14.7: Appropriate Verbal Expression

“That’s not what I meant!” Most people have made a statement like that at least once, if not many times. Oral communication between people can often result in misunderstanding, frustration and, if you are lucky, lots of laughter. Why does this happen? Words can hold different meanings for different people, because meaning inheres in people’s minds and not in the word itself. Public speakers are increasingly being challenged to reach beyond the comfort zone of speaking to audiences predominantly from their own culture, where their communicative ability is fairly high and to study and adapt to diverse audiences, where their intercultural communication competency will be challenged. This section explains how language and culture influence each other and what public speakers can do to use words effectively with multi- cultural audiences.

What we have to do... is to find a way to celebrate our diversity and debate our differences without fracturing our communities. ~ Hillary Clinton

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\). Triangle of Meaning

the triangle of meaning

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." This quote from Shakespeare reminds us that words are merely symbols, with little or no logical or semantic connection with the real life object or action they represent. Words as symbols are created through mutual social agreement and are fairly arbitrary. For instance, the word "rose" refers to a sweet-smelling flower that comes in different colors. Why call it a "rose"? We could have decided to call it "chethi." In other words, the word "rose" is arbitrary and must be learned. Speakers of each language have to learn to associate their language's symbols with their referents. The symbolic. arbitrary nature of language has been represented as the triangle of meaning, with symbol. referent and thought foaming the points of the triangle, as shown in the diagram below (Ogden and Richards, 1927; as cited in Cooper et al., 2007). To illustrate, the word rose is a symbol of the actual object in nature. The actual object is the referent, and the image of a rose that comes to mind is the thought.

In Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\) above, the symbol and the referent are connected by a dotted line, indicating that the symbol and its referent are not directly connected. Rather. they are connected only by the thought in the minds of speakers and recipients. This lack of direct connection between the symbol and the referent can cause issues especially when the referent is an abstract concept such as duty and respect. Culturally diverse audiences, who will have different symbols and thoughts regarding everyday objects or abstract concepts, challenge public speakers. Further, public speakers must also be aware of different meanings that words can take.

Table \(\PageIndex{1}\) Words to Avoid in Speeches
Sexist Words	Mankind, Chairman, Manpower, Firemen (instead use gender-neutral words such as humanity, chairperson, human resources and firefighters)
Racist Words	Jap, Paki, Polack, etc., especially when used in a negative tone (instead say people from Japan, Pakistan, Poland, etc.)
Ageist words	Crone (old woman, used in a derogatory tone), geezer (a queer, odd, or eccentric person, used especially of elderly men), old goat (an elderly man who is usually disliked for being disapproving of younger people)
Stereotypes	Women talk too much, Blondes are dumb, Asians are good at science
Patronizing Language	For a woman, she is an effective manager. He is a caring nurse, for a male. She is just a stay-at-home mother.
Ethnic Slurs	Dirty Jew, Russian pig, Stupid American
Ethnic Epithets	Chinky (people perceived as of Chinese descent), Golliwog (people with dark skin), Redskin (refers to Native Americans)
Sources: Lustig & Koester, (2010); Samovar et al. (2010)

denotative versus connotative meaning

Words can have denotative or connotative meanings A denotative meaning is the socially agreed-upon meaning that can be found in a conventional dictionary. On the other hand, connotative meaning is the meaning attached to a word over time based on personal experiences and associations. For instance, the word "immigrant" is defined in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary as "a person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence." However, the connotative meaning of immigrant arises in part from people's experience with immigrants. whether positive or negative. Public speakers must stay aware of the connotative meanings that diverse audiences might attach to their words. Interculturally competent speakers need to carefully choose words that will encode their ideas well to evoke the intended reaction and that will not offend the audience. Gamble and Gamble (1998) contend that strategic word choice might be public speakers' most powerful tool. Appropriate word choice refers to choosing words that are inclusive and avoiding sexist, racist and ageist language. For instance, in certain cultures elders are highly valued and given a lot of respect. While talking to a diverse audience, speakers must avoid language that demeans the elderly, or any other segment of the audience for that matter. Some examples of the types of words to avoid are given in Table \(\PageIndex{1}\).

communication style

The interculturally competent public speaker strives to learn the preferences in communication styles that a diverse audience may have. For example, Asians often prefer an implicit, subtle style of communication, while North Americans prefer more explicit, direct styles. Gudykunst and Ting-Toomey (1988) have identified two classes of communication styles that have a direct bearing on speech delivery: the direct- versus-indirect styles and the elaborate- versus-succinct styles.

direct versus indirect

Whether speech is direct or indirect is determined by the extent to which speakers place emphasis on the explicitness of verbal communication. In a direct style, speakers place emphasis on the words spoken. Words are chosen for clarity and precision. The intention of the direct-style speaker is to convey as clearly and logically the main idea of the speech, without “beating about the bush.” In such a style, non-verbal cues are not as important as the verbal message. Speakers from low-context cultures most often use this communication style.

In an indirect style, speakers place emphasis on the context of the speech rather than the words spoken. In the indirect style, meaning inheres in the context or is internalized with the people who are communicating. A competent speaker or listener in such a situation would be one who understands the context: where the words are spoken, who is speaking and to whom. People from high-context cultures usually employ the indirect style. Often people from high-context cultures might find people from low- context cultures too abrupt, straightforward and insensitive, while people from low-context cultures might not understand why people from high- context cultures never seem to “get to the point.”

Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates a significant an impression by remaining silent. ~ Dalai Lama

elaborate versus succinct

These styles range on a continuum, with elaborate and succinct styles at the extremes and an exacting style at the mid-point. In an elaborate style, speakers use fairly rich language filled with proverbs, idioms, quotations and metaphors. For example, speakers from Arab countries and Mexico tend to use this style. On the other end of the spectrum, speakers employing a succinct style use a lot of silences, pauses, indirectness, circumlocution and understatement to convey their main ideas. The Japanese and people from a number of other Asian countries tend to use this style. In the middle of the continuum lies the exacting style wherein the speaker will give precisely the required amount of information — nothing more, nothing less. Speakers from Northern Europe and the United States tend to prefer an exacting style of communication.

Faced with a diverse audience, competent speakers will first identify their own communication style and the preferred communication styles of their audience. They then adjust and adapt their communication style so that the audience will welcome the message.