1. Essentials of Human Communication, 7th Edition
Joseph A. DeVito Hunter College of the City University of New York
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2. Chapter Four: Verbal Messages
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Chapter Four Goals
Learn the nature and principles of verbal messages
Learn to use verbal messages more effectively
Learn to avoid sexist, heterosexist, racist and ageist language
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4. Six Principles of Verbal Messages
Message meaning are in people.
Messages are denotative and connotative.
Messages vary in abstraction.
Messages vary in politeness.
Message vary in assertiveness.
Messages are influenced by culture and gender.
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5. Messages are Influenced by Culture and Gender
Messages are culturally influenced
The principle of cooperation
The principle of peaceful relations
The principle of self-denigration
The principle of directness
Gender
Verbal messages reflect considerable gender influences
Example: Politeness
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6. Disconfirmation and Confirmation
A communication pattern in which one ignores the other person’s presence and communication
Confirmation
A communication pattern in which one acknowledges the other person’s presence and attends to his/her communication
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7. Disconfirmation and Confirmation cont…
Acknowledge presence and contribution of other
Make nonverbal contact
Demonstrate understanding of words and feelings
Ask questions
Encourage the other person to express thoughts and feelings
Disconfirmation
Ignore presence and indifferent to messages
Make no nonverbal contact
Jump to interpret and evaluate messages
Talk about self
Interrupt; make it hard for other’s expression
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8. Skill Development Experience
Carrie’s boyfriend of seven years left her and married another woman. Carrie confides this to Samantha.
What would she say if responding
with disconfirmation?
with rejection?
with confirmation?
From Skill Development Experience Feature: Confirming, Rejecting, and Disconfirming – ask students to offer an example each response.
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Racist Speech
Classifying others in an inferior position
Makes dominant group more powerful
Inherently racist language—“white”
Commonly called “cultural identifiers” (i.e., descriptions like old, black, Jew, queer)
Learn to use appropriate identifiers
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Heterosexist Speech
“derogatory language used against gays or lesbians”
Avoid offensive parodies and nonverbal mannerisms
Avoid “complimenting” gay men and lesbians that they “don’t look it”
Avoid assumptions about their relational knowledge of other people “like them”
Affirm them as individuals
Stay clear of making overattributions
Remember and celebrate relationship milestones
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11. Ageist and Sexist Speech
Prejudice against other age groups
General disrespect for older people
Age restrictions in certain occupations
Sexist
Generic “man”
Generic “he” and “his”
Sex role stereotyping
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Cultural Identifiers
Race and nationality
Affectional orientation
Age
Sex
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13. Principles for Using Verbal Messages Effectively
Avoid intensional orientation
Avoid allness
Distinguish between facts and inferences
Avoid indiscrimination
Avoid polarization
Avoid static evaluation
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14. Extensionalize: Avoid Intensional Orientation
Intensional Orientation: Viewing people, objects, or events in the way they are talked about or pre-labeled
Extensional Orientation: Look first at the actual people, objects, or events and then apply labels
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15. See the Individual: Avoid Allness
Allness thinking—putting into “all” or “never” categories
Recognize that there is always more to learn about something
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16. Differences between Factual and Inferential Statements
From Table 4.3
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17. Avoid Indiscrimination
Indiscrimination: Failure to distinguish between similar but different people
Solution: See the individual apart from the group
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Avoid Polarization
Polarization: Tendency to see the world in opposite extremes
Solution: Search for the middle ground
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19. Avoid Static Evaluation
Static Evaluation: When you hold on to judgments about people and ignore they’ve changed
Solution: Look at statements in context of time
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