By EDWIN ERIYE
Communication has been an essential part of the existence and longevity of humanity, ideas and innovations that have made life more comfortable for us would not have metamorphosed into fruity without the presence of communication.
Knowledge from diverse fields and history of distinct sagas have been passed down to generations, all thanks to “communication”, this transfer of knowledge can either be verbal or non-verbal, however it is, communication still remains a pivotal part of our existence.
I can punch my keyboard all day, itemizing the relevance and beauty of “communication”, but I’d be optimistic that the aforementioned paragraphs have successfully established the vitality of “communication”.
Lucidly, communication is the exchange of ideas and information, and as such humans engage in this at different levels. From our lecture rooms, to the banking halls, to the courts of law, to the government house, and even in the yellow bus (Danfo) communication happens, but this I’m sure you are already aware of.
Regardless of your profession and disposition you have to communicate with words, using a certain language or gesture, or better still by putting pen to paper. Unfortunately, most people communicate with a lot of verbal or linguistic tics.
WHAT ARE VERBAL TICS?
Linguistic tics refer to things we repeat endlessly, without even being aware of it. These are often connecting words such as ‘like’, ‘basically’, ‘actually’, ‘so’, ‘and then’ and/or sounds such as ‘errrr’, clearing one’s throat or small intakes of breath.
Beyond choosing a suitable register for your content, verbal, linguistic tics must be taken into consideration, while this is largely applicable to public speaking (verbal communication), most people still use verbal tics even when writing.
HOW TO MINIMISE VERBAL TICS
- Now, one of the ways to avoid or minimise the use of verbal tics is to become aware of them. This way you can first learn to hear them and then work to change them. If you’re not sure you have any linguistic tics, film yourself. Take a subject that you haven’t prepared or written down and talk to the camera, this way you will take note of them and improve accordingly.
- Also, having a large array of synonyms of a word can be very helpful, this will afford you the luxury of being able to use several words with an akin meaning. When writing or speaking and you have used the word “important”, you can then use its synonyms; relevant, essential, paramount, germane . Same way the word “stubborn” can be readily replaced with; mulish, obstinate, intractable, the list goes on and on.
- Finally, Silence is also a good way of avoiding verbal tics, where “err, uhmmmm” could have been used, a pause or silence can just be observed.
Conclusively, consistency and practice, coupled with a meticulous study of vocabularies and their synonyms can get you to eliminate verbal, linguistic tics completely.
