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The Miracles Of Language!
Soheli Kar, Instructional Designer, The Business Workshop

Amongst the many precious gifts that human beings enjoy over the other species, language or speech is one which acts as a vehicle of thoughts and ideas. The resultant interactions assume multiple shades such as negotiations, sharing, directing & instructing, criticising, appreciating etc.. Language therefore, must have many facets, each one playing an important and unique role in communicating the exact shade of interaction.

The way a person speaks is a manifestation of all his experiences that he collects since his childhood. The function of speech includes what we actively learn as a child and throughout our journey to adulthood. Speech therefore is an integral part of all our experiences, personal or business. In a professional set up language has a very important and interesting role to play. Each person has his own style of communicating which includes his unique manner of choosing words and style of speaking.

If the intricacies of the linguistic process were to be simplified, then the speech of a person can be broadly divided into two parts, the mode of delivery and the choice of language. For instance, Albeena announces her arrival to her colleagues in the first floor of her office in her shrill, high pitched voice speaking nineteen to the dozen. Though she tries her best to be social, others avoid her as her voice simply hurts their ears. This in turn hinders her professional growth as she is perceived to be impatient and less innovative by the listeners.

On the other hand, people listen to Vineet with rapt attention, because he speaks with a clear accent, has a normal pitch and good pronunciation. Vineet enjoys the trust and affection of his colleagues and his boss because he is able to influence others well and is perceived as a sincere, patient and enterprising young man. Thus, it is evident that the way a person speaks, matters a lot when it comes to assessing a person's personality.

Certain linguistics traits are almost permanent whereas some are transient and change according to the situation. For example, a very strong regional accent is often impossible to shake off while some others are able to adapt to the prevalent accent in their circumstance exceptionally well. However, the linguistic capacity of a person to learn a new language or to change the style of speech delivery and articulation depends on a number of factors which are either genetic or biological.

In the context of a multilingual country like India, this can often pose a hurdle. Such an individual will often be misunderstood or will be the cause of irritation in case his heavily laced speech is impossible to interpret. This will then have an unfavourable effect because it creates the impression on the listeners that the speaker is not linguistically flexible. But a person can certainly benefit if he is willing to make an effort to change and improve his power of language and in the process become a better communicator.

Vocabulary too plays an important part in the process of communication. It is assumed that a person who has a rich vocabulary and delivers his speech with clarity is more efficient and influential. Imagine an individual punctuating his sentences with several hmm's... and ah's... and groping for words to explain himself in comparison with someone who communicates lucidly.

Language is also an important factor in creating business strategies. For instance, many products are advertised in the language which is widely acceptable even if it means that the language variety is not a standard one. This is because the companies have to reach out to a target consumer group who might belong to a particular section of the society or will only be open to listening to the business proposition in their own language. They obviously do not know or care about the "standardness" of the language the organisation chooses to communicate in.

It is thus evident that language enjoys a symbiotic relationship with the society and the people in general. Since the business organisations are also a part of the whole gamut, language certainly plays an important role in their meeting business goals.

Linguistics is often ignored by us and we take it for granted, but the subtle characteristics of our speech in a way, create an impression on others and we unconsciously build our identity through the way we speak. In other words, language is not merely a phenomenon but a fundamental aspect of civilisation. Those people who are successful in life often enthral others speechless by their speech!

Graphic done by Sophiya