In some cultures many people consider the style of
direct communication to be very rude. This short video talks about the use of indirect
speech and the many ways you can make your indirect communications to be very
effective through the power of suggestion. Indirect communication can be defined
as acting out rather than directly saying what a person is thinking or feeling
using facial expressions, tone of voice, and/or gestures. (Joyce, C.) This basically
means that you tend to look at a person’s body language or you tend to “beat
around the bush”, before you get to the point of the message. Although this
style of communication can be very awkward. It is better to get straight to the
point (direct communication). Because people can get the wrong impression.
This picture was taken from the business
communications text book. I like this picture because it shows the difference
between direct and indirect speech.
Example
For instance, if Tina and Carlos are coworkers and
Tina disapproves of Carlos’ eating habits at his desk but does not know how to
communicate this directly to him, she may emit loud, exasperated sighs or glare
at Carlos disapprovingly–examples of indirect communication. Carlos may hear
the sighs and see Tina’s looks of displeasure, but he may not interpret these
to mean that Tina is necessarily upset with the way he eats. He may simply come
to believe that Tina dislikes him for no particular reason. (Joyce 2012)
This example shows how indirect speech/ communication
can be misinterpreted very easily, even thorough cultural differences. As one person may interpret the sigh as someone not liking them or even being annoyed with them. Another person can interpret the sigh as someone being sad or frustrated with themselves. It is very easy to misinterpret body language and speech.
References
Business Communications: Mary Ellen Gruffey
Youtube: Developing Cultural Intelligence: The use of indirect
communication
Joyce, C. The impact of direct and indirect
communication. Independent Voice.
Indirect Communication. (2013).
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