Intrroduction to

Commmunication UNIT 3 TYPE

ES OF COMM
C MUNICA
ATION

Objectivess

After study
ying this unitt you will bee able to:

● Undersstand the diffference betweeen verbal annd non-verbaal communicaation;

● Explain
n different tyypes of verbbal communiication;
● Undersstand the diifferent typees of non-veerbal commuunication annd their
role in our life.

Structure

3.1 Introdduction
3.2 Verbaal Communiication
3.3 Types of Verbal C
Communicaation
3.4 Non-Verbal Com
mmunication
3.5 Types of Non-verrbal Commu
unication
3.6 mary
Summ
3.7 Keyw
words
3.8 Self-A
Assessment Questions
3.9 Referrences and F
Further Read
dings

3.1 IN
NTRODU
UCTION
N
Robert Burrton famouslly said that “a blow witth a word strrikes deeperr than a
blow withh a sword”.. Therefore, it is impportant to choose c our words
judiciously
y and cautiouusly as it dettermines the success of our
o communnication
at personall and professsional levels. Our perssonal and professional
p worlds
move on thhe wheels off communicaation. A persson with bettter communnication
skills achieeves more suuccess at peersonal and pprofessional level as commpared
to a perso on who has average or below-avverage leveel of these skills.
Communication is esssential in ad dvising, counnselling, gu uidance, menntoring,
giving ordders, delegattion, givingg warnings, preparing advertisemeent and
marketing among othhers. A majjor part off our spokeen words i..e. oral
communicaation is suppplemented by body llanguage, gestures, signs and
expressionss and these aare non-verbbal componeents of comm munication. R
Rodney
Overton believes
b thaat about 55 5% of the communicaator’s messsage is
understoodd non-verballly. He also o writes thaat only 7% of the message is
understoodd through what is saaid and 388% of thee success of the
communicaation depennds on the way it is said. Verbal and nonn-verbal
communicaation plays a pivotal role in genneral comm munication (mostly
(
informal communicattion in geeneral life settings) and profeessional
communicaation (mostlyy formal communicationn in workpllaces, schoolls etc.).
In this unit, we will go through thee details of vvarious typess of communnication
36 to understand the differrence betweeen them andd their importtance.
n
3.2 VERBAL COMMUNICATION Types of
Communication

Verbal communication is the sum total of the time spent in speaking,

listening and writing in a personal and professional capacity. In other words,
we can understand verbal communication as the establishment of
communication between people using oral or written words. The message is
transferred from the sender to the receiver through an oral or written channel
of communication. Verbal communication thus stands for both spoken and
written communication. It can be one-way communication where the
message flows from the sender to the receiver and nothing goes back to
sender from the receiver or it can be a two-way communication where the
communication is negotiated between two people i.e. the sender sends the
message and the receiver responds. They exchange information, clarify
doubts and work together in harmony to achieve a common goal.

3.3 TYPES OF VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Basically verbal communication can be classified into two categories and
they are -
● Oral communication
● Written communication

Oral communication is something where we speak with someone through

words whereas written communication includes the words which are in a
written form. Let us now discuss these types of communication.

Oral Communication
This is the most common and popular mode of communication in our
personal and professional life. Oral communication, as already explained,
involves establishing communication through spoken words. It can be formal,
informal, one way or two-way communication. It can involve a face to face
interaction, telephonic conversation or communication through video
conferencing. In other words, it involves a speaker (sender of the message)
and a listener (or more than one listener who are the receivers of the
message). The speaker and the listener may establish a one way or two-way
communication depending on the setting.

Oral communication can be of two types viz. formal or informal. Informal

oral communication involves persons speaking and listening to everyday
occurrences like talking to friends, family members or colleagues on topics
not related to business or other formal situations. Informal oral
communication is mostly casual in nature and is based on social relationships
between people. It is unofficial in nature and normally occurs outside the
hierarchy of school, college, and businesses.
On the other hand, formal oral communication does not involve casual
exchange of information and is governed by organisational hierarchies and
chain of commands. The flow of information which follows is controlled by
strict codes bound by time and structure put in place by the management
37
Intrroduction to team. Formmal oral communication is practised religiously in i certain sittuations
Commmunication
like intervviews, oral evaluationss/viva voce,, lectures, debates, speeches,
presentationns, group diiscussions inn a business meeting or in a school. It is a
talk betweeen the manaagement team m and emplooyees or sch hool adminisstration
and staff members/stud
m dents. It can be a situatioon where thee informationn needs
to be conveeyed very quuickly for exxample the announceme
a nt of the schheduled
departure or
o arrival or an airplane/train/bus ettc. Formal oral
o communnication
is more relliable since it is comm municated in official cap pacity and in i most
cases, can be traced back to itss source. Onn the contrrary, inform mal oral
communicaation is not ggoverned byy such strict hierarchies
h a normallyy is not
and
very reliabble since moost of it is said in a caasual settingg. The inforrmation
moves freeely in informmal settings as opposedd to formal settings whhere the
informationn moves throough predefiined channells.

Written Co
ommunicattion
Let us now w understannd the secon nd type of vverbal comm munication i.e. the
written com mmunicationn. Written communicat
c tion can be understood as the
sending of messages thhrough written words. Inn this mode of communication,
the sender of the messsage uses written
w modee to transferr the messagge. The
message is i communnicated throough letterss, manuals,, reports, emails,
handbooks,, books, circculars etc. Written
W commmunication is a very efffective
way of com mmunicationn since it invvolves docummentation thaat can be preeserved
or can become a perm manent recorrd for futuree use. It is primarily a formal
mode of coommunicatioon and unlikee oral comm munication it is not very flexible
f
in nature. A written doccument can be used as eevidence in a legal scenaario and
hence it is a reliable mmode of com mmunicationn in professsional settinggs. The
language used in this form
fo of comm munication iis usually fo
ormal in natuure. We
use compleete sentencees, words annd avoid shhort forms or o jargons. Written
W
communicaation is also very populaar in informaal settings. In I today’s world
w of
social med dia and multtimedia messsaging, we use written communicaation in
our daily lives
l as welll as in official commuunication in abundance. Social
media messsaging, SMS S and instantt message (IM M) has becoome an integgral part
of our livees. Formal or informal language iis used in such s a meddium of
communicaation dependding on the relationshipp between the t sender aand the
receiver off the message. It is impoortant to notee that regarddless of the type of
language used;
u the connversation orr exchange of informatiion in writteen form
on these neew mediumss/platforms of o communiication can be b documentted and
preserved for
f future perrsonal, profeessional, legal and other uses.

Written com mmunicationn has its ownn merits andd demerits. Inn its formal sphere,
written coommunicatioon moves very slow wly as co ompared too oral
communicaation. Electrronic or paaper form of written communicaation is
destined too a waiting period and d the receiveer cannot access
a the message
m
spontaneouusly as in thhe case of oral commuunication. At A times, it can be
unbearably y slow, especcially in the case of forrmal commuunication conntrolled
by bureauccratic chainns of comm mand and m management hierarchy. It also
depends onn the literacyy of the persoon. On the other
o hand, oral
o communnication
does not require a persoon to be literrate to transffer the message. Humann beings
are born with
w the abillity to acquiire languagee and we sttart speakingg much
38 earlier thann we learn too write. Wriitten commuunication is a skill learntt in life
 and a person needs to go through many years of training to become Types of
n Communication
competent in this form of communication.

A child learns to speak in a specific language just by imitating the elders

around him or her however writing is taught. It is commonly agreed that
human beings are born with Language Acquisition Device (LAD) and they
acquire language in a social setting. So, it is not necessary for a person to
become literate in order to participate in oral communication. It is a natural
and faster process. On the other hand, written communication depends on the
literacy of a person and it is a slower form of communication. It is crucial to
understand that we need to become proficient in using both forms of verbal
communication in our personal and professional endeavours.

Activity 1
Make a list of the formal and informal verbal communication mediums you
use in your everyday life. Explain which medium of verbal communication is
used more frequently and why?
…………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………

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3.4 NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

All forms of communication do not require the use of words in oral or written
form. In this form of communication, the speaker generally does not
exchange words; however the communication takes place through non-verbal
cues. It is an essential part of the communicative process and various experts
have opined that it constitutes more than 50% of the communicative process.
Non-verbal communication may be visual or auditory in nature. Symbols,
signs, gestures, body language, facial expressions, eye contact, physical
appearance may be considered as visual non-verbal cues. A platoon of
soldiers coordinating according to the beat of a drum by following a pattern
of different lengths and notes in their parade is an example of auditory non-
verbal communication. Another example could be a bell in a school which is
used in specific ways to govern the timetable of the school.
Non-verbal communication governs a major aspect of our lives. We interact
with signs and symbols on a daily basis. These conversations are normally
one-way communication. For example, the traffic lights communicate with a
very large group of commuters by guiding their movements for a swift flow
of the traffic and controlling a probable situation of chaos.
There are a number of symbols which are adequate for one way
communication. They indicate important information to us just through a
simple picture, like a motorbike or telephone to tell us important information
39
Intrroduction to we need in
n our day to day lives. Let
L us now look at the following siign and
Commmunication
understand its meaningg.

The above sign tells thhe commuterr that a U-tuurn is prohibited on a paarticular
road. Such non-verbal signs and symbols
s replace words and sentencces thus
removing liiteracy barriiers betweenn people and the essentiaal traffic guiddelines.
Think abouut a situatioon where a person
p from
m an Englishh speaking country
c
visits a nonn-English sppeaking cou untry with ann internationnal driving llicense.
These sym mbols and siggns will com mmunicate w with that peerson while s/he is
driving a vehicle.
v Theere are differrent words for toilet foor men and women
however ussing standard symbols representing
r specific gennder make itt easier
for the persson who wannts to use puublic washroooms/toilets.
Non-verball communication is a foorm of univversal comm munication which
w is
not restricteed by languaage boundarries and the same
s signs and
a symbolss can be
used everyywhere. Theese signs annd symbols act as a toool to incluude the
illiterate poopulation in all major acctivities. Forr example, evvery politicaal party
has a sym mbol and an illiterate voter
v identifi
fies the canddidate throuugh the
symbol of thet political party. It wouuld be impossible to seleect the candiidate of
one’s choice from a large pool of candidaates contesting in a paarticular
election. It takes care of
o two differeent perspectives. First, itt helps the illliterate
identify a candidate
c of their choicee and it makees the process faster. Seecond, a
literate voteer can just look at the syymbols to iddentify his or
o her choicee of the
candidate to t vote insteead of readinng the names which willl make the processp
slow.
Now think of a footbaall or crickett match. These matchess are attendeed by a
very large number
n of people and it would be im mpossible to communicaate with
the audiencce and convvey the mattch proceediings. A criccket umpire makes
gestures thrrough his/heer hands to inform
i everyyone if the player
p is outt or has
scored a booundary. A football refferee uses coloured cardds, flags and other
gestures to communicaate with the audience. T These gesturees and symbbols are
fixed and universally
u accepted. The
T people w watching a football
f mattch can
understand the proceedings of thee match through these symbols, geestures,
signs regarrdless of thheir ethnicityy or the lannguage theyy speak. Theese are
simple onee-way comm munication and do not require thee use of laanguage
(speech or written). Heence non-verrbal communnication is im mportant in our life
especially when
w the naature of the communicat
c tion is one way
w and is directed
d
for a large audience. Inn other scennarios where we need lannguage, nonn-verbal
communicaation compleements the verbal
v commmunication.
Let us look at thhe advantagges and disadvantage
d es of nonn-verbal
communicaation in tablee 1.
40
 Table 1: Advantages and disadvantages of non-verbal communication Types of
n Communication
S.No Advantages Disadvantages
1. It is very useful for one way It can only be a one-way
communication when a person communication in most cases.
or a large group of people
needs to understand a simple
message quickly.
2. It is easy to understand and The meaning of the message is
people almost act instinctively fixed and limited.
on specific signs, symbols etc.
3. Literacy of a language is not People need to learn the meaning
essential in comprehending of a particular sign. Traffic signs
nonverbal signs and symbols. interpreted incorrectly may result
in an accident.
4. A very large data set can be Making and interpreting these
presented through graphs, graphs, charts etc. require
charts etc. professional training. It can be
time consuming and expensive. It
also requires literacy skills.
5. Most of these signs and Installing and maintaining these
symbols are universal and are signs, symbols for mass
not governed by language consumption has its recurring cost
boundaries. and can be a burden on finances.
Improper signs, boards, hoardings
can either incorrectly guide
someone or may divert the
attention of the drivers resulting in
an accident.
6. It facilitates the ease of These signs may be interpreted
communication. incorrectly sometimes and may
result in miscommunication

Figure 1: Percentage of Students

41
Intrroduction to Look at figgure 1. This iis a visual reepresentationn of the mod de of transpoort used
Commmunication
by students. It is easy to undersstand and data d of a laarge group can be
summarized in a very comprehen nsive mannerr. However,, it is imporrtant to
note that thhis requires some literaccy skill by tthe audiencee it caters too and in
some casess additional training
t is reequired to intterpret such signs and syymbols.
Another ex xample is a training cou urse at a drriving school. The learnners are
trained to read the trafffic signs befoore they appear for an exxam.
We can coomfortably say that non--verbal com mmunication is universall, quick
and efficien
nt in nature but in some cases it reqquires additioonal trainingg and/or
literacy skills for the reeceiver to comprehend thhe message.

Activity 2
Look at thhe followingg example and
a write at least three examples oof non-
verbal com
mmunication to a large auudience.

Example: Get
G your kidds (0-5 yearss) vaccinatedd. Polio rounnd scheduledd for 19
and 20 October, 2021.
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3.5 TYPES OF NON-V

VERBAL
L
C
COMMUN NICATIO
ON
Let us noow discuss different ty ypes of nonn-verbal communication. The
categorisatiion of non-vverbal formss of commuunication is very
v difficult since
there are a number of things that come under non n-verbal moode of
communicaation howevver we can broadly cattegorize it as a Kinesics (Body
language, facial expreession, eye contact), sign languag ge, Proxemiics and
Chronemics (Time andd Space), Paaralanguage, meta-comm munication, Haptics
H
(touch), andd silence.

Kinesics
Kinesics caan be understood as thee study of thhe body’s phhysical movvements
for the purrpose of com
mmunication n. In other w
words, we caan understannd it as
the way ourr body comm municates without
w wordss and using various
v movvements
of hands, facial
f expresssions, eye contact,
c etc. For example, nodding of o head
communicaates an acceeptance/denial by the reeceiver. Durring the process of
communicaation, some movements
m made by ouur body are conscious
c annd some
are done unconsciouusly. The conscious movements along wiith the
unconsciouus movemennts play a veery importannt role in efffectively connveying
our messagge. Let us look at the folllowing paraameters to understand
u K
Kinesics
42
 in a better way as these parameters play an important role in the business Types of
n Communication
world.

1) Physical Appearance: Personal appearance is not really part of the

physical movement of the body however it governs our first impression
in most cases. It is a prerequisite even before we begin communicating
with someone. People form opinions about us just by our physical
appearance. Physical appearance includes clothes, hairstyle, accessories
like a watch or pen or the kind of perfume we wear. The purpose of
clothing and other essential items like a watch or pen has changed in
today’s world as mediums of expressing ourselves. A well-dressed
person with appropriate accessories on him/her is considered cultured
and educated as compared to a person who dresses to fulfill essential
needs or does not have a neat hairstyle.
2) Posture: It can be understood as the way we present ourselves. It
includes the way we stand, talk, walk, sit and hold ourselves while we
move around during the process of communication. It is a variable
component of communication and varies according to the circumstances
we face while communicating our messages. It is a very important
component since it speaks volumes about our personality. A nervous
posture may reflect lack of confidence or a weak command over the
subject. It also explains the amount of experience we have as a
communicator in a particular discourse. A confident speaker has
command and experience on the topic to keep the audience interested
and motivated during the process of communication. We should not
fidget with our mobile phones, play with a pen or our legs and hands
should not shake in order to maintain a confident and positive posture.
3) Gestures: The movements we make with our hands, head or face are
termed as gestures. Too many or too little gestures may impede the
effectiveness of the communication. Nodding our head in negation or
acceptance on a viewpoint appropriately supplements the verbal
communication but on the other hand, it may make it ineffective if used
inappropriately. Too much or too little movement of hands should be
avoided. It requires a fair amount of practice and preparation to use the
gestures effectively.

4) Facial Expressions: Our facial expressions are an integral part of the

communicative process since it expresses the intent of the speaker. We
can understand the intention of the speaker by looking at the facial
expressions and hence it becomes important for the sender of the
message to supplement his/her words through appropriate facial
expressions. For example, a motivational speaker needs to make sure that
the facial expressions are positive and show the energy that s/he wants to
convey to the audience. A negative or dull facial expression will
contradict a positive and motivational message.

5) Eye contact: Eye contact with the audience can change the effect of the
message on the receiver. Our eyes communicate in various ways. A good
eye contact with the listener/receiver of the message can make the
43
Intrroduction to converrsation moree powerful. On the othher hand,avo oiding eye contact
Commmunication
may reesult in a diisinterested audience
a annd portray thhe speaker asa weak
and noot confident. The audiennce may alsoo have the impression
i t
that the
speakeer does not have
h a good command on the subjecct. It is impoortant to
establish appropriaate eye con ntact. The sppeaker shouuld not staree at the
listenerr, instead, try to estab blish eye contact
c to affirm
a that s/he is
commiitted to convvey the message to the lisstener. Mainntaining eye contact
reaffirm
ms the audieence about thhe keenness,, confidencee and willinggness of
the speaker to esstablish com mmunicationn with the listener. Hoowever,
lookingg down or looking awayy conveys thhat the speak ker is shy, nervous
n
or disinnterested in the process of communiication.

Activity 3
Collect picctures (abouut 10) of peeople from nnewspapers, magazines or the
internet. Th
hese pictures should hav ve different emotions/exxpressions/ggestures
and accordiingly interprret them.
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Sign Langu
uage

Sign languaage is a highhly developeed system off non-verball communicaation. It

uses audio,, visual and audio-visuaal signs and symbols to communicaate. We
have alreaddy discussedd that sign laanguage is thhe most poppular mode ofo non-
verbal com
mmunication. There are universally
u aaccepted sym
mbols and siggns and
are widely used in thee world. How wever, theree are culture specific siggns and
symbols annd can be unnderstood diffferently by people from m different cuultures.
A thumbs-up is a possitive sign and a used priimarily to shows agreemment or
motivate people in Weestern societty however it is a sign of negationn in the
Indian subccontinent. Siign languagee can also bee understoodd as communnication
through body languagee, gestures annd facial exppressions. Itt is used in place
p of
speech andd in some caases it is alsoo used to suupplement orral communication.
We have fuully developped sign langguage for sppecially-abled people. Thhey use
a differentt system off signs and symbols too communiicate. Look at the
following picture
p for a better unnderstandingg of how su uch speciallyy-abled
people use sign languagge.
44
 Types of
n Communication

Source–ID 134983662© SabelSakya, Dreamstime.com

These are the signs and symbols used by such people to communicate. On the
other hand, normal people use universal and cultural symbols to
communicate non-verbally with each other. The most popular universal sign
is a traffic light and is understood by almost everyone in the world.

We do have cultural signs as well. In India, we use many signs which

represent our culture. For example, the symbol of ‘OM/Ohm/Aum frequently
used in India is known as the sound of the universe. We can see another
example. The symbol ‘V’ represents different meanings in different parts of
the world. Let us have a look at those meanings:
● USA: It represents a symbol of peace.
● Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK: The symbol is
considered to be a sign of rudeness and defiance.
The sentence “are you an early bird or a night owl?” is a popular question to
ask people if they wake up early or stay awake late at night. In this example,
an early bird is a sign to wake up early and a night owl is a sign of staying
awake late at night. These symbols and signs make our life easy and
supplement our communication making it more effective.

Importance of Sign Language

We have already discussed the importance of sign language. Let us now
understand it better. There are universal and cultural signs and symbols. We
also have a highly developed sign language used by specially-abled people.
Think about establishing communication with people who speak a language
other than yours. How will you communicate with them? How will you ask
for food or water etc.? Sign language plays an important role in such types of
communication. We can just use our hands and point towards a specific
object and make signs as if we want something to drink in glass or we want
something to eat.
Think about a situation where a security agency is conducting a raid and they
are searching an area. They do not want to make any noise and hence they 45
Intrroduction to need to usse some siggns to comm municate wiith each oth her or else it will
Commmunication
jeopardize their searchh operations and comproomise the saffety of the security
s
personnel. They will uuse visual siggns to comm municate. Whhat do we doo when
we hear a siren
s from a police car, firefighter’s truck or an ambulance?? These
are audio signs that infform us that the police, firefighters
f o medical staff
or s are
dealing witth an emergeency situatio on. We give way to suchh vehicles wwhen we
see them flashing
f the lights mouunted on theeir roof andd/or hear thee siren.
These lightts and soundd together aree audio-visuaal symbols. They comm municate
with us about an emerrgency situaation. It makkes our life easy and helps
h us
work efficiently. The eeffective use of signs andd symbols iss very imporrtant for
successful communicat
c tion in all waalks of life.

Proxemics
Proxemics studies deall with the neecessary spaace/distance two people should
maintain between
b eachh other durring a proceess of comm munication. As the
name sugggests, it helpps us undersstand the proximity i.e. the state of being
close to a person
p accorrding to the relationship. It is the stuudy of the physical
p
space betwween individduals. We display
d som
me sort of relationship
r with a
person wheen we shake hands or hug them without any exchhange of words.

Edward T. Hall in his study of Prooxemics divvides the spaace between people
during an interaction
i i
into four zoones dependiing on the relationship
r people
share with each other. T
These are as follows:
1) Intimaate: The Intiimate zone has
h the shorttest distance between peeople; it
xtends to 455 cm (1.5 feeet). This sppace is shareed by close family
only ex
membeers like pareents, spouses, and relatiives. This sppace is also shared
betweeen very close friends annd lovers. A hug, pat onn the back, holding
h
hand, sitting in close prox ximity are some of the exampples of
commuunication whhich falls under this zonee of communnication.

2) Person nal: The Peersonal zone begins at 446 cm and ends e at 1200 cm (4
feet). According
A tto Hall, thiis zone is shared
s betw
ween good ffriends,
colleaggues, classm mates, and some closse acquaintaances. This space
indicattes a certain level of fam
miliarity betw
ween people.. The more familiar
f
the perrson is, the more s/hew willbe closer to the 46 cmc mark andd move
away towards
t the 120 cm marrk dependingg on the levvel of familiaarity. It
is veryy difficult to maintain thhis space in modern sociiety. Think about
a a
ride inn a metro traain during office
o or schhool hours. Passengers stay in
close proximity
p to each other though theyy may be com mplete stranngers to
each other.
o It maay be disturrbing and uncomfortabl
u le to some people
howev ver it is not possible
p to avoid
a such siituations com
mpletely in modern
m
times.
3) Social:: This zonee of commu unication is mostly form mal and offi ficial. It
begins at 1.21 metters (4 feet) and ends att 3.60 meterrs (12 feet). In this
zone, we
w interact w with people in official ccapacity, newly formed school
or offfice groups, new acqu uaintances oro strangerss. Interactinng with
compleete strangerss to ask for directions
d orr in an intervview is an example
of com
mmunication in this zone.
46
 4) Public: As the reading suggests it is related to communication in a Types of
n Communication
public sphere. It starts at 3.61 meters (12 feet) and may end at 7.5 meters
(25 feet) or to the range of eyesight and/or hearing. Classroom lectures,
seminars, training sessions are some of the examples of formal events in
this zone of communication. An address by the President or Prime
Minister of a country on Independence Day, Republic Day or on any
other occasion can also be an example of communication in this zone of
communication.Table 2 defines these zones of communication in
Proxemics.
Table 2: Zones of Communication in Proxemics

Zones Distance Appropriate people/situations

Zone 1 –
0 - 18 inches Parents, children, partners, spouse
Intimate
Zone 2 – 18 inches – 4
Close friends, relatives
Personal feet
Co-workers, social gatherings, work
Zone 3 – Social 4 feet – 12 feet
situations
12 feet and Total strangers, actors, important
Zone 4 – Public
beyond officials
It is very important to understand the proper zone of Proxemics i.e. to
maintain proper distance during a process of communication to establish
strong personal and social relationships.

Chronemics
Thomas J. Bruneau, a scholar who studied non-verbal communication in
detail, was the first to use the term Chronemics to explain the function of
time in the communicative process. In other words, we can understand it as
the study of the use of time in human interaction. Time is a valuable resource
and how we use it in our daily transactions defines our behavioural pattern. If
a person is late for an interview or sends late responses to emails then it is
perceived that the person cannot use the time effectively and create a
negative impression. If a person arrives too early for an interview then it may
be perceived as over-eagerness of that person. Time can be Monochromic or
Polychromic.

1) Monochronic Time System

Edward T. Hall writes that it is part of the popular business culture where
time is considered money. In this system, work is divided in small segments
of time for effective scheduling, arrangement and management purposes. Hall
considers the American viewpoint about time as Monochronic in which
Americans view time as a commodity and it should not be wasted or taken
lightly as it equals to loss or waste of money.
2) Polychronic Time System
This type of time system is defined by multi-tasking. Instead of small
segments, time is viewed as a wider unit where many tasks can be done at the
47
Intrroduction to same time.. For exampple, we can n answer ouur phone wh hile typing on our
Commmunication
computer or o taking nootes. Polychhronic time--oriented culture is poppular in
South Ameerica, Arab and Asian countries w where time is i not divided into
small segmments like moonochronic societies
s where time is measured
m as per the
cultural praactices.
Paralanguage
This form of non-verbbal communiication helpss us understtand things bbeyond
speech and d signs. Wheen we answer a phone call and heaar the other person
saying hello o, we instanntly recognize the genderr of the speak
ker and the vvoice if
it is familiaar. We can iidentify the person if w
we recognize the voice. W We can
also guess the state off mind of the person jusst by hearingg the word ‘hello’.
The listener can easily guess if the speaker is ddistressed or happy.
The pitch of
o our voice, the tone off our speechh can conveyy a lot of meaning.
m
For examplle, it will haave different effects if a tteacher resp
ponds in a m
moderate
pitch to ann incorrect aanswer giveen by the sttudent as coompared to a loud
response. In case off a moderaate responsee, the stud dent will noot feel
humiliated//scolded andd will try to answer corrrectly in futture howeveer if the
teacher shoouts at the student then it may be humiliating
h f the studeent and
for
s/he may loose motivatiion to particcipate in futture classes. Let us lookk at the
following to understandd paralanguaage in a betteer way.
a) Speechh Volume Variation – The voluume of the speech shoould be
approppriate accordding to the needs
n of the audience. Itt should nott be too
loud orr inaudible.
b) Rate of
o Speech – It refers to the speed att which worrds are spokeen. The
speed should
s not be
b too fast orr too slow. IIt should be adjusted as per the
competency level of
o the listeneers.

c) Pause (punctuatioon) – It is very

v importaant to pause or punctuatee at the
right place or it maay change thhe meaning oof the messaage. You muust have
noticedd that somee people pauuse too manny times annd use non-ffluency
soundss like ‘Umm mm’ when th hey talk. W
We should no ot pause tooo many
times and
a avoid uusing non-flu uency soundds to comm municate effeectively
with ouur listeners.
d) Word Stress – Itt is importaant to stresss at the rig ght word annd right
syllablle of the worrd. For exam
mple, when we w pronouncce the word climate
the strress will bee on the first syllable CLI– and –MATE – shoould be
unstresssed. Correct word stresss is essentiall for the success of an efffective
commuunicative proocess.

Haptics
We can understand
u iit simply asa the languuage of touuch. The w way we
communicaate throughh touch iss one of the most basic forrms of
communicaation. An innfant commu unicates witth his or heer mother or
o other
family memmbers primaarily through h touch. An adult can also understannd each
other by thhis form off communicaation. Touchhing hands, kissing, slapping,
hugging etcc. can come into this category of com
mmunicationn.
48
 Silence Types of
n Communication
It may be intriguing how silence can be a medium of communication but
surprisingly it is one of the most common forms of non-verbal
communication. For example, a person singing on a stage suddenly stops and
becomes silent. S/he will attract the attention of all the people including those
who were not listening to him/her initially. A person accused of a crime can
be assumed guilty if s/he remains silent when asked to present a defence. A
moment of silence is a sign of respect at a funeral. A teacher can attain the
attention of students in a noisy class by using his or her silence effectively.
We convey a lot when we are silent. Silence can also be a barrier to
communication. If we are silent when we are asked to answer a question or
give our opinion then it may impede communication. We need to use our
silence judiciously to make our communication more effective.

Meta-communication
This form of communication mostly deals with the interpretation of the
message by the receiver. The term was made popular by an English
anthropologist and linguist Gregory Bateson. He proposed that the
interpretation of the message is governed by all the verbal and non-verbal
components of the communicative process along with relation between the
speaker and the listener. A speaker may say something but it may mean
something very different. For example, an ironic statement like ‘the police
station got robbed’ not only conveys that someone has looted the police but
another group of audience will interpret it as the incompetence of the police
security. They were not able to defend themselves, how do we expect them to
protect the general public? However, such an interpretation has its own
limitations. The audience needs to have the competency to understand the
irony of the sentence.

Activity 4
Look at the following and classify them as verbal or non-verbal communication.
1) An advertisement on annual sales.
2) A red plus sign on a board.
3) A mobile phone mechanic displays pictures of a mobile phone and a
screwdriver on a banner.
4) A teacher writing on a whiteboard.
5) Discussing a project in a meeting.
6) A picture of a skull and two bones on a bottle.

Verbal Communication Non-verbal communication

49
Intrroduction to
Commmunication
3.6 SU
UMMAR
RY
We have leearned that communicaation is broaadly divided in two cateegories,
verbal andd non-verball communication. Both forms of communicati
c ion are
essential in our day to dday lives. Orral (verbal) ccommunicatiion is suppleemented
by non-verbbal communnication. Non n-verbal com mmunicationn is not just limited
to signs and
a symbolss but it inccludes a veery large pool p of nonn-verbal
behaviour. Our dressinng sense, the pitch of ourr voice, the tone
t of our speech,
gestures, facial
f expreessions, eye contact with w the listtener, silencce, our
response timme etc. com
mmunicates with
w other peeople and hellps us to estaablish a
successful communicaation in perssonal and pprofessional spheres. Thhis unit
gives a brief
b idea aabout varioous types oof commun nication andd their
importancee.

3.7 K
KEYWOR
RDS
Verbal Coommunicatioon:It is the communicattion betweenn people usiing oral
or written words.
w
Non-verbaal Commu unication:Usse ofSymbbols, signs,, gestures, body
language, facial exppressions, eye contacct, physicaal appearannce to
communicaate.
Sign langu
uage:It is usiing signs and
d symbols too communicaate.
Gestures:It is the moovement of the head, hhand or boddy parts to express
e
something.

Body Lan nguage:non-verbal com mmunication through th he use of physical

p
behaviour, expressions, and manneerisms to com
mmunicate.
Proxemics: It deals wwith the neccessary spacce/distance two
t people should
maintain beetween each other during
g a process of
o communiccation.
Chronemiccs: It is the sstudy of the use of time iin human intteraction

3.8 SE
ELF-ASS
SESSME
ENT QUE
ESTION
NS
1) What are
a the differrent types off Verbal Com
mmunicationn?
2) What is
i Non-Verbal Communiication?
3) What is
i the differeence betweenn Kinesis andd Sign Lang
guage?
4) Explain
n the conceppt of Proxem
mics and Chrronemics?
5) How iss Paralanguaage differentt from Meta--communicattion?
6) How iss silence a m
medium of co
ommunicatioon? Illustratee with
examples.

50
n
3.9 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS Types of
Communication

Downes, J. J. (2020). Effective Communication: Communication Skills

Training. A Guide to Effective Communication Skills for Couples, with
Friends, in the Workplace a. (n.p.): Gavino Masala.
Kumar, S. &Lata, P. (2011).Communication skills. New Delhi: Oxford
University Press.

Orey, M. (2021).Communication Skills.Association for Talent Development,

Virginia, USA.
Tuhovsky, I. (2017). The Science of Effective Communication: Improve Your
Social Skills and Small Talk, Develop Charisma and Learn How to Talk to
Anyone. United States: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Satkala.(2019). Communication Skills in English.Akhand Publishing House,
New Delhi.

51