Argument is the process of exchanging opposing views. That is, it denotes any clash of positions, differences in beliefs and views, a kind of struggle in which each of the participants defends his own rightness.

Also, verbal communication is divided into verbal and interpersonal. is carried out between several individuals, its result is the emergence of psychological contact and a certain relationship between those who communicate. Verbal business communication is a complex multilateral process of developing contacts between people in the professional sphere.

Features of verbal communication

The main feature of verbal communication is that such communication is peculiar only to a person. Verbal communication as an indispensable condition involves mastering the language. Due to its communicative potential, it is much richer than all types of non-verbal communication, although it is not able to completely replace it. The formation of verbal communications initially necessarily relies on non-verbal means of communication.

The main component of communication are the words that were taken by themselves. Verbal interaction is considered the most universal way to translate thoughts. Any message built using a non-verbal sign system can be deciphered or translated into verbal human language. So, for example, the red light of a traffic light can be translated as "traffic is prohibited" or "stop."

The verbal aspect of communication has a complex multi-level structure and can appear in different stylistic variations: dialect, colloquial and literary language, etc. All speech components or other characteristics contribute to the successful or unsuccessful implementation of a communicative act. A person in the process of communication from a wide range of various tools of speech interaction chooses such tools that seem to him the most appropriate for formulating and expressing own thoughts in a specific situation. This is called social choice. Such a process is endless in its diversity.

Words in speech communicative interaction are not ordinary signs that serve to name objects or phenomena. In verbal communication, whole verbal complexes, systems of ideas, religions, myths, characteristic of a particular society or culture, are created and formed.

The way the subject speaks can form an idea in the other participant of the interaction about who such a subject really is. This is more likely to occur when the communicator plays an established social role, such as a company leader, school principal, team captain, and so on. facial expressions, appearance, intonations will correspond to the status social role the speaker and his idea of ​​such a role.

The choice of verbal instruments contributes to the creation and comprehension of certain social situations. So, for example, a compliment will not always indicate that a person looks good, it can simply be a kind of “communicative move”.

The effectiveness and efficiency of verbal interaction is largely determined by the level of mastery of the communicator oratory and his personal characteristics. Today, competent speech is considered the most important component of the professional realization of the individual.

With the help of speech, not only the movement of messages takes place, but also the interaction of participants in the communication process, which in a special way influence each other, direct, orient each other. In other words, they seek to achieve a certain behavioral transformation.

Despite the fact that speech is a universal tool of communicative interaction, it acquires meaning only when included in the activity. Speech must necessarily be supplemented by the use of non-speech sign systems for the effectiveness of interaction. The communication process will be incomplete if non-verbal means are not used.

Communication- this is the interaction of two or more people, which is the exchange of information of a cognitive or emotional-evaluative nature. This exchange is provided by non-verbal and verbal means of communication.

It seems that it could be easier to communicate through speech? But in fact, this process is not easy and ambiguous.

Verbal communicationis the process of exchanging information between people (or groups of people) with the help of speech means. Simply put, verbal communication iscommunication through words, speech.

Of course, in addition to the transmission of specific “dry” information, during verbal communication, peopleinteractwith each other emotionally andaffecteach other, conveying their feelings and emotions in words.

In addition to verbal, there are alsonon-verbalcommunication (transmission of information without words, through facial expressions, gestures, pantomime). But this distinction is conditional. In practice, verbal and non-verbal communication are directly related to each other.

Body language always complements, “illustrates” speech. Pronouncing a certain set of words and trying to convey some idea to the interlocutor through them, a person speaks with a certain intonation, facial expression, gesticulating, changing posture, and so on, that is, helping himself in every possible way and supplementing speech with non-verbal means of communication.

Thoughspeech- it is a universal, rich and expressive means of information exchange, very little information is transmitted through it -less than 35%! Of these, only 7% falls directly on the words, the rest - intonation, tone and other sound means. More65% information is transmitted using non-verbal means of communication!

The priority of non-verbal means of communication is explained by psychologists by the fact that the non-verbal communication channel is simpler, evolutionarily more ancient, spontaneous and difficult to control (after all, non-verbalunconscious). And speech is the result of workconsciousness. Human awarethe meaning of your words as you speak them. Before you say something, you can always (and should) think, but controlling your facial expression or a spontaneous gesture is an order of magnitude harder.

The Importance of Verbal Communication

At personal, emotional-sensory communication is dominated (they are more priority and important) non-verbal means of communication. INbusinessinteraction, the ability to correctly, clearly, clearly convey one’s ideas verbally is more important, that is, the ability to competently build one’s monologue, conduct a dialogue, understand and correctly interpret in the first placespeechanother man.

The ability to competently express yourself, your personality through speech is very important in a business environment. Self-presentation, interviews, long-term cooperation, resolving disagreements and conflicts, finding compromises and other business interaction requires the ability to communicate effectivelythrough words.

If personal relationships are impossible without emotions and feelings, then business communication is for the most partemotionless.If emotions are present in it, then they are either hidden or expressed in the most restrained, ethical form. The literacy of speech and the culture of verbal communication are valued mainly.

But in matters of the heart, the ability totalk and negotiate! Long-term love, friendships and, of course, a strong family are built on the ability to speak, listen and hear each other.

Verbal means of communication

Oralspeech is the main and very important means of verbal communication, but not the only one. Speech is also distinguished as separate verbal means of communication.written And internalspeech (dialogue with oneself).

If you don’t need to learn non-verbal skills (these are innate skills), then verbal means of communication involve the development of certainskills, namely:

• perceive speech,
• listen and hear what the interlocutor says,
• speak competently (monologue) and conduct a conversation (dialogue),
• write well,
• conduct an internal dialogue.

Especiallysuch communication skills are valued how:

• the ability to speak concisely, clearly formulating an idea,
• the ability to speak briefly, to the point,
• the ability not to deviate from the topic, to avoid a large number of “lyrical digressions”,
• the ability to inspire, motivate, convince, motivate speech,
• the ability to interest in speech, to be an interesting interlocutor,
• honesty, the habit of telling the truth and not uttering unverified information (which may turn out to be a lie),
• attentiveness during communication, the ability to accurately retell what was heard,
• the ability to objectively accept and correctly understand what is said by the interlocutor,
• the ability to “translate” the words of the interlocutor, determining for themselves their very essence,
• the ability to take into account the level of intelligence and other individual psychological characteristics of the interlocutor (for example, not to use terms whose meanings the interlocutor probably does not know),
• mood for a positive assessment of the speech of the interlocutor and his personality, the ability to find good intentions of a person even in negative words.

There are many other communication skills that are important for anyone who wants to be successful in their profession and happy in their personal lives.

Barriers to Verbal Communication

What a wonderful interlocutor it would not be possible to become, it must be borne in mind that human speechimperfect.

Verbal communication is the mutual exchange of information in whichalwaysthere are several barriers. The meaning of words is lost, changed, misinterpreted, deliberately changed, and so on. This is because the information coming from the mouth of one person, coming to the second, overcomes several barriers.

Psychologist Predrag Micic in the book "How to have business conversations"described a scheme of gradual impoverishment of information during verbal communication.

The complete information (all 100%) that needs to be conveyed to the interlocutor is contained only in the mind of the speaker. Inner speech is more varied, richer and deeper than outer speech, therefore, already during its transformation into external speech, 10% of information is lost.

This is the first barrier to verbal communication, which Mitsich called"The Limit of the Imagination".A person cannot express everything he wants through words because of their limitations (compared to thoughts).

The second barrier is"Barrier of Desire"Even a thought that is ideally formulated to oneself is not always possible to express out loud the way one wants for various reasons, at least due to the fact that one has to adapt to one’s interlocutor and take into account the situation of communication with him. At this stage, another 10% of information is lost.

The fourth barrier is purely psychological -"Relationship Barrier". What and how one person hears, listening to another, depends on his attitude towards him. As a rule, out of 70% of the information heard, the interlocutor understands only 60% precisely for the reason that the need to logically comprehend what is heard is mixed with a personal attitude towards the speaker.

And finally, the last barrier -“memory capacity”. This is not so much a barrier to direct verbal communication as human memory. In memory, on average, only about25-10% information received from another person.

This is how out of 100% of the information that was originally in the mind of one person, only 10% is transmitted to another.

That is why it is so important to convey your thought as accurately and fully as possible, to convey it clearly and unambiguously, to express it in words understandable to the interlocutor, to try to make him hear, understand and remember what was said.

Humans have an undeniable advantage over other life forms: they can communicate. Education, training, work, relationships with friends and family - all this is done through communication. Someone can enjoy communication, someone can not, but we cannot deny the existence of such a positive communication process in every sense. Communication is considered one of the main forms of human social activity. In the process of communication, what one person knew and was able to do before becomes the property of many people. Communication in the scientific sense is the interaction of people (the impact of people on each other and their responses to this impact) and the exchange of information during this interaction.

There are two groups of ways in which interaction between people can be carried out: verbal and non-verbal means of communication. It is believed that verbal communication provides less information about the goals, the veracity of information and other aspects of communication, while non-verbal manifestations can be used to establish many points that are not customary to advertise in a conversation. But different means of communication are applicable and meaningful depending on the situation. Yes, in business world it is mainly verbal communication that is important, since it is unlikely that the manager will follow his gestures or emotionally react to the next assignment to the employee. In communication with friends, new acquaintances or relatives, non-verbal manifestations are more important, because they give an idea of ​​the feelings and emotions of the interlocutors.

verbal communication.

Verbal communication is carried out with the help of words. Speech is considered a verbal means of communication. We can communicate through written or spoken language. Speech activity is divided into several types: speaking - listening and writing - reading. Both written and oral speech are expressed through language - a special system of signs.

To learn how to communicate effectively and use verbal means of communication, you need not only to improve your speech, know the rules of the Russian language or learn foreign languages although it is certainly very important. In this regard, one of the main points is the ability to talk also in a psychological sense. Too often people have various psychological barriers or fear to establish contacts with other people. For successful interaction with society, they need to be identified and overcome in time.

Language and its functions.

Language acts as a tool for expressing people's thoughts and feelings. It is necessary for many aspects human life in society, which is expressed in the following functions:

• Communicative(interaction between people). Language is the main form of full-fledged communication of a person with his own kind.
• accumulative. With the help of language, we can store and accumulate knowledge. If we consider certain person then this is his notebooks, abstracts, creative works. In the context of the global fiction and monuments of writing.
• Cognitive. With the help of language, a person can acquire knowledge contained in books, films, or the minds of other people.
• constructive. With the help of language, it is easy to form thoughts, to clothe them in a material, clear and concrete form (either in the form of an oral verbal expression or in the form of a written one).
• ethnic. Language allows you to unite peoples, communities and other groups of people.
• emotional. With the help of language, one can express emotions and feelings, and here it is their direct expression with the help of words that is considered. But basically this function, of course, is performed by non-verbal means of communication.

Non-verbal communication.

Non-verbal means of communication are necessary for people to be clear in understanding each other. Naturally, non-verbal manifestations concern only oral communication. Since the external non-verbal expression of emotions and feelings performed by the body is also a certain set of symbols and signs, it is often called "body language".

"Body language" and its functions.

Non-verbal expressions are very important in human interaction. Their main functions are as follows:

• Completion of the spoken message. If a person reports victory in some business, he may additionally throw his hands over his head in victory or even jump for joy.
• Repetition of what has been said. This enhances the oral message and its emotional component. So, when answering “Yes, this is so” or “No, I don’t agree”, you can repeat the meaning of the message also in a gesture: with a nod of the head or, conversely, by shaking from side to side as a sign of denial.
• An expression of the contradiction between word and deed. A person can say one thing, but feel completely different at the same time, for example, joking out loud and feeling sad in the shower. It is non-verbal means of communication that make it possible to understand this.
• Focus on something. Instead of the words "attention", "note", etc. you can show a gesture that attracts attention. So, a gesture with an outstretched index finger on a raised hand shows the importance of the text spoken at the same time.
• Word replacement. Sometimes some gestures or expressions of facial expressions can completely replace a certain text. When a person shrugged his shoulders or indicated a direction with his hand, it is no longer necessary to say “I don’t know” or “left-right”.

Variety of non-verbal means of communication.

In non-verbal communication, some elements can be distinguished:

• Gestures and posture. People evaluate each other even before they speak. So, with just a pose or gait, you can create the impression of a self-confident or, conversely, a fussy person. Gestures allow you to emphasize the meaning of what was said, place accents, express emotions, but you need to remember that, for example, in business communication there shouldn't be too many of them. Also important is that different nations can have the same gestures that mean completely different things.
• facial expressions, look and facial expression. A person's face is the main transmitter of information about a person's mood, emotions and feelings. The eyes are generally called the mirror of the soul. It is not for nothing that many activities to develop understanding of emotions in children begin with recognizing basic feelings (anger, fear, joy, surprise, sadness, etc.) from faces in photographs.
• Distance between interlocutors and touch. The distance at which it is comfortable for a person to communicate with others, and the possibility of touching, people determine for themselves, depending on the degree of proximity of one or another interlocutor.
• Intonation and voice characteristics. This element of communication seems to combine verbal and non-verbal means of communication. With the help of different intonation, volume, timbre, tone and rhythm of the voice, the same phrase can be pronounced so differently that the meaning of the message will change directly to the opposite.

It is important to balance verbal and non-verbal forms of communication in your speech. This will allow you to convey your information to the interlocutor as fully as possible and understand his messages. If a person speaks unemotionally and monotonously, his speech quickly tires. Conversely, when a person actively gesticulates, often inserts interjections and only occasionally says words, this can overload the perception of the interlocutor, which will push him away from such an expressive communication partner.