Face-to-face conversation
- This involves two or more people talking to each other.
- The parties are usually near each other as much as possible to ensure effective communication.
- It is suitable where subject matter of discussion require convincing persuasion and immediate feed-back.
- It may be used during meetings, interviews, seminars, private discussions, classrooms e.t.c
- It is the most common means of oral communication
Advantages of face-to-face communication
- Provides for immediate feedback
- Has personal appeal
- Body language can be easily expressed
- One can persuade or convince another
- It is the simplest communication to use
- It is direct i.e. does not pass through intermediaries
- Convenient for confidential messages
Disadvantages of face-to-face communication
- No record for future reference
- Can be time consuming
- Messages can be distracted
- Not suitable when people are far apart
- Unsuitable for the dumb and deaf
Telephone
- This form of communication is commonly used in offices and homes.
- It is useful in sending messages quickly over short and long distances.
- In Kenya telephone services are mainly provided by Telkom Kenya Limited.
- The subscriber is required to purchase the telephone equipment from the post office or other authorized dealers before installation.
- The charges for calls depend on the time spent time of the day of the week and distance of the recipient from the caller.
- There are also mobile phones which have no physical line connection to exchange and may be fixed to a vehicle or carried in pockets.
- In Kenya these services are provided by Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom.
Advantages of face-to-face communication
- Relatively fast
- Has personal appeal
- Provides for immediate feedback
- One can persuade or convince another
- Suitable for long distance communication
Advantages of face-to-face communication
- Can be expensive especially over long distances
- No record for future reference
- Lacks confidentiality
- Not convenient for dumb and deaf
- Can be time consuming
Reasons why mobile phones have become popular
- They are portable and can be conveniently carried around.
- It is not very expensive especially when making local calls.
- Relatively cheap to acquire.
- Some mobile phones can record conversations/calls thereby acting as evidence.
- Can be used to send short text messages (sms)
- Can be used anywhere since they are portable.
Radio Calls
- This involves transmitting information by use of radio waves i.e. without connecting wires between the sender and the receiver.
- The device used is called a radio telephone.
- It is commonly used in remote areas where normal telephone services are lacking or where telephone services are available but cannot be conveniently used e.g. policemen on patrol in different parts of a town
- Radio transmission is a one way communication system i.e. only one person can speak at a time.
- It is therefore necessary for the speaker to say 'over' to signal the recipient that the communication is through so that the recipient can start talking.
- To end the conversation, the speaker says ‘over and out’.
- The radio calls are commonly used by the police, game rangers, researchers, foresters, ship owners and hotels situated in remote areas.
- They are also used for sending urgent messages such as calling for an ambulance and fire brigade.
Advantages of Radio calls
- Relatively fast.
- Has immediate feedback.
- Has personal appeal.
- Provide room for one to persuade and convince another.
- Suitable for remote areas.
- Convenient for long distances.
Disadvantages of Radio calls
- No record for future reference.
- Lacks confidentiality.
- Messages are sent one way at a time.
- Can be expensive.
- Cannot be used by dumb and deaf.
- Can be time consuming.
Paging
- This is a means of communication used to locate staff or employers who are scattered in an organization or who are outside and need to be located urgently
- When within the organization portable receivers, lighted signals, bells, loudspeakers etc are used
- When outside the organization employees are contacted using portable receivers (pocket-size) used to send messages through sms (short message services)
- The paying system can only be used within a certain radius.
- When using a portable receiver, the caller will contact the subscriber by calling the post office which will then activate the pager.
- The subscriber is then informed to contact the originator of the message.
- Paging is mostly used in emerging cases
Advantages of oral/verbal communication
- Very effective method of communication since the recipient can be persuaded/convinced
- It is relatively faster method of communication
- The sender can get immediate feedback
- It indicates some sense of regard hence more appealing
Disadvantages of oral/verbal communication
- Disadvantages of oral/verbal communication
- Has no records for future reference
- Is an expensive method especially if the two parties are far apart
- Is not good for confidential messages
- It is not suitable for confidential messages
- It may be time wasting especially where one needs to be convinced
