FUNDAMENTALS TO COMMUNICATION (6) (1).docx

**TOPIC ONE** **- FUNDAMENTALS OF COMMUNICATION** **Introduction** Student, in this unit, we shall examine the field of communication to serve as a foundation to what follows in the course. Principally, we shall define communication; outline its elements, principles and its importance in academic...

**TOPIC ONE** **- FUNDAMENTALS OF COMMUNICATION** **Introduction** Student, in this unit, we shall examine the field of communication to serve as a foundation to what follows in the course. Principally, we shall define communication; outline its elements, principles and its importance in academic and life in general. We shall also briefly examine the various types of communication. This unit is further intended to enhance effective communication by imparting concepts, principles and elements of human communicative behavior to you through formal and informal interaction contexts with emphasis on critical appreciation of communication skills/ techniques. **What is Communication?** The term communication comes from a Latin word *'communicare'* which means to make common or share. This is similar to the definition of communication by the Webster\'s Dictionary as \"sending, giving, or exchanging information and ideas,\" which is often expressed nonverbally and verbally. Now student, let us examine how other scholars have defined communication. - Wilkinson (1974) defines communication as the process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs and behavior. - Payne (1988) defines communication as negotiation of shared meaning - Gamble and Gamble (1993) define communication as the desirable or undesirable transfer of meaning - Barker (2000) defines communication as the process of creating shared understanding. **Implications of the Definitions** **Student, from the definitions we have gathered and the ones above, we can be able to understand the following:** a. **Communication is a process**. It is an activity that involves more than one element each of them playing a role in enhancing effective communication. b. **Communication is an exchange of meaning that is dynamic.** Communication is therefore, not static. Communication as a process is a concept whose critical element is the changing nature of its occurrence. c. **Communication results in shared understanding of message between the sender and the receiver**. The understanding of the meaning of another person's message only occurs when you elicit common meanings for words, phrases, and non-verbal messages. d. **Communication involves a system of symbols, signs and behavior**. The system may be in form of language, gesture, demeanor, facial expressions, etc. e. **Communication involves individuals**. **Objectives of Communication** Whether you are speaking, writing, persuading, informing, entertaining, explaining or convincing, you always have four general objectives: - To be received (heard or read). - To be understood. - To be accepted. - To get action (change behavior or attitude). Therefore, communication skills are the tools, techniques or special abilities that one acquires through learning and practice and which facilitate effective and efficient communication **Significance of Studying Communication Skills** Communication is central to human life. You cannot avoid communication and you will engage in communication nearly every minute of every day in your life. In addition, communication plays a major role in every aspect of your life. Effective communication therefore both enhances your daily life and at the same time solves problems in your professional and personal life. Communication experts believe that poor communication is at the root of many of our problems. Therefore, there are various reasons why studying communication is important: a. Studying communication and using it effectively can lead to more positive feelings of ourselves. **Effective communication can improve our self-worth** by enabling us to positively project ourselves in what is called **image management**. b. Studying communication can **increase our knowledge about human relationships** because studying communication includes learning about how people relate with one another and about what communication is appropriate for a given situation. c. Studying communication can **teach us important life skills**. For instance, it can help us **acquire problem solving skills**, **decision making skills**, **public speaking** etc. All these skills are important in academic and career development. d. Studying communication **can help us succeed professionally**. Employers regard highly written, oral and other communication competencies. The ability to listen and analyze messages is usually considered an essential professional skill. Entrepreneurs too regard communication skills as top priority skills for success. Indeed, communication is key to employers understanding employees and vice versa, leading to greater efficiency in service. e. Poor communication may lead to misunderstanding, frustration, being ignored by others, unsuccessful careers, among many other negative consequences. **Elements of Communication** Elements of communication are the components that constitute the communication process. These are: a. **People** These are the **participants** in the communication process. People are involved in communication in two roles. They are **sources** and **receivers** of messages. Sources initiate/compose the intended message. S/he encodes the message, while receivers are the intended target of messages, i.e. a receiver is the person who receives, decodes, comprehends and attaches meaning to the message sent. The participants' knowledge, interest and emotional state will affect how the message is sent or received. In the communication process, people are sources and receivers of a message simultaneously and continually. b. **Message** This is the verbal or non-verbal form of idea, thought or feeling that one person (source) wishes to communicate to a group of people (receivers). The message, therefore, is the content of interaction. A message may be easy to understand or long and complex, it may also be intentional or un-intentional. c. **Channel** This is the means by which a message moves from a source to a receiver. It is also called the medium of transmission. The medium may be in form of sound waves (in oral- auditory messages) or as light waves (in visual communication such as written communication). d. **Feedback** This is the receiver's verbal, non-verbal or written response to the message from the source. Feedback is part of any communication situation such that even non-response is feedback. **These are processes that unconsciously happen during communication. Before the source sends out their message, they decide on the best channel, the best words and even the message to deliver in consideration of the state of the receiver. This is called encoding. The receiver on the other side, after getting the message, plans on how to respond and organizes the message in the best way possible to be understood by the source. This is called decoding.** **1.8 Principles of Communication** There are important properties of communication that you need to keep in mind as you study and employ communication. The properties constitute the invaluable attributes of communication: a. **Communication is inescapable**: Communication is always occurring in human life at various levels, for instance, at the intra-personal level, when you are thinking, planning, meditating, as well as when you are observing, gathering information and making conclusions. It also occurs at the interpersonal level as you interact with one another. b. **Communication is irreversible:** You cannot take back something once, it is communicated. Even if you can, what has been communicated cannot entirely be erased. Traces of the effect of the communication will always remain. c. **Communication is dynamic:** All elements in communication (i.e. setting, participants, their knowledge, their roles etc.) affect each other as communication progresses. d. **Every communication interaction has a content dimension and relationship dimension:** Content dimension is the information or message that a source desires to communicate, which has to be packaged in a strategic manner to elicit a desired reaction. The relationship dimension of communication constitutes the elements in the communication that seek to signal and acknowledge the state of the social relation between the communicating parties. The relationship dimension oils the attainment of communication goals. For instance, if your lecturer entered into the lecturer room with an unzipped trousers and you wanted to alert him to this fact, you will not just blurt out to him the content of what you want to say to him! You will need to do a lot of damage control about the awkward situation, while at the same time, recognizing his superior position in relation to you as a student. Just think of the exact kind of language you would use and point out the content and relationship dimension of what you will say. e. **Communication is contextual:** communication does not occur in a vacuum. It involves various aspects of context of communication. The context of communication is the environment in which communication takes place. The context of communication involves: i. ***Psychological context*:** that is the needs, desires, values, personality, and so on that people communicate and bring to the communication activity. ii. ***Situational context***: this involves the place and time of communication, which affects what and how we communicate. iii. ***Environmental context***: this involves the physical features of the communication setting, such as, noise level, cultural context, objects available in setting e.t.c. **f) Communication is complicated:** Communication is complicated in several respects. For instance: i. It involves choice about multiple aspects of message i.e. we have to make verbal and code choices, as well as non-verbal behavioral aspects to be used in communication. We also have to make choices of channel, and all these aspects must be combined strategically in order to pass across a unified message. ii. Communication is also complicated because of our differing perception of the same object that we may wish to communicate about. Student, scholars have established what they call the 7 Cs of communication. These are; 1. **Clarity** -- which implies that communication must be clear and not vague. The speaker/writer should check the words used, the commonality of language between the source and the receiver, choice of words to avoid technical terms that may be unfamiliar to the receiver etc 2. **Completeness** -- which means that information relayed must have enough details that the receiver does not ask for more information. It involves asking oneself if the communication has given all the details, covered all that one planned to share and answered all the receiver's questions. 3. **Conciseness** -- requires one to avoid unnecessary words that could interfere with the communication. This is done by avoiding unnecessary repetition, organizing the message well, avoiding unnecessary words etc. 4. **Correctness** -- this involves ensuring that the message is accurate in terms of the facts, the numbers, the spelling, grammar and punctuations, the timing of the message and use of the correct channel for communication etc 5. **Consideration** -- while encoding the message, the source should have the receiver's emotion, desires, problems and their reaction in mind. This can be through use of positive expressions, pleasant statements and integrity in the message. 6. **Courtesy** -- the message should be friendly in order to build goodwill in the receiver. This is by using expressions that show respect, that are gender sensitive and appreciative. 7. **Consistency** -- this is the uniformity in the message, the facts and sequence of information.