Verbal Miscommunication

Verbal miscommunication happens when an individual does not communicate effectively by word of mouth as expected. It normally happens when the individual speaking does not participate well in the production of sufficient information to the person receiving the information. There are also some cases whereby the recipient of the information is not familiar with the kind of language used in communication hence leading to a verbal miscommunication between the two parties. This essay looks at verbal miscommunication and some of the examples of verbal miscommunications.
Verbal miscommunication can be categorized into three groups; no communication, synchronous communication and asynchronous communication. In the category of no communication, verbal communication does not occur completely unlike in the other two categories. For the synchronous communication, the two individuals that are involved experience communication that happens in real time which could be in a meeting, through telephone or face to face. Asynchronous communication involves a communication between two people that does not occur in real time because the two parties are not in the same place.
There are three types of verbal miscommunication; non understanding, misunderstanding and misinterpretation type of verbal miscommunication. Non understanding type of miscommunication is whereby the person involved in the communication does not comprehend what the speaker is saying and he may at times get confused because he does not get a clear interpretation in the communication process. An example of such type of miscommunication is when an individual tells the other person ‘Stock up and save. Limit one. ‘It is apparent that the statement is not comprehensive. The misunderstanding type of verbal miscommunication occurs whereby the other person gets a completely different interpretation compared to what the speaker intends. An example of such a situation is whereby an individual says ‘I want a man to take care of cow that does not drink or smoke’. Misinterpretation which is the last type of verbal miscommunication involves statements that seem to suggest that a person’s views and nature are contrary to other people. Example if a person tells the other person that it is not good to look people in the eye this could be misinterpreted to mean something else.
In conclusion in order to avoid such verbal miscommunications, individuals will need to improve their communication skills and ask questions whenever confusion in communication occurs.