Communication Principles: Foundation of Human Communication

Foundation of Human Communication

• Communication Principles for a Lifetime, 5th Edition by Steven A. Beebe, Susan J. Beebe, and Diana K. Ivy.
• Chapter objectives include defining communication, describing criteria for competent communication, comparing communication as action, interaction, and transaction, identifying communication characteristics, and listing principles of communication.

Communication Defined

• Communication is acting on information, where someone does or says something, and others respond based on their understanding.
• Human communication involves making sense of the world and sharing that sense by creating meaning through verbal and nonverbal messages.
• Meaning is created through communication rather than simply sent or transmitted.
• Expressed information is rarely interpreted as intended.
• Information presentation, alone, isn't communication.
• Meaning is co-created by the speaker and listener, not linearly sent and received.
• Personal experiences shape message understanding in the communication process.

Verbal and Nonverbal Messages

• Symbols, including words, sounds, gestures, or images, represent meaning and express thoughts and ideas.
• Nonverbal cues like gestures, posture, facial expressions, and tone of voice are also symbols.
• Nonverbal communication expresses emotions and indicates likes, dislikes, interest, disinterest, and power dynamics.
• Clothing and jewelry can express attitudes and feelings.

The Shannon-Weaver Model

• Sender: the originator of the message.
• Encoding: Converting thoughts into words, symbols or gestures.
• Channel: The medium through wich the message travels.
• Message: The information being communicated.
• Noise: Anything that interferes with the message.
• Receiver: The person who interprets the message.
• Decoding: Understanding and processing the message.
• Feedback: The response from the receiver to the sender, making the communication a two-way process (added by Norbert Wiener).

Shannon-Weaver Model Limitations

• Lasswell's model is a linear communication model because it flows in one direction (sender to message to receiver).
• It doesn't include noise or barriers that may affect communication.
• It doesn't account for two-way communication or feedback.

Communication in the 21st Century

• Mediated communication uses media like phones or the Internet.
• Non-face-to-face communication isn't new, as seen in historical letters and written messages.
• Modern examples include social media, emails, and messaging apps.

Mediated and Face-to-Face Communication

• Differences in mediated communication are: anonymity, personal appearance, distance, and time.

Anonymity

• There is uncertainty in electronic communication because you may not know who you're interacting with.
• Anonymous Feedback has become popular on platforms that allow users to comment or give feedback without revealing their identity.
• Forums, anonymous surveys, and social media let users interact without showing their real names.

Personal Appearance

• Physical appearance is less emphasized in online communication.
• People connect using phone, email, text and social media without having to meet.
• Millions use online platforms without meeting in person.

Distance

• It is just as easy to send a message to someone on the other side of the globe using the internet.

Time

• Asynchronous communication: messages are sent and received at different times, with a time delay.
• Emails, recorded videos, and forum posts are a good example.
• Synchronous communication: messages happen in real-time (instant response), with immediate interaction and no time delay. -Phone calls, live chats, and video calls are good examples.

Communication Principles

• Principle One: effective communicators are aware of their communication with themselves and others.
• Principle Two: effective communicators effectively use and interpret verbal messages.
• Principle Three: effective communicators effectively use and interpret nonverbal messages.
• Principle Four: effective communicators listen and respond thoughtfully to others.
• Principle Five: effective communicators appropriately adapt messages to others.

First Principle of Communication

• Being aware of how you communicate with yourself and others is the beginning of effective communication.
• Stay conscious and engaged in conversations.
• Understand your identity, self-concept, and self-worth.
• Recognize your own thoughts and emotions.
• Intrapersonal communication occurs within yourself: thoughts, emotions, and self-reflection.

Second Principle of Communication

• Language creates verbal messages.
• Language is comprised of symbols and a system of rules for people to understand one another.
• A symbol is a word, sound, gesture, or visual signal representing a thought, concept, object, or experience.
• Shared understanding creates meaning.
• The effective communicator encodes and decodes messages accurately.

Third Principle of Communication

• Messages are nonverbal.
• Nonverbal communication creates meaning for someone using other than written or spoken language.
• Powerful ideas or express emotions can communicate powerful ideas or express emotions with greater impact that mere words alone.
• How we feel towards others is shown by our nonverbal messages.
• It can be hard to interpret, as the flow of information is continuous.

Fourth Principle of Communication

• More time is spent listening than any other communication activity (except sleeping).
• Many people don't listen well.
• Good listening means being other-oriented by the needs, motives, and goals of others while maintaining your own integrity

Fifth Principle of Communication

• It’s important to adapt your response appropriately to your listener.
• Formulate it and respond to someone to achieve your communication goals.
• Appropriately editing and shaping responses so that you achieve your goal without coercing or using false information or unethical methods.