Politically Speaking... and Reacting Follows.

¶ … Politically Speaking... And Reacting follows. Lastly a discussion of the article and how it relates to oral communication is presented.

Oral Communication

Oral communication is defined as "communication by word of mouth" ("WordNet," n.d.). Synonyms include: speech and spoken language.

Polkosky's (2009) article, Politically Speaking... And Reacting, recounts a personal episode the author had with a politically motivated robocall. Polkosky is a social-cognitive psychologist and speech language pathologist. Currently working as a human factors psychologist, she "has researched and designed speech, graphic, and multimedia user experiences for more than 12 years" (p. 7). Playing at home with her daughter, her sunny October day was interrupted by a phone call. At first, unsure of what the caller wanted, Polkosky merely caught the angry tone of the caller and a few key buzzwords, including: Pentagon, killed Americans, and leftist agenda. The call ended with a short notation that the preceding message had been paid for by the McCain/Palin campaign. Angry at the interuption and the message, the author uses the opportunity to bring to light key points at how this communication could have been much more effective.

Discussion:

I have been on the receiving end of automated calls like Polkosky describes in her article. Each time, my response was similar to hers in that I was far more irritated than motivated to consider the message that was being given. Reading Polkosky's evaluation of her own reaction, and her suggestions for eliciting a more positive response, I agree with some of her assessment of why she (and I) were so angry after receiving the call. However, I'm not certain her suggestions on the improvement of the communication would truly have created the more positive experience she thinks it will.

First, I agree that the interruption of my personal time alone, for an unsolicited call, would naturally lead me to a negative reaction. Oral communication is not simply about the message itself, but also about the delivery of the message. A large part of this delivery is the timing of the communication. The timing must be such that the audience is receptive to the message. Pulling people away from activities and intruding to force your message on them is not an effective delivery method. My personal reaction is that the rudeness of the uninvited interruption makes me want to tune out almost immediately.

I also agree that the tone of the message has much to do with how it's received by the recipient. Once again, this has to do with delivery. Reviewing the message, Polksosky found that it wasn't as angry as she originally perceived it to be. However, instead the rapid pace of the speaker coupled with the topic and timing gave the impression of anger. Yet, I disagree that changing the tone would make most people receptive to the message.