UNIT 7: STRATEGIES FOR ORAL COMMUNICATION (Business Communication)

Business Communications (3456)
• BSCS Semester 3
• Business Communications notes by Awais Javed Satti

UNIT 7: STRATEGIES FOR ORAL COMMUNICATION
• 7.1 Strategies for successful speaking and
successful listening
• Strategies for improving oral presentation
• Strategies for reducing stage fright
• Strategies for improving listing skills
• 7.2 Strategies for successful informative and
persuasive speaking
• Purpose of informative and persuasive
speaking
• Kinds of informative and persuasive speaking
• Audience analysis for informative and
persuasive speaking
• Organization for informative and persuasive
speaking
• Supports for informative and persuasive
speaking

What is oral communication?
Oral communication is the process of verbally transmitting
information and ideas from one individual or group to
another. Oral communication can be either formal or informal.
Examples of informal oral communication include: Face-to-
face conversations. Telephone conversations.
Oral or verbal communication describes any type of
interaction between individuals which makes use of words
and involves speaking and listening. ... Examples of oral
communication within an organisation include: staff
meetings, business meetings and other face-to-face
meetings. personal discussions. presentations.
• Business Communications notes by Awais Javed Satt

Types of oral communication
❑ Face to face conversations
❑ Telephone conversations
❑ Discussions that take place at business meetings
More formal types of formal oral communication includes
❑ Presentations at business meetings
❑ Classroom Lectures
❑ Commencement speeches given at a ceremony

Why we use oral communication?
❑ Oral communication is more personal and less formal than written
communication.
❑ If time is limited and a business matter requires quick resolution, it may be
best to have a face or telephonic conversation.
❑ There is also more flexibility in oral communication; You can discuss
different aspects of an issue and make decisions more quickly than you can
in writing.
❑ Oral communications can be especially effective in addressing conflict or
problems
❑ Talking things over is often best way to settle disagreements or
misunderstandings.
❑ Finally, Oral communication is a great way to promote employee morale
and maintain energy and enthusiasm within a team

Oral Presentations
During your career in business world, you have to
give various kind of presentations. Indeed how
your capabilities are measured will initially occur
based on your oral words.
• Steps for preparing effective oral presentation
• Kinds of oral presentations
• Ways of improving the oral message
• Strategies for using an effective oral delivery

Steps for
preparing
effective oral
presentation
1-Determine the purpose
We communicate with each other so that we convey
what we want to convey. And listener easily understand
what we want to explain. Our goal is after we have
finished our talk, listener will accept our proposal our
thesis etc.
2-Analyze the audience and occasion
Whether some one writes and speaks, the message must
be adapted to audience. If you are going to talk in your
organization then you have some idea about your
audience.
When you are going to speak outside you must know
your audience so that you can convey your message
easily and clearly. For this seek the size of audience,
age, interest, hobbies occupation so that you can convey
your message. This all will help you to make a good and
solid presentation.

Steps for
preparing
effective oral
presentation
3-Select The main Idea for message
Main theme or idea should be done first. What is the purpose
of your talk. Then gather some additional information which
will help and support you ideas. Write main points in on the
page
4-Research The Topic
For sure you will not get all the information of your central
theme. Thus you need to collect more facts, ideas and data
related to your topic. It will help you to strengthen your ideas,
because in research you will get more detail information of
your topic.
5-Organize the data
Once you collect all the information and data related to your
topics, now organize this data in proper format. Make outlines.
Good speech contain three parts i.e Introduction, body and
summery

Steps for preparing effective oral presentation
6-Create Visual Aids
Visual aids can be a very powerful tool to enhance the
impact of your presentations. Words and images
presented in different formats can appeal directly to your
audience’s imagination, adding power to your spoken
words.
• When to use visual aids
Words and images can be used throughout your
presentation from the introduction to the conclusion.
However, remember to restrict their use to key moments
in your presentation; an over use of visual aids can be
hard to follow.
Visual Aids
• Think about using visual aids at the following
times:
• Introduction
• display the title of your presentation;
• define particular technical terms or units;
• Main points
• highlight new points with an appropriate
image or phrase;
• support technical information with clearly
displayed data;
Tools for Visual Aids
• Power Point • Projector • White or black board •
Paper handouts

Kinds of Oral
Presentations
Your presentation should
not be too short nor too
long. They Should me
moderate.
Short talks may
ranges between 1
to 10 minutes in
length.
Longer
presentations may
vary from 10
minutes to an
hour
One thing for sure
that longer the
presentation the
higher the risk of
loosing audience
attention
So keep in mind
convey your
message first

Ways of delivering an oral Message
1-Extemporaneous
This method is preferred by audience and speaker, allows an speaker
to use notes of an outline. Use this method whenever possible, it
allows more aye contact with audience and permits you to establish
rapport.
2-Reading
Major political figure and other who don’t want to make a mistake
read a manuscript. Today speaker on television often read from
teleprompter, a device allowing them to read their words directly from
a script passing in front of camera lens.
3-Memorization
Some people memorized all the data, which is not a good thing
because there is a great chance of forgetting the material.
4-Impromptu
An Impromptu speech is a talk that you give on the spot with no
preparation. The speech could be as professional as a project update or
as casual as a toast at a wedding. Either way, you are expected to say
something smart, witty and charming.

1-Pitch
Pitch is the highness and lowness of voice. Pitch is powerful tool for adding meaning to your speech. Pitch can
substantially change the meaning of the sentence.
2-Rate
Rate is basically how many words you speak in a minute. Most expert speaker suggest that use 60 to 80 words per
minute. But in more casual conversation it might be 80 to 250 per minute.
3-Volume
Volume is loudness or softness of your voice.
• Know what volume your voice should be in your classroom. If you speak too softly, your speech serves little
purpose. At the same time, don't mistake shouting for speaking loudly.
• Vary the volume to get attention. Whether to choose to speak louder or more quietly, you draw attention to
your speech through contrast. For example, you can speak softly when you narrate a sad story. In this case, a
quieter approach is usually a more effective attention-grabber.
4-Pronunciation
Pronunciation is the most important and difficult problem that non-native English speakers have to face when
studying English. It is therefore very important that speaker should pronounce words in correct way. Improper
pronunciation can lead to negative impression, misunderstanding and ineffective communication
Strategies for an effective oral Delivery

Strategies for an Effective
nonverbal Delivery
1- Postures
Posture is basically how you stand sit, communicate something.
2- Gestures
Gesture is basically the movement of arms, hands and shoulder.
3- Movement
Taking few steps in presentation helps hold attention as does any
moving object. It helps in following ways
• Move to hold attention
• Move to get rid of nervousness
Facial Expression
The human face is extremely expressive, able to express countless
emotions without saying a word. And unlike some forms of nonverbal
communication, facial expressions are universal. The facial
expressions for happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust
are the same across cultures.

Strategies for reducing
Stage Fright
The human brain is a
wonderful thing. It
starts working the
moment you are born
and never stops until
you stand up to speak
in public.” - George
Jessel

Stage Fright
• Stage fright is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia
which may be aroused in an individual by the
requirement to perform in front of an audience.
• Fear of Public Speaking has been rated as the #1 fear
in America.
• Some say it is more feared than death. If you have
this fear you share it with millions and millions of
people. Many people suffering from fear of public
speaking believe that they are alone in feeling so
frightened. The truth is that most people just don't
want to talk about their fear of being in front of a
group.
Symptoms of Stage Fright
• Dry Mouth
• Tight throat
• Sweaty hands
• Cold Hands
• Shaky hands
• Nausea
• Fast pulse
• Shaky knees
• Trembling lips
• Any out-of-the-ordinary outward or inward
feeling or manifestation of a feeling occurring
before or during the beginning of a public
speaking engagement.

Strategies for reducing Stage Fright
• Here are some easy-to-implement
strategies for reducing your stage
fright. Not everyone reacts the
same and there is no universal fix.
Don’t try to use all these fixes at
once. Pick out items from this list
and try them out until you find the
right combination for you.
Visualization strategies that can be
used anytime:
• Concentrate on how good you are at public
speaking.
• Pretend you are just chatting with a group of
friends.
• Close your eyes and imagine the audience
listening, laughing, and applauding.
• Remember happy moments from your past.
• Think about your love for and desire to help the
audience.
• Believe that you have something to say that
your audience badly needed to hear.

STRATEGIES IN ADVANCE
OF THE PROGRAM
• Be extremely well-prepared
• Get individual or group public speaking coaching.
• Listen to music.
• Read a poem.
• Anticipate hard and easy questions.
• Organize your speaking notes.
• Absolutely memorize your opening statement so you can
recite it on autopilot if you have to.
• Practice, practice, practice. Especially practice bits so you
can spit out a few minutes of your program no matter how
nervous you are. Get in shape. I don’t know why it helps
stage fright, but it does.

STRATEGIES
JUST BEFORE
THE
PROGRAM
Remember, stage fright usually goes away after you start. The tricky time is
before you start.
Be in the room at least an hour early if possible to triple check the public
address system and everything else on your checklist.
Notice and think about things around you.
Concentrate on searching for current and immediate things that are happening
at the event which you can mention during your speech(especially in the
opening)
Get into conversation with people near you. Be very intent on what they are
saying.
Yawn to relax your throat
Look at your notes
Put pictures of your kids/ grandkids, dog, etc. in your notes
Build a cushion of time in the day so you are not rushed, but not too much
time. You don’t want to have extra time to worry.
If your legs are trembling, lean on a table, sit down, or shift your legs

STRATEGIES
JUST BEFORE
THE PROGRAM
(Cont.)
Take a quick drinks of tepid water
Double check your A/V equipment including the public address
system, projectors, etc.
Don’t drink alcohol or coffee or tea with caffeine. Concentrate on
your speaking ideas.
Hide speaking notes around the stage area so you know you have a
backup if you happen to draw a blank.
Concentrate on your audience
Listen to music
Read a poem
Shake hands and smile with attendees before the program
Say something to someone to make sure your voice is ready to go.
Go somewhere private and warmup your voice, muscle, etc.
Use eye contact
Go to mirror and check out how you look
Breathe deeply, evenly , and slowly for several minutes.

STRATEGIES WHEN THE
PROGRAM BEGINS
• If legs are trembling, lean on lectern/ table or shift legs or move.
• Try not to hold the microphone by hand in the first minute
• Don’t hold notes. The audience can see them shake. Use three-by-five
cards instead.
• Take quick drinks of tepid water
• Use eye contact. It will make you feel less isolated.
• Look at the friendliest faces in the audience.
• Joke about your nervousness.
Remember, nervousness doesn’t show one-tenth as much as it feels. Before
each speaking engagement, make a short list of the items you think will make
you feel better. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different combinations.
You never know which ones will work best until you try. Rewrite them on a
separate sheet and keep the sheet with you at all times so you can refer to it
quickly when the need arises. When speaking in public, use these steps to
control stage fright so it doesn’t control you.

Strategies for improving
listening skills
• “We have two ears and
only one tongue in order
that we may hear more and
speak less.” Diogenes
Laertius
• “When people talk,
listen completely.
Most people never
listen.” Wrnest
Hemingway

Why Listening is important?
• Good Listeners:
► Minimize or remove any barriers to communication that
may threaten their effectiveness.
► Physically face towards and pay attention to the speaker.
► Listen for and verbally confirm the speakers intent or
purpose.
► Confirm the content or the speakers request (the who,
what, where, when, why and how).
► Clarify the degree of importance of the request to the
speaker. What is the reason, need or urgency of the request?
► Recognize the level of emotion demonstrated by the
speaker.
► Summarize and share their understanding of what is being
requested.
► Indicate the level of response they will be able to provide.
• Why listening is important?
• Communication is never complete without
effective listening. It helps you to
• To obtain information
• To understand
• For enjoyment
• To learn
• To communicate

Factors that Hinder Listening
Many Factors hinder our listening. Here are few examples
❑ Day Dreaming
❑ Preparing our responses ahead of time
❑ Thinking about other people, places or things.

7 Ways to improve your Listening Skills
Here are 7 strategies and suggestions to help you improve your listening skills.
1.) Increase your listening span
► Try to resist the temptation to interrupt.
► Make sure the speaker has had a complete chance to make his or her point before you speak.
► If you don't get the whole message, ask the speaker to repeat what they said.
2.) Take time to listen
► Don't put obvious limitations on your listening time - the speaker will feel rushed.
3.) Listen between the lines:
► Don't just listen to what is being said.
► Try to understand the attitudes, needs and motives behind the words.
4.) Give your full attention
► Nodding or interjecting occasionally to clarify a point lets the speaker know you are interested.
► If the speaker pauses briefly, don't rush to fill the silence.
► Use open-ended questions to encourage elaboration.

7 Ways to improve your Listening Skills
5.) Restate the message
► When you are sure that the speaker has finished, restate the main points.
► This is a good organizing strategy for you.
► It also gives the speaker assurance that the message has been received.
6.) Listen for ideas as well as facts
► A good listener makes an effort to understand what the facts add up to.
7.) Don't monopolize:
► Resist the urge to dominate a situation or to feel that you know everything about a situation.
► Be open to new ideas and allow the speaker to have his or her say.

Strategies for successful informative
and persuasive speaking
Informative Speech
An informative speech is one that intends to educate
the audience on a particular topic. There are many
different types of informative speeches,
including speeches that describe the conditions of a
subject and speeches that instruct the audience on how
to perform an action.
Persuasive Speech
A persuasive speech is a specific type of speech in
which the speaker has a goal of convincing the
audience to accept his or her point of view.
The speech is arranged in such a way as to hopefully
cause the audience to accept all or part of the
expressed view.

Purpose of Informative Speaking
• Making an idea clear is central to the purpose of informative speaking
• The purpose should be specific
• The title of your speech and purpose should be linked
• The purpose could be product, process, policy, any incident, etc.
Purpose of Persuasive Speaking
Gaining willingness / acceptance of your central idea is the core purpose
of persuasive speaking.

Kinds of Informative Speaking
• Periodic department reports
• Progress reports on sales or ongoing committee activities
• Statements on area or division responsibilities
• Reports on manufacturing problems in the plant
• Reports on Competitive Operations
• Reports on problems with vendors
• Monthly personnel reports
• Abstract of contact reports for months
• Companies often arrange public speaking or meetings for
goodwill creation
• Short problem solving sessions
• How to do, what to do
Reports
Goodwill
Briefings
Instructions

Kinds of Persuasive Speaking
• To convince someone on a course of action to be taken or
not to be taken
• Persuasion is required to support your personal position on
how to proceed
• A value judgment needs the definitions, facts to support
your idea of value
• Not everyone agrees on facts
• Extensive research may be required to prove the validity of
your facts
Policy
Value
Procedure
Facts (Present or
Past

Audience Analysis
For a non-familiar audience find out the following
1. Their interests, disinterests and attitudes
2. The occasion
3. The location of your speech
Informative Speaking Persuasive Speaking
Find out :
• How much do your listeners know about the topic
• What is their level of comprehension
• What percentage of the group is well informed?
• What percentage of the group is uninformed?
Find out:
• The attitude of the audience of being for or against
your proposal
• If they agree or disagree
Ways to handle the familiar ones:
• If audience is familiar with the topic; then omit
the basic information
Ways to handle the hostile, prejudiced audience
• Search for commonality
• Compare agreements with disagreements

Audience Analysis
Search for Common Ground Compare Agreements and Disagreements
• Begin with a familiar, commonly
accepted topic
• Use visuals, examples, goodwill
comments
• Clearly keep in account the culture of
countries
• Use the following four approaches
1- Insert praise for the organization and
its members
2- Mention names of colleagues or
friends within the organization with
whom you have worked in the past
3- Make use of patriotism, loyalty and
cooperation
4- Be polite – even poke fun at yourself
• Before giving speech, review areas of
agreements and disagreement
• Depend upon facts, use value
judgments very carefully
• You may draw parallel columns
• Find out in advance what you may face
in front of a hostile audience to deal
with them nicely

Suggestion for Approaching a Hostile Group
Offer a Greeting to
gain goodwill
“we have differences in philosophy, yet I bring you greetings from many friends I
have met during this past year”
Make use of the
fairness concept
‘All of us in this room have a degree of freedom not experienced anywhere else in
the world; I am using that freedom to bring a different point of view”
Appeal to a sense of
human weaknesses
“well, I have made mistakes in my days; may I tell you about one made in my first
appearance before this group”
Quote from a
supporter of the
audience’s views
“one of the directors of your association strongly supported the concept of
brotherhood. I will begin with a quotation he uttered last year”

Occasion
Inside Company Outside Company
If you are speaking in
familiar work settings;
you already know the
people, their position and
their attitudes.
If you are speaking
outside your group,
devote more thought
to the occasion.
Find out: if you are the main
speaker; are you the first or
last in the program, how
long will you speak?
Additionally for outside
groups if there is higher
variation or less possible
prediction, then it’s a must to
find out about other party’s
position and interest in
addition to research on your
position
Location
Find out in advance; what is the physical environment of your presentation as it may be any of the following
and all have their own psychological influences
– An open environment
– Large auditorium
– Conference room (small or big)
– Any lounge etc.
• Find out whether you have a podium or a table
• Check whether you have all your requirements fulfilled; charts, markers, multimedia, projector etc

UNIT 7: STRATEGIES FOR ORAL COMMUNICATION (Business Communication)

UNIT 7: STRATEGIES FOR ORAL COMMUNICATION (Business Communication)

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UNIT 7: STRATEGIES FOR ORAL COMMUNICATION (Business Communication)