Verbal communication

Although you can express many things non-verbally, there are limits to what you can communicate without the help of language. Business people use speaking and writing to send messages; they use listening and reading to receive them.

When you send business messages, speaking is more common than writing. Giving instructions, conducting interviews, working in small groups, attending meetings and making speeches are all important activities. But when you want to send a complex message of lasting significance, you will probably want to put it in writing.

People in business spend more time obtaining information than transmitting it, so to do their jobs effectively, they need good listening and reading skills. Unfortunately, most of us are not very good listeners. Obtaining and remembering information take a special effort.

Although listening and reading obviously differ, both require a similar approach. The first step is to register the information, which means that you must focus your attention. You must then interpret and evaluate the information. While absorbing the material, we must decide what is important and what is not. The next step is presentation of the necessary information.

Ways of business communication may be quite different. First of all, we can divide them into “Business Communication” and “Business Correspondence”. What do they presuppose? We can refer the term “communication” mainly to “oral speech” and the term “correspondence” to “written speech”.

Then, in the first case we can speak about “oral forms of communication” and in the second one we speak about “written forms of communication”.

While studying this course we are interested in oral forms of communication, i.e. speaking and listening. How do you think what they are?

Well, the “communication” itself presupposes:

7. Employment interviewing;

8. Introducing;

9. Speech etiquette;

10. Business conversation;

11. Telephone talks;

12. Negotiations;

13. Presentations.

All these types of business communication presuppose good speaking and listening skills. But to communicate you should possess some norms of behavior. You have to be acquainted with the rules of writing any business correspondence, i.e. business etiquette, and from the other hand you must be ready to talk on the phone, to introduce yourself, to meet with your partners. So, in other words you should deal with the rules and norms of business behavior and communication. Our course presupposes the skills to talk on the phone, to negotiate and, certainly, to introduce yourself during your first personal contact. And it’s very important to make an impression on your future partner (a good impression), to catch his or her interest. And the success of the future deal or business will depend upon the first personal meeting.

So, in business everything is important, beginning with your appearance, your clothes, your manners, your voice and ending with your business qualities (characteristics).

Nowadays, we have to communicate with different business partners from various countries, we’ve a great deal of co-enterprises and we’ve got to make deals and subscribe many commercial documents. And how to persuade the partner, how to interest him, to make an impression on him, considering his cultural and national peculiarities? It is the complex question requiring many skills and knowledge not only in your sphere of business but also abilities to create the positive image. And if you represent the firm you are the face of it. The image is greatly paid attention to today.

“GOOD MANNERS ARE BENEFITABLE” – Хорошие манеры прибыльны.

We can refer this slogan both to the business communication and to the business correspondence. It’s very important to be correct and literate while writing any business letter and to have adequate communication skills when talking to your boss or your business partner.

The firms where business etiquette isn’t preserved lose a lot and those ones which keep to it win a lot.

For example, in the USA there are more than 300 firms which train people working or going to work in business to good manners, rules and forms of communication. The Japanese corporations, for instance, spend up to 700 mln. dol. annually for this purpose.

What is business etiquette?

Business etiquette are such rules of social behavior which promote mutual understanding in the process of communication. The absence of etiquette limits the initiative, restrains the behavior, creates the inconfidence and nervousness of the situation, impossibility to get necessary results and to come to an agreement.

So, we can sum up, to be successful in business you should have an appropriate appearance, good manners, surely, be competent in your business and have some ideas as for customs and traditions of your partners.