Most people when asked which is the most effective means of communication will invariably answer — ‘by word of month’. Not a day goes by when some kind of verbal communication does not take place and consequently it could be thought that because the art was continually practised that some high degree of success would be achieved in transmitting messages, in such a way that the meaning is clearly understood. It is however patently obvious if some time is taken to listen to others' conversations, or even to analyse the results of our own verbal transactions, that making oneself understood, by the transmission of a verbal message, is a most difficult thing to achieve.