The advantages and disadvantages of verbal communication are discussed here in this article. Verbal Communication is referred to as a mode of communication that involves the help of words which eases your way through the process of conveying your ideas, thoughts, feelings and the objective to a another person in a clear, precise, brief and a straight forward manner. Verbal Communication can be done in forms of speaking or listening that is oral communication and writing the text or reading the text. Yes, written form of communication is a part of verbal communication as well. It’s a wrong notion to consider only oral communication as verbal.
All the above mentioned modes involves the use of words which fulfills the main idea of verbal communication.
Example: orally conveyed speeches, debates, orders and many more comes under the category of verbal communication (oral) and written exams, interviews, printed articles, written orders, text messages all are categorized under written form of verbal communication as all of them uses words as a medium of conveying and exchanging ideas.
Advantages of Verbal Communication
Verbal Communication done in forms of words and content can be of a great advantage as it helps to convey your thoughts to a different person and enables you to express whatever you feel like in a way that you want it to be. Communication is the key to survival and at some point in our lives we all need to have healthy and accurate conversation with someone. Some advantages of verbal communication are just mentioned below:
1. QUICK FEEDBACK
Feedback is very necessary in any form of communication and it completes the conversation as the receiver is able to clarify doubts if any at the same time without any delay. Clear and precise message is been delivered to the receiver and there is no discrepancy in the delivered message, therefore no difficulties which is possible in this mode of communication only as it the most convenient form of conveying.
2. LEGALITY OF THE CONTENT
The information conveyed can be saved for future use if conveyed using verbal communication as the information will be communicated in the form of written method. Thus we can have a record of all the important information of the done conversation in case if ever needed in forms of evidence which can be very useful and productive. However this is not the case with oral or non-verbal communication.
3. QUICK EXCHANGE OF IDEAS
Verbal Communication helps you to convey your ideas and thoughts really quick and saves time. There is no back and forth conversation about the information and the ideas exchanged can be precise and to the point where the sender and receiver both can exchange ideas mutually and can understand each other as it is done in a quite simple and basic language and can make changes in the content conveyed. Therefore, it makes the conversations real short with no loss of real ideas and information and obviously saves a lot of time.
4. EFFECTIVE PERSUASION
Use of words is quite useful in the marketing business where you need to persuade the customer about the product and its durability. Verbal Communication helps you achieve this motive as written and oral forms of communication helps in persuasion a little more effectively in comparison with the non-verbal communication. It is more convenient and makes the information look more powerful thus benefitting the business.
5. FASTEST and MOST EFFECTIVE
This kind of communication is the fastest mode of communication where the message conveyed is received by the receiver in no time without any delay and on the spot. The receiver can comprehend the message and can reply quickly as well which makes the conversation more effective with no chaos and loss of information and this can be reliable as well.
Therefore written and oral communication does provide a huge number of benefits in communicating and helps the humans have accurate and error free conversation.
Disadvantages of Verbal Communication
There are pros and cons to everything that is present in the nature and so does this mode of communication has. Due to some barriers and difficulties, sometimes the message conveyed isn’t the same as the sender intended it to send which makes it problematic in the future at some time or the other and can end up doing the wrong task. Some of the disadvantages that occur in this form of communication are mentioned below:
1. LANGUAGE BARRIER
The biggest disadvantage of verbal communication is the language barrier where the receiver is unable to understand the language a sender uses or sometimes even a different dialect or speech tone of a person makes it difficult to have a clear conversation between 2 people thus leading to zero or minimal exchange of ideas. In this case, verbal communication becomes really difficult and we have to use some other kind of technology or maybe a moderator to help translate the language in order to make it understandable and easy in comprehending.
2. INCONVENIENT FOR LONG MESSAGES
Form of oral communication is a lot inconvenient for long messages as the actual information gets lost in the middle of the whole long text and becomes difficult to memorize in case of a series of tasks assigned. This way the most ineffective conversation takes place. However the written form of communication can be used for long messages but it always gets lethargic and boring to write long texts.
3. NO RECTIFICATION
There is no procedure for rectification of the words spoken or written during a conversation. Words once blurted out can’t be taken back and can hurt the receiver’s sentiments too at time which can ruin the whole point of a conversation and exchange of the idea. Also it takes a lot of time to fix the errors made during typing thus adding on to waste of time and the gap in the conversation making the communication boring and ineffective. Thus it is very necessary to convey the information using the right language and words with 0 errors from the beginning itself.
4. DISTORTION OF THE ACTUAL MESSAGE
Due to any reason like noise, network problems or language barriers or by a chain of command, sometimes the actual message gets distorted in the time being it reaches the receiver. It is possible that the receiver comprehends the message wrong if the information isn’t too clear and expressed in easy language which can cause a major trouble. Like if a series of instructions is been given and the receiver intends the wrong interpretation, it can lead to a whole different set of task as to what is expected. Therefore, the message conveyed should always be in easy and clear words.
5. CHANCES OF LEAK OF SECRET INFORMATION
There are chances of leak of information to a wrong or unintended person if the information is all stored in form of texts or written form. It can be wrongly procured by a con man and can be used for wrongful purposes which can be risky. Even the information obtained orally can be leaked and incurred if the person is under influence of alcohol. Uses of lie detector or polygraph can be used too which can be of disadvantage in case of verbal communication.
Despite all the above said advantages and disadvantages, verbal form of communication is far better than non-verbal form where there is literally minimal clarity of ideas, takes huge amount of time and energy, language barrier obviously, uncertainty in the delivered message and many more.
Verbal Communication despite many disadvantages is a boon to mankind as communication is the most necessary element required by humans to go forward in any field or arena. If conveyed properly in a perfect manner, verbal communication can be termed as the most effective form of communication gifted to mankind.
