Page 15 - Effective communication Skills by Dale King

Chapter 2: Communication Levels

Communicating with others happen on several different levels; each one has
its own complexities and nuances. The levels that communication happens on

are verbal, physical, emotional, auditory, and energetic.

These five levels of communication have been known for a while, but most
people aren’t even aware of them. Understanding them is can be very helpful
when a person is trying to improve their communication skills.

Level One: Verbal Communication

While this may be the most obvious level of human communication, people
will likely spend their entire life trying to master it. This is the level where
are words are kept and are based upon the understanding of meaning between
the listener and speaker. There are several different definitions for the
majority of words, and very few people have the same meanings for every
word.

There are different words that create different memories, meanings, and
images for different people. The reasoning and logic behind a statement or
argument can influence how effectively the message is received.

There are several different types of communication skills. This can be
obvious things like listening and speaking clearly, to subtle things like
clarifying and reflecting.

Listening and effective speaking are the basic forms of verbal
communication. Effective speaking requires three things: the words, how
they are said, and how they are reinforced. All of these put together affect

how the message is shared and how the listeners receive and understand the
message.

It is definitely worth your time to make sure that you choose your words
carefully. Given the situation, you may have to choose certain words. For
example, the things that you say to your coworker are going to be different
than how you present an idea to executives.

Through your verbal communication, you can also add reinforcement.
Reinforcement means that you use encouraging words as well as other