Verbal communication
Verbal communication is the way you talk. So when you say something it could be really fast or you could be talking in a high pitch. Verbal communication is very important so other people can understand what you are talking about. As well as that verbal communication is important in care setting because you would need to adjust you tone and the way you speak to the person you are talking to. And you need to make sure that the other person can understand what you are talking about, and make sure you are not intimidating anybody, nor offending them in any shape or form. Your objective is to provide support and care, which you can create a suitable environment for through the way you speak. Armenian psychologist Albert Mehrabian's theory about speech is that words account for only about 7 per cent of human communication – 38 % is to do with tone of voice and 55 % to do with how we look and act when we talk. So although there is more to human interaction than just words, it is clear that a lot can be done and meant by how we speak, meaning verbal communication.
Age appropriate language
When you talk to someone you need to speak the way they would best understand. For example, you should speak and use ‘motherese’ which is speaking to children in a similar manner as to how they speak, with infants. This means that the children can understand what you are saying, since you are using age appropriate vocabulary, and nothing sophisticated or derogatory. With adolescents, and adults, it is not advisable to use any inappropriate words, as you can never be sure whether people will take offence to what you say. In a care setting even if your client is an adult you need to make sure that you don’t swear. For example, if for some reason you were joking around (which you shouldn’t be doing anyway) and you accidently swear, with no attention of harm, your client; who could have been mentally unstable, could be offended.
Clarity of speech
Clarity of speech is way your speech sounds. It’s important because you want the other people to understand what you are talking about. Clarity of speech also refers to the speed of your speech so if you talk really fast some people will be able to understand you but not everyone so you would need to speak at a pace everyone understands. By speaking too fast, nobody can understand you very well, and by speaking too slowly, you can come across intimidating and may also frustrate people with the pace you speak at. Its important in a health and care setting because you need to speak according to their needs. So if your client was foreign and finds it hard to understand English (any other language) you would use clarity of speech.
Pace, tone and pitch
Pitch is how high and low you speak it is important that you sometimes change the pitch so when you are talking it doesn’t get too boring. And it also depends on the person you talk to so if you were talking to a child you would talk high pitch so they could hear well. But if you were talking to someone alder you wouldn’t speak too high or too low.
Tone is the volume of sound, so how loud you speak. Change of tone could make you sound more interesting but doing it too much wouldn’t sound too good. It’s important that you talk to someone with a warm tone so you sound friendly and then the person who you were talking to would open up more and feel conferrable. But if you shout at the person they would get a bit scared of you and maybe not tell you everything.
Pace is the speed of how you talk. It’s important that you change you pace sometimes because if you keep talking at the same pace you sound very boring. But changing you pace sometimes could make the other person think that you haven’t got enough time to talk to them and you are just rushing them or they might not understand what you are saying. An example in a care setting is that you shouldn’t rush as information can be lost if you talk too fast especially if the person is hard of hearing or if they have a language other than English as the first language, or when speaking to a child.
Non – discriminatory use of language.
Discrimination is against the law, in any working or professional environment, from the equality act 2010. Many workplaces have zero tolerance for any form of abuse or discrimination. Discriminatory language makes the victim feel neglected and offended. Generally, people should take care with the use of language, because the use of language can deeply offend some one, and upset them greatly, for which legal action can be pursued. It is unjust to allow anybody feel unsafe or violated, and a simple disregard of language can trigger all of those emotions. Legal action can include fines, and the possibility of losing your own job if there is clear evidence for direct discrimination. Indirect discrimination is where a practice, policy or rule that is applied equally has a worse effect on certain people, putting you at a disadvantage. This is also illegal. In a care setting you shouldn’t joke around for example if you joked about religion your client could find It very offensive.
Closed and open questions
Closed questions lead to yes or no, so no further discussion. Open questions, contrarily, mean that there is a variety of answers. Closed questions may be used to try to prove a point, when in a serious situation, where you want to get directly to the point. Open questions, however, can be used to start conversation, and helps make a very open and friendly environment. Such questions can be like ‘how was your day?’ which is a friendly way of opening up conversation. Knowing when to use open and closed questions is critically important, as if you expect to start a conversation, using closed questions is a bad idea.
Selecting an appropriate language
Selecting appropriate language is using the right language depending on the person so that the person would be able to understand you clearly. For example, if you were talking to a child you would be talking very simple because if you were talking in long sentences and started using long words the child would not understand what you are talking about. But if you were talking to an adult you would be explaining everything so if it was a patient you would have to say when they are going to get better and what’s wrong with them what medication they would need to take. In a health and social care setting it’s important to select an appropriate language a you need to make sure your client understands for example if you were talking to someone foreign you would talk very simple English.
Advantages of verbal communication in a one to one interaction
On a one to one basis, one of the advantages is that a clear bond of trust can be settles, as there is a strict rule of confidentiality, for example, if the one to one interaction is being done for medical reasons. There is also the fact that there is no way that the person can feel neglected, as the interaction be very direct. Also, another advantage is that a client can be asked directly about questions, and openly express how they feel, without feeling as though many people are finding out. When there are only two people present, people generally feel as though they can get to know one another better, and be more direct so find out more information more easily.
Advantages of group interactions
Within group interactions, people can help to build up one another’s confidence. Also, in a team, you can help by giving constructive advice to one another, so you are able to correct one another in a friendly environment. Also, you can help one another in a group, as if there is any discrimination that takes place, there are many people present to object it, or to be witnesses against it. There is also constructive criticism that can be given out to one another, seeing as there is a variety of perspectives available. Group work excels idea’s as people have different perspectives so can build up idea’s quickly, if every body is well engaged. As well as that in a group if someone didn’t understand something the other people in the group would be there to help out. And if you didn’t understand something you could ask someone in the group. For example, if someone was talking about the cause and you didn’t pay attention you could ask the person next to you without disturbing the others. Your client might feel more open and safe as the group may be formal so when you talk the group wouldn’t be talking like this ‘you have ……problem you will get better in 4-5 days and you need to take this medicine and then you will get better. Bye’. Instead your client would want someone who is kind and friendly.
Disadvantages of one to one interaction
Disadvantages could be that if discrimination takes place, there are no witnesses there, nor is there anybody else present to support the victim. There are a few dangers of this because there is a risk of loss of job for the worker or the client may be neglected in care. Clients may have a mental health illness, and could make false claims to get attention. In a one to one interaction means no witnesses. No definite proof of who’s wrong. Someone could loose the job and get penalized over a possible false claim. Another problem and disadvantage is that there is not as many perspectives involved on a one to one basis, so conversation and ideas can become stagnant. If a client and the worker didn’t have anything in common, it would be hard to make the client comfortable. On a one to one basis, people may feel under pressure, as there is no escape from interacting with the person in front of you. Sometimes because of pressure it would be hard for the client to talk to you and they wouldn’t be able to talk to anyone else as it is a one to one interaction. Sometimes the person had a mental issue and they didn’t like something about you, they would be very weary, uncomfortable and If the worst comes to the worst the client may have not taken your advice which could be life threatening. If any one of the people feels uncomfortable, interaction may end.
Disadvantages of group interactions
Group interactions do not always necessarily be in a positive environment. This is because in your group maybe one person is talking while the other people don’t get a chance to talk, this could make you team feel very annoyed and angry. Group interactions can become tense and counter productive if the atmosphere is negative, as in the group only one person might be talking and not letting anyone else talk. Instead of providing constructive criticism, the criticism can become negative, and make people in a group feel neglected. If someone don’t get along well with another team member you should not put them together as they would keep on arguing in front of the client which would make them feel intimidated. A possibility exists for the group not to bond enough, or provide a supporting atmosphere, so people do not feel as though they can open up, or be completely honest, especially if they feel the group is judgmental.