Understanding Communication

Communication Definition

• Communication involves exchanging information, ideas, thoughts, or feelings between individuals or groups.
• It includes creating and transmitting messages through verbal and non-verbal cues, symbols, and signals.
• The main goal of communication involves conveying meaning and ensuring understanding.

Forms of Communication

• Intra-personal communication happens within an individual's mind.
• It involves self-reflection, internal dialogue, and interpreting thoughts and feelings.
• Inter-personal communication involves exchanging information, feelings, and meanings between people.
• It uses both verbal and non-verbal communication.
• It is essential for building and maintaining relationships.

Types of Communication Based on Medium

• Verbal communication uses words to share information, including both spoken and written forms.
• Oral communication uses spoken words and includes face-to-face conversations, phone calls, and presentations.
• Volume, speed, and clarity influence oral communication.
• Planning communication involves considering the purpose, occasion, and word choice.
• Receiver's communication involves considering knowledge, mental, educational, and experience levels.
• Be aware of the situation.
• Remain open-minded by listening to others.

Oral Communication Tips

• Speak clearly
• Choose your words carefully.
• Use an appropriate tone.
• Consider the audience.
• Respond when appropriate.
• Written communication uses written words, including emails, letters, and newsletters.
• Vocabulary, grammar, writing style, and clarity all influence written communication.

Improving Written Communication

• Strive for simplicity and review written communication.
• Pay attention to your tone
• Ask for help.
• Messages can be revised before sending.
• Written communication also provides a permanent record and ensures clarity and understanding.
• It lacks instant feedback and can be time-consuming.
• It's less flexible than oral communication and ineffective for illiterate individuals.

Non-Verbal Communication

• Non-verbal communication involves wordless messages, including body language (gestures, posture, facial expressions, and tone of voice).
• Elements of non-verbal communication include appearance (clothing, hairstyle, grooming), body language (posture, facial expressions, gestures, eye contact), and sound (tone, pitch, volume, and non-verbal sounds like laughter).

Visual Communication

• Visual communication involves the transmission of information through visual elements like images, symbols, colors, and design.
• It simplifies complex ideas, making them engaging and accessible.
• Static visuals include non-moving images such as posters, charts, photographs, and logos.
• Dynamic visuals include moving visuals like videos, animations, slideshows, and GIFs.
• Symbolic visuals include universal symbols or icons that convey meaning, such as traffic signs, emojis, and brand logos.
• Graphical visuals include data representation like graphs, pie charts, and flowcharts.

Types of Communication by Style

• Formal communication involves official communication used in workplaces.
• Examples include business emails, reports, meetings, and policies.
• Informal communication is unofficial, often casual and spontaneous, and includes routine discussions with friends and family.

Communication Process Elements

• Sender: conveys the message.
• Encoding: converting thoughts into words.
• Message: the content being communicated.
• Medium/channel: is the path through which message is sent.
• Receiver: the person receiving the message.
• Decoding: converting words back into ideas or thoughts.
• Feedback: the receiver's response to ensure understanding.
• Communication is unsuccessful without feedback.

7 C's of Communication

• Clarity is about making your message clear and easy to understand.
• Conciseness is about being brief and to the point, avoiding unnecessary details.
• Completeness involves providing all necessary information.
• Correctness involves using accurate information with no grammatical errors.
• Consideration involves understanding your audience's needs and perspective.
• Concreteness involves using specific details and facts.
• Courtesy involves being polite and respectful.

Barriers to Communication

• Physical barriers: distance and noise.
• Cultural barriers: differences in communication styles and the varying meanings of nonverbal cues.
• Language barriers: differences in language, jargon, and multiple meanings.
• Psychological barriers: ego, prejudice, emotions, and lack of interest.

Overcoming Communication Barriers

• Employ clear, simple language.
• Encourage active listening.
• Employ feedback mechanisms.
• Have awareness of cultural differences.
• Use appropriate communication channels.

Cooperative Principle

• The Cooperative Principle involves speakers making contributions appropriate and meaningful for smooth communication.
• Quality: make your contribution truthful.
• Quantity: make your contribution as informative as necessary.
• Relevance: be relevant.
• Manner: be clear and comprehensible.

Study Skills

• Study skills are learning shortcuts that help with understanding and remembering information, which makes learning faster and easier.
• It also yields better grades and reduces stress.
• Key parts include time management, active reading, note-taking, test-taking, and self-assessment.
• Effective note-taking strategies include the Cornell Method and mind mapping.
• Listen actively and choose digital or handwritten methods based on personal preference.
• To create an effective study environment involves finding a quiet, comfortable spot, organizing space, and minimizing distractions.
• Active learning techniques include self-testing, group studies, and teaching others.
• Handling stress and staying motivated involves breathing exercises, breaks, rewards, resilience, and a healthy lifestyle.

Technology in Study Skills

• Utilize online resources and manage digital distractions.

Use of Library and Internet

• The internet provides instant access to vast and diverse information, but can be distracting and pose data privacy risks.
• Libraries offer access to physical books and research papers, include credible sources, and provide a quiet, focused environment with no data privacy risk.

Meeting Minutes

• Meeting minutes are the written official records of discussions and decisions.
• Those who attend are attendees.
• They are written for everyone, including those who could not attend.
• Meeting minute content should include meeting details (time, date, location, purpose, and chairperson), attendance (present and absent members), the agenda, discussion points, decisions, next meeting details, closing time, and a signature.
• Types of meeting minutes include formal minutes (detailed records for board meetings), informal minutes (brief summaries for internal team meetings), action minutes (focus on action items and deadlines), verbatim minutes (word-by-word transcriptions for legal purposes), and summary minutes (concise overviews).