The tone with which you communicate is used primarily to convey emotion. Although some emotions are evident through the use of specific words and even inflection, tone is the most volatile component of verbal communication.
For example, if you are angry or upset, your tone is most likely to be harsh or sharp. If you are happy, your tone is more likely to be quick and light. However, everything about tone is not cut-and-dry, and you can't rely solely on tone to convey meaning accurately. Imagine someone who is incredibly passionate about the subject being discussed. Depending on the individual, this passion might be relayed by increasing force with which he or she speaks (which can easily be confused with anger) or by growing breathless (which can easily be confused with happiness). However, since passion does not necessarily fall within either of these restrictive bounds, tone can be misleading in this instance.
Your choice of tone can be incredibly important when communicating through verbal means. Although emotion certainly has its time and place within everyday speech, business communication is often expected to include restraint and an overall lack of personal feelings. If you're in a place where your communication is creating problems either in the workplace or in a social setting, your tone will often arise as the most obvious problem. Fortunately, it is also the easiest component of verbal communication to control.
Also known as verbal cues, these are non-words that convey meaning through sound. They are most often expressions of emotion, such as laughing, crying, or sighing.
Many cues occur on a subconscious level or involuntarily. Sighing during times of stress might be your body's way of increasing oxygen levels, since it typically requires you to take a deep breath. Crying out during an emotional confrontation might be outside of your immediate control (in fact, your seeming lack of control might actually be something you dread about confrontation in the first place).
Because you may not always control your verbal cues, you might not even be aware you are making them. However, they can have a big impact on how your communication is received. As with tone, your verbal cues are one of the first places you should look when trying to control how you communicate on a verbal level.
Many people overlook the importance of volume when communicating. As with tone and cues, volume isn't always voluntary. You may increase your volume when you are angry, or even when you are nervous.
Different people interpret volume in different ways. Someone who was on the receiving end of anger as a child might interpret increased volume as a sign of contention. However, some people increase volume as a way of displaying joy or happiness.