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Unit 3: Conversation Building

introduction notes

Face-to-face communication can be defined as communicating one’s thoughts through words
to the person/people in front. Such thoughts may be ideas, opinions, directions, dissatisfaction,
objections, your emotions and pleasures.

When it comes to business, face-to-face communication is very important for the reason is that
one has to deal with a variety of people throughout the day. There may be a single day in which
you may have to deal with people who have different culture, ages and with different levels of
experience.
It is quite obvious that the way in which you converse with a family member or friend around
your same age, is quite different from the way in which you deal with your day to day business
clients. With the former, you interact with a lot of confidence, but with the latter, the higher is his
importance for you – the higher is the preparation that you make before talking to him. More so,
because you cannot talk anything and everything in front of him. You have to ensure that all that
is being said is meaningful as well as useful for the organisation that you are working for.

Thus it is necessary to have proper skill when using verbal communication while dealing
face-to-face with different people.

3.1 formal conversation

Formal communication can be defined as, a conversation that strictly adheres to rules,
conventions, and ceremony, and is free of colloquial expressions. It connotes the flow of the data
by the lines of authority formally acknowledged in the enterprise and its members are likely to
communicate with one another strictly as per channels constituted in the structure. Thus, it is
a purposeful effort to influence the flow of communication so as to guarantee that information
flows effortlessly, precisely and timely.
It emphasizes the essence of formal channel of communication. The different forms of formal
communication include; departmental meetings, conferences, telephone calls, company news
bulletins, special interviews and special purpose publications.
Face-to-face communication is an integral part of the modern business communication. The
skills involved are effectively used in meetings, presentations, telecommunication, video-
communication and all such formal and informal occasions (these days, it is not unusual to find
professionals talking business at informal occasions like wedding of some client’s daughter
etc.).
Spoken communication is riskier in the terms that you need to be very specific of what you say
and might even sometimes have to think on your feet. One must remember that communication
is more than just talking. It’s building and maintaining relationships.
Experts say that communication is composed of different methods: words, voice, tone and
non-verbal clues. Of these, some are more effective in delivering a message than others. According
to research, in a conversation or verbal exchange:
1. Words are 7% effective
2. Tone of voice is 38% effective

3. Non-verbal clues are 55% effective.
Non-verbal clues include:
1. Body language (e.g., arms crossed, standing, sitting, relaxed, tense),
2. Emotion of the sender and receiver (e.g., yelling, speaking provocatively, enthusiastic)

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