Verbal Messages

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Zooming in on the Principles of Verbal Messages

One thing that differentiates humans to animals is our ability to communicate using words . People has developed language with its phonological or sound system its semantic system , or system of word meanings and its syntactic system , which enables us to put words into meaningful sentence patterns . Fact is that verbal communication is essential in virtually all of our endeavors for all humans because we use these messages both in our private and public life

. Both writing and speaking rely on the use of language through verbal messages . Verbal communication comprises just one of the two major codes of communication , where the other is nonverbal communication . For our interest in studying verbal communication , there are five principles that can help us understand the dynamics of verbal 1 . Messages are Denotative and Connotative - The agreed-upon meaning or dictionary meaning is called the denotative meaning . Including a word in the dictionary , however , neither keeps the meaning from changing nor tells you the connotative meaning - an individualized or personalized meaning that may be emotionally-laden . Connotative meanings are meanings others have come to hold because of a personal or individual experience with a word . For example , the word love ' holds vastly different meanings for people because of their unique experiences with that concept . For Alice , love can be a wonderful feeling that she feels towards her family . However , for Nathan , love can be a sorrowful thing because his girlfriend broke his heart . With this , we can say that some verbal messages do not describe objective realities but rather express the speaker 's feelings about people or events

2 . Messages Vary in Abstraction - When we use words to describe things we can often use words that can be general or specific . We can say that in general , love is a wonderful thing ' as a general statement , while you can say specifically that love makes me feel sweaty and jittery inside , like butterflies are in my stomach . Thus , verbal messages can vary from general and abstract to specific and concrete . To convey effective verbal messages , a speaker must use words from a wide range of abstractions . You can also use verbal messages to suit your needs , like using general terms when you do not want other people to know the gory details of your story . You can use specific terms when you want to bestow messages that can be easily understood by everyone

3 . Messages Vary in Directness - Anyone can give either direct or indirect messages , depending on the situation they are in . For example teachers want their messages to be direct when talking to their students . When the teacher says Stand up ' in class , students must follow this direct message , which is a very clear and direct statement that commands them to rise from their seats . On the other hand indirect verbal messages can be used as not to offend someone . For example , when you see someone you knew has gotten...