Broken telephone is a game that demonstrates how small errors can build up as a verbal message is passed from person to person. Seat the class in a circle around you and whisper a message to the student on your left. Instruct that student to pass the message on to the student on her left by whispering, and so-forth. The last student should state the message to the class at large, at which point you can compare it to the original message, which may be quite different.
In the absence of verbal communication, only visual and nonverbal communication remain. The game of charades illustrates the difficulty of conveying information without speaking or writing. One student must try to communicate a simple message, such as a movie title or the name of a city, using gestures and body language until a member of the class guesses the answer correctly. A variation of the game allows the student to communicate through drawing.
Divide members of the class into pairs who don't know each other well. Have each student write down their initial impressions about their counterpart, based on dress, appearance and body language. After a couple of minutes, allow the pairs to interview each other for a few minutes and make a list of which initial impressions were correct and which were incorrect. Discuss the relative efficiency and reliability of gathering information verbally versus nonverbally.
Teamwork is an important aspect of business success. Explore the role of verbal communication in teamwork by splitting the class into pairs and assigning them the task of creating a new toy using interlocking plastic bricks. Allow only one of each pair to communicate verbally. At the end of the project, discuss the challenges and problems the students encountered, and how verbal communication on both sides instead of only one could have solved those difficulties.