There are many things happening in the communication process. A person must be attentive to what a speaker says or acts for him/ her to interpret the words or actions and reply or react properly. Thus, being observant is an important trait of a person in any oral communication activities.
Whatever context a person is involved in whether face to face or online or interpersonal or mass communication, he/ she must be able to examine how the elements of communication are utilized in activity and if the purpose is achieved or not.
By being analytical and critical to any communication activity, one can be a good communicator as he/ she knows what the interaction is all about, how it takes place, who are the people involved, what made it successful, what went wrong, or what are the things that must be improved.
To prepare you for various speaking tasks in the subject, you are going to watch or observe different oral communication activities.
The following are the questions you may use in examining an oral communication activity:
- Who are involved in the activity?
- What is the context of the activity?
- What is the purpose of the speaker/s?
- What are the verbal and nonverbal elements and cues used by the speaker/s in conveying the message?
When we communicate with other people, we need to note that there are numerous ways a speaker conveys his/ her thoughts. These are signals we can interpret for us to better understand the message and respond to him/her properly. A speaker uses verbal and nonverbal cues that we need pay attention to.
A verbal cue is a prompt using words that aims to capture listener’s attention making him/her respond. As a speaker, it is important to grab the attention of the person or people you talk to and make them focus and guided in the process. Some cues are direct as they are literally stated while some are indirect that requires inferencing.
On the other hand, a nonverbal cue is using body movements/ language and other signals such as appearance, space and time. These are observable as people communicate with these.
To better understand these cues, here is an example of examining oral communication activity.
When you are watching a vlog, you notice that a vlogger starts his/ her vlog with greetings. Eventually, he/ she will state the purpose of the episode such as visiting a place or establishment or trying an activity. You observe how the person is excited through gestures. You and the viewers are informed of what will happen in the entire vlog. You are also guided as the vlogger states sequencing. You can determine if the video is about to end when the vlogger bids goodbye through saying it or by waving.
5. Did the speaker/s effectively use the cues in conveying the message?
6. Was the communication activity successful? If not, what went wrong?
Your evaluation must be objective. Be analytical and critical, but you must not be biased and disrespectful when giving remarks.
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