Personal behavioral traits and their role in effective oral communication

Communication Techniques

Interpersonal Communications Project

How Personal Behavioral Trends Need to be Assimilated in an Oral Communication to Make it Truly Effective

Oral communication is an integral part of our existence as socially gregarious individuals. Indeed much of our daily chore involves oral communication and that may take any form depending on the situation and circumstances. Thus, it might never be overemphasized that effective oral communication surely goes a long way in determining whether we have actually been able to lead our lives as effective and positively contributing members of the society we belong to. If we, for a brief moment, digress a bit from the personal aspect of oral communication and let our perspective be a bit broader we would surely realize the importance of oral communication in business and commerce, especially in this age of information where interaction and communication has come to hold the centre stage in any form of business activity. Thus, knowing the content is though important but not the only issue. One must have the capability to infuse a sense of life and conviction in the acquired knowledge that one intends to pass on to others, and, herein lays the importance of effective oral communication. (Murphy, Hildebrandt, & Thomas, 1997) It would perhaps not be out of context to mention the old adage about making an oral communication "Tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you told them."

An unavoidable corollary to this requirement is to maintain a clear disconnect between one's mood and personal emotions while emanating a positive body language as the conversation progresses. Much has been written about positivity that should emanate while communicating and what needs to be emphasized at this juncture is the ability to effectively communicate with the recipients of the communication. The speaker should be careful about the pitch they use so as to effortlessly attract attention of the audience without getting too harsh or shrill which might alienate the audience because of the overbearing or propagandist overtones that almost always tend creep in if one tends to become overenthusiastic while trying to put a point or two across.

Therefore, it is amply apparent that one needs to sincerely and conscientiously practice the art of good communication while ensuring that personal behavioral traits and moods do not adversely impact the quality and tenor of interpersonal communication as that would frustrate the very purpose of initiating a conversation.

Personal Behavioral Traits

Dr. Carbonell, named four personality types: Active/Task-oriented, Active/People-oriented, Passive/Task-oriented, and Passive/People-oriented and went on to demonstrate how each personality type perceives a given context and reacts to external stimuli in different ways while engaging in a conversation. (Carbonell, 2005)

On the personal front I guess while people expect me to be of the "S/I" type, I basically belong to the "C/S/I" category. Thus, while I present an impressive picture to both crowds and individuals, people take special note of my caring attitude and the warmth and emotional bridge that I tend to quickly build with individuals I communicate with. Others also feel that I do not have the overwhelming tendency most often found in others to attempt to attract the entire spotlight on to them and to always try to remain in full command. I am perfectly comfortable even when I am one among the crowd without any apparent attempt to lead the group. While not bothering too much about the details, I tend to interact on an emotional level and try to lead in a compassionate manner whenever the mantle of leadership comes my way without for once being too "pushy" or "bossy." This surely does not in any way mean that I endure inefficiencies of subordinates, ad infintum, but before I let out my inner feelings, I surely give each subordinate of mine ample opportunity to improve themselves in accordance with the guidelines and suggestions put forward by me.

As I tend to be more prone to interpersonal human relations and emotions and as I tend to get depressed or even sad if I am unable to effectively express myself without bulldozing anyone else's feelings, emotions and ideas, it is essential for me to adopt a very persuasive and often soft approach as I engage others in oral communication. This, perhaps, has made me more of an avid listener that is eager to appreciate what others have got to say rather than being a high decibel demagogue that would neither brook any resistance nor would tolerate any dissidence, however mild that may be.

Thus, the very essence of communication, which is nothing but a means of encouraging and stimulating others to share their views while attempting to skillfully shepherd them to veer around towards the speaker's perspectives, and the form it would finally acquire, is heavily influenced by the speaker's personal behavioral traits.

Effective Communication = Active Listening + Understanding

Hence, while one listens, one should never for even once let go of eye contact with the speaker. If one tends to look elsewhere, it is an implicit act of disregard and it might spoil the ambience of mutual trust that is gradually being created through active listening. (Donahue, 1996)

The basic purpose of any communication is to build a bridge and that can be done by germinating genuine faith among parties involved in a communication process. In such scenarios, conflicts seldom blow out of proportion and if one is indeed faced with a potentially explosive situation, an intense bout of active listening as the aggrieved party takes out their grouse and ire can create miracles by effortlessly snuffing out the smoldering embers that only a short while ago threatened to burst into an uncontrollable inferno. (Madrigal & McClain, 2001)