Verbal communication: what it is, types, examples, characteristics and elements

What is verbal communication?

Verbal communication refers to a type of communication that involves the use of linguistic signs (letters and phonemes). This means that it necessarily requires the use of written or oral words or expressions.

Verbal communication, along with non-verbal communication are the two main types of communication. However, verbal communication is unique to humans because it involves the use of the word.

Types of verbal communication

Verbal communication, in turn, is divided into two categories:

Oral communication

It is the exchange of ideas through speech. For this process to occur, there must be a code that is common to all involved, which in this case is the language or language.

In other words, there can be no oral communication without the existence of a language, and this in turn is materialized through speech.

Oral communication refers not only to the words and phrases that are expressed in speech, but also to the sounds and tone that accompany the communication. In this way, a scream, a sigh, an onomatopoeia or a characteristic sound are also forms of oral communication.

Written communication

It is the expression of ideas through a written code, either words from the same language or any conventional system that can be decoded by the recipients of the message.

In this sense, the alphabet (and its ortho-grammatical rules) are an essential code for written communication.

See also Oral communication.

Examples of verbal communication

Examples of verbal communication can be classified according to their types:

Examples of oral verbal communication

• A phone call, a person-to-person conversation, a voice note, a scream, a whistle.

Examples of written verbal communication

• A digital or paper book, an email, an instant message, a letter, a document, ideograms, logos, hieroglyphs.

Characteristics of verbal communication

The verbal communication process has certain characteristics, namely:

It is exclusive to human beings

Only human beings have the ability to speak, therefore, it is not possible for verbal communication to exist in other species.

Requires the use of a common code

The language used, as well as the words used that derive from it, must be known by both the sender and the recipients of the message.

It is expressed through speech

If language is the code, speech is the act that allows the materialization of said language, either through oral or written expression.

Requires the use of concepts

In verbal communication, the knowledge and use of concepts is essential to be able to decode the message, therefore, verbal communication requires abstract thinking, a quality characteristic of the human cognitive process.

It is a process

The communicative act has a series of elements that are related to verbal and non-verbal communication, and that are essential for the process of communicating an idea to take place.

In this sense, the elements of communication are:

• Sender: is the one who sends the message. Receiver: is the one who receives the message. Code: it is the system of signs that make up a language. Channel: is the medium used to communicate (telephone, paper, computer, etc.). Message: is what you want to say, whether it be an idea, opinion, intention, statement, etc. Context: it is the situation in which the communicative act is generated. Feedback: is the response that the sender gets from its receiver. Noise: they are all the elements that could distort the message.

See also:

• Communication.Elements of communication.