Analysis of Communication Techniques - Report Example

Introduction: The speech that I have chosen is Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize wish: Teach every child about food. In this video Jamie Oliver brings to light stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington. He makes the perfect case for American and Britishers’ all out ignorance on food. Oliver was very effective in his presentation and the communication techniques that I would be analyzing are: 1. Non-verbal communication techniques: eye contact ; facial expressions; 2. Verbal communication techniques: Sound and Tone; Visual aids ; Authority There are different aspects of these communication techniques that I will analyze. In eye contact I will analyze to what extent was Oliver able to engage the audience; how his facial expressions with respect to the context did and what sort of body language did he apply at various points of his presentation. In verbal communication techniques, I will analyze the pitch of his sound and tone, his fluency with the language that he was using and the kind of confidence with which he exercised authority on his subject and over what he delivered. I will look into the intricacies of each of the aforementioned techniques used by Oliver to deliver his speech. Description of communication situation: The speech is a TED Talk by Jamie Oliver. Jamie Oliver is changing the way we feed and nourish ourselves and our children today. He has been attracted to the kitchen since his childhood. He used to work in his father’s pub-restaurant back then. He not only possesses culinary talent but also has a passion for creating fresh, delicious food. He has been in the business for over ten years now and has built a worldwide media conglomerate of TV shows, magazines, books and cookware. His formulae are simple. It is to invite people to get busy in the kitchen. His business model- his fifteen Foundation is a very generous venture, in which trains His business model- his fifteen Foundation is a very generous venture, in which trains young chefs from various challenged background to run four of his restaurants. In this speech, Oliver is capitalizing on his fame and charm to draw attention towards the changes that Americans and Brits need to plug into their life styles and diet. He calls upon adults and parents of these generations to take charge of the food eating habits of the youth of America as it is deadly. He exposes his audience to ground breaking statistics regarding healthy eating and encourages them to adopt healthy food. He appeals for a food revolution. Jamie Oliver in this speech is talking to an audience of above 40 years old, most of whom are children and have the capability to rationalize the situation. Analysis of Communication Techniques: Oliver was very effective in his eye contact with the audience. He kept moving to and fro and back and forth throughout the stage to ensure that his eye contact is maintained throughout the presentation. The eye contact is a very important part of communication. When people fail to look at others in the eye, it appears as if they are trying to hide something. However on the other hand, eye contact can also seem to be confrontational and intimidating. While eye contact is a crucial part of communication it is important for one to know that eye contact does not necessarily mean staring and gazing into someone’s eyes repeatedly. Oliver’s eye contact lasted for above five seconds with the audience. According to experts, good eye contact during speech communication should last somewhere between four to five seconds. (Chris) Another very crucial aspect of communication is facial expression. It is important to nail the facial expressions. The human face is a very expressive and can express innumerable number of emotions without saying a lot. Face expressions tend to be universal. There are expressions for happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, disgust and fear and they are the same across all cultures. Thus facial expression is a very important part of any communication. Oliver’s use of facial expression was apt throughout the TED Talk. His facial expressions were rather serious and expressed concern. As he said “2/3rds of the people in America are obese…” his tone asserted the significance of the fact which was further reciprocated by his intense expressions. He was also seen smiling slightly at various points. For instance when he said “England is right behind you as usual”, the crowd started jostled and started giggling. Thus he kept the audience incommunicado and engaged by suffusing his presentation with a myriad of expressions. On the verbal end of communication techniques, the voice, sound and tone are very critical to effective delivery of speeches. Humans communicate with their voice. Some non verbal speech elements for instance tone; inflection, rhythm, pitch and volume are very important part of communication. When one is delivering and speaking, the listeners tend to read the voice instead of just listening to words. The non-verbal speech sounds provide subtle yet powerful clues to what one is trying to depict and what one really means. For instance different tones of voice could indicate sarcasm, anger, affection of even confidence. Oliver’s sound and tone was loud clear and eloquent. However the tone varied with respect to the context of the conversation. He approached his audience with a fairly formal accent with a high pitched voice. For instance, he was very direct when he started talking about his food revolution and his trip to West Virginia. However, one can notice his voice becoming deeper and assertive as he spoke about “THE I50 BILLION DOLLARS That Americans are losing “in this battle. Towards the end of the presentation his voice became soft and pleaded for onlookers to battle obesity effectively. Thus Oliver was very effective with respect to his voice variations at different points in his presentation. The best and most influential aspect of Oliver’s speech was his use of visual aids to support what he was delivering. He had prepared a presentation which was high on statistical figures, quotes, videos etc. For instance in the beginning of his presentation he showed a bar chat that had diet related diseases highlite in red. He also prepared case studies in the form of videos of some obese people that he visited. Midway he used sugar cubes and threw them on a quilt on floor to show the extent of carbohydrate consumption that kids of today’s generation will be subjected to in the next 5 years. All cues and aids used by him were very engaging. They kept the audience hooked throughout the course of the presentation. Conclusion: Oliver’s presentation was a very effective and inspirational insight into food problems that have engulfed today’s world and the kind of revolution that was need. He was very eloquent and inspirational in his delivery and ensured that the point he was making was nailed. The paper talks about the different communication techniques used by Oliver to relay his point across. It analyzes the techniques in depth and draws references from text in this regard. Works Cited Chris. Knowing How to Improve Communication Skills. 14 May 2011. 15 May 2011 . Read More