Business Communication Chapter 3

How People Use Language

Ambiguous language

Language that we can interpret to have more than one meaning.

Credibility

The extent to which others perceive us to be competent and trustworthy.

Cliché

Word or phrase that was novel at one time but has lost its effect due to overuse.

Dialect

Language variation shared by people of a certain region or social class.

Defamation

Language that harms a person’s reputation or gives that person a negative image.

Libel

A defamatory statement made in print or some other fixed medium, such as in a photograph or on a website or blog.

Slander

A defamatory statement made aloud, within earshot of others.

Loaded language

Language that consists of words with strongly positive or negative connotations; also called trigger words.

factual claim

An assertion that can be verified with evidence and shown to be true or false.

Opinion

Expression of a personal judgement or preference that can be agreed or disagreed with but that is not true or false in an absolute sense.

I-statement

A statement that claims ownership of what a communicator is feeling or thinking.

You-statement

A statement that shifts responsibility for thoughts and feelings to the other person.

powerful speech

A style of speaking perceived as active and assertive.

powerless speech

A style of speaking that is perceived as passive and timid.

Disclaimer

Statement, usually offered at the beginning of a message, that expresses a speaker’s uncertainty, such as “I could be wrong about this, but. . . .”

Hedge

Word that introduces doubt into a speaker’s message, such as “I guess I feel we should . . . ”

Tag question

Question at the end of a statement that asks for listener agreement, such as “Okay?” and “Don’t you agree?”

Hesitation

Term that introduces pauses into speech, such as “um” and “well.”

intensifier

Word such as “very” and “really” that heightens the importance of other words.

Formal Address Term

Term that indicates the listener is of higher status than the speaker, such as “Sir” and “Ma’am.”

nonverbal communication

Messages that include those behaviors and characteristics that convey meaning without the use of words.

facial display

Facial expression; a form of nonverbal communication.

Oculesics

The study of eye behavior as a separate nonverbal channel.

Kinesics

The study of movement, including the movement of walking.

Gesticulation

The use of arm and hand movements to communicate.

Haptics

The study of the way we use touch to communicate.

Vocalics

Characteristics of the voice, such as having a high, breathy voice or a deep, booming one; talking very fast or loudly; having an accent; or speaking with a particular tone in the voice to suggest irritation, amusement, or boredom; also called paralanguage.

Pitch

An index of how high or deep your voice sounds. On average, women’s voices have a higher pitch than men’s voices, and adults have deeper voices than children.

Inflection

Your variation in pitch. Voices that have a lot of inflection are usually described as expressive; those with little inflection are said to be monotone.

Volume

How loud or quiet your voice is. Most of us alter our volume as the social context demands, such as by speaking quietly during a meeting and loudly at a crowded reception.

Rate

How fast or slowly you speak. The average adult speaks at a rate of approximately 150 words per minute, but we might speak faster when we’re excited or slower when we’re unsure of ourselves.

Filler words

Nonword sounds such as “um” and “er” that people often use to fill the silence during pauses. If we have to pause while speaking—such as to remember a piece of information—we sometimes use filler words to indicate that we intend to continue speaking.

Pronunciation

How you combine vowel and consonant sounds to say a word. For example, how would you pronounce the word victuals? Although it looks as though it should be pronounced “VIK-too-alls,” the correct pronunciation is “VIT-alls.”

Articulation

How clearly you speak. Also known as enunciation. People who mumble their words demonstrate poor articulation; those whose words are clear and easily understandable are good articulators. Accent A pattern of pronouncing vowel and consonant sounds that is representative of a particular language or geographic area. Everyone speaks with an accent—even you—although we typically notice only accents that are different from our own.

Silence

The absence of sound. We frequently use silence to convey meaning in conversations. For instance, we may become silent when we are unsure how to respond to a question or when we have said as much as we wish to about a topic.

Proxemics

The scientific study of spatial use.

Halo Effect

When people look good, most of us assume they are good.

Chronemics

The way we use time.

Artifacts

The objects and visual features within our environment that reflect who we are and what we like.