Before talking about verbal and written communication, let's first have a look at the concept of communication. Communication is an easy way of interchanging ideas, opinions, messages, information, and feelings without using words. Effective communication is one of the most important lifelong skills.

Verbal communication also termed oral communication is defined as the transmission of messages, orders, or any suggestions by taking the help of spoken words. On the other hand, written communication is defined as the transmission of message instructions or orders in writing.

Verbal Communication & Written Communication:

There exists one major difference between verbal and written communication. Verbal or oral communication takes the help of voice or spoken words to exchange ideas. On the other hand in written communication, we choose words to interact with one another.

Another key difference is in verbal communication the transmission of messages is fast and it is quite slow in written communication. But using written communication also has one drawback the sender will never know whether either reader has read the message or not.

The process of conveying information through verbal communication is spontaneous and we are unable to remove what we uttered once. On the other hand in written communication, we have the option to check and edit our message before sending it.

Here are a few of the differences between verbal and written communication.

Key Differences:

1: The mode of verbal communication is face-to-face talk, interview, lecture, speech, telephonic call, meeting, or video conference. On the other hand, the mode of written communication is a report, letter, circular, manual, office memo, bulletin, email, fax, and internet.

2: Written communication is a formal method of communication while verbal communication is taken as an informal way to communicate in our daily lives.

3: Verbal communication saves money and time as it is direct. Written communication feedback might take some time.

4: Using verbal communication it is very hard to talk to people who are living in far-off places through phone calls. While using written communication you can talk to your loved ones living in distant places by sending email, letter, or fax.

5: In verbal communication, the only record that exists is either audio or video. While in written communication, the written document can be used as a future reference for any organization.

6: In written communication documents can be treated as legal evidence while in verbal communication it is not possible unless you record data with tape or video.

7: In verbal communication, you can motivate your employees with personal contact. While in written communication motivation with written words is not effective

8: The probability of misunderstanding is very high in verbal communication while in written communication it's quite less.

Conclusion:

Communication whether it’s verbal or written is one of the most important things to survive in this social world. Effective communication brings people together and also close to each other.

To improve the quality of human relationships, both verbal and written communication needs to play their role. People use written communication in business or while dealing with official matters as it is considered a more trustworthy way to communicate.

So, we use verbal communication in personal dealings as it's less time taking.