Dimensions Of Communication PDF

**Dimensions of Communication ** We continue looking at Fundamentals of communication and in this lesson we look at the following dimensions of communication include:**  Intra-personal, interpersonal, group, public, mediated, and intercultural mass communication.**\ **I. Intra-personal**  In intra...

**Dimensions of Communication ** We continue looking at Fundamentals of communication and in this lesson we look at the following dimensions of communication include:**  Intra-personal, interpersonal, group, public, mediated, and intercultural mass communication.**\ **I. Intra-personal**  In intrapersonal communication, one communicates with himself especially as it relates to activities occurring within the body systems. Intrapersonal communication is the basis of human communication. Our ability to talk to ourselves and think in words is a major part of the human experience of consciousness. This type of communication involves the exchange of messages between the brain and the sense organs of the body. For example, someone may be considering various factors within himself before he takes a decision on a particular issue. For instance, when one is torn to either do good or evil. The basic operations of intrapersonal communication are to convert raw data from environment to information; to interpret and give meaning to that information and to use such meaning. In other words, it is communication that occurs within you. Because intrapersonal communication is centered in the self, you are the\ sender and the receiver. The message is made up of your thoughts and\ feelings and the channel is your brain, which processes what you are\ thinking and feeling. There is also feedback because you talk to yourself, you discard certain ideas and replace them with others. **II. Interpersonal** **Communication** ng **Functions of Interpersonal Communication**\ Interpersonal communication is desirous for many reasons. **To Gain  and Share Information**\ People engage in interpersonal communication to gain knowledge about\ another individual (or a product). We gain this information passively, by observing them; actively, by having others engage them; or interactively, by engaging them ourselves. Self-disclosure is often used to get information from another person. **To Build a Context of Understanding**\ Another reason why people engage in interpersonal communication is to\ help them better understand what someone says in a given context. The\ words we say can mean very different things depending on how they are said or in what context. For example a phrase "May God Bless You" may, on one hand, used by people in some contexts to wish a person some divine blessings. This comes as an expression of appreciation or gratitude. On the other hand, the same expression is used by people in other contexts as an expression of anger for being unjustly oppressed and exploited or swindled money. **To Establish Identity**\ Another reason we engage in interpersonal communication is to\ establish an identity.  **Make decisions and solve problems** **Interpersonal Needs**\ Finally, we engage in interpersonal communication because we need to\ express and receive interpersonal needs. For instance, developing relationships with people (Form contacts and maintain relationship), to express personal needs and understand the needs of others, exercising leadership roles and demonstrate our capabilities.  **Barriers against Effective Interpersonal Communication\ ** a. **Emotions**\ Sometimes, when people communicate an idea or matter across, the receiver can feel how the sender perceives the subject matter. Often messages are interpreted differently for different people. Extreme emotions are most likely to hinder effective communication because the idea or message may be misinterpreted. It\'s always best to avoid responding or reacting to the subject matter when you\'re upset or angry because most of the time, you\'ll not be able to think in a clear manner. **b. Filtering of**\ This is where the sender manipulates the information that he communicates to the receiver. The purpose of this is because sometimes people would shape and reform the message so that it appears and sounds favourable to the receiver. Filtering information may mislead the receiver into thinking something favourable and the let down may be upsetting if it is found out that information has been filtered. c. **Overloaded with Information**\ Too much information about the same subject matter may be confusing.\ For example, you have 50 e-mails on the same subject matter, each email contains a little part of the subject matter. It would be better to have\ one e-mail from the sender which includes all the information in clear and simple form with only the information that you asked for. Normally, the human brain can only take in so much information to process, overloading it with information will exceed our human processing capacity, and the receiver would misunderstand or not understand at all what the sender is telling them. d. **Defensiveness**\ Humans tend to refuse for a mutual understanding when they feel that\ they are being threatened or are put in a position in which they are at a disadvantage. Defensiveness normally consists of attacking what the sender tells you, putting out sarcastic remarks, questioning their motives or being overly judgmental about the subject matter. **e. Cultural Difference**\ Sometimes our culture may be a huge hinderance for effective\ interpersonal communication. When two people with different cultures\ communicate, they often do not understand each other\'s cultures and\ may misunderstand the true meaning of what each other are trying to\ convey through such a sense. For example,  "Thumbs Up" is taken as a sign of approval and wishing luck in most of the cultures but it is taken as an insult in Bangladesh. In some cultures, maintain eye contact when talking to the elders is important where as in Malawian culture it is rude and disrespectful. This makes the intentions unclear between both\ people. **Jargon (Use of technical language)**\ Not everyone understands each other\'s jargon words. Jargon should be\ avoided when talking to someone who isn\'t familiar with you personally\ or within your organization. **Overcoming the Barriers of Effective Interpersonal Communication** **Simplify Language**\ By structuring your language to clear simplistic sentences, the receiver\ would be able to easily understand what the sender is saying. For\ example, jargon can be used within your organization as it will only use\ one word rather than a whole sentence to explain what you are trying to\ communicate across.\ **Constrain Emotions**\ Hold back emotions whilst discussing a certain sensitive issue. Speaking\ in a neutral manner allows mutual understanding to occur and for both\ sender and receiver to communicate in a rational manner.\ **Listen Actively**\ Often, when the sender says something, the receiver normally hears but\ does not listen. Place yourself in the sender\'s position and try to\ understand exactly what they are trying to convey to you. The receiver\ is trying to understand fully what the sender is trying to say, so putting\ the receiver in the sender\'s point of view makes understanding much\ easier.\ **Feedback**\ Done by the sender, as a word of confirmation by using closed ended\ questions such as \"Did you understand what I just said?\" or \"Is what I\ said clear to you?\", or using an open ended question to have the receiver\ summarize the message. This results in the sender knowing that the\ receiver has fully understood what is being communicated.  **Importance of Interpersonal Skills** Effective interpersonal communication in workplace is integral to a well-functioning, high performance team. Interpersonal skills help us to communicate important information and manage social interactions with colleagues.  For one to be an effective communicator, you need to develop the following interpersonal skills 1. Communication-  oral/ speaking capabilities, listening, presenting 2. Courtesy -- Manners, etiquette, respectful, learn to say "Thank you" c. Integrity- honest, ethical ( hard working, loyal , time conscious), , values c. Personality- nice, friendly, humorous, emphatic c. Positive attitude: optimistic, enthuastic,  confident c. Teamwork- get along with others easily, despite diversity In our next lesson, we will continue looking at dimensions of communication which are : group, public,  mediated, and intercultural mass communication. **Public communication (Public Speaking)** **Objectives of the Topic** This topic aims at helping you develop and deliver the best possible speech presentation. The topic will help you to become a confident, persuasive speaker. To achieve this aim, the topic will focus much on the techniques and skills involved in the process of preparing and delivering a functional, intelligent and effective public speech. **Definition of Public Communication  (Public Speaking)** Public communication involves giving out speech before a live/ virtual audience in a credible and exciting manner. Public communication allows us to capture the audience's attention. It is sender- focused and typically occurs when one person conveys information to an audience. It is used to inform and persuade, to build relationships and encourage open dialogue in the public interest. **Techniques of speech preparation and delivery ** The following processes of public speaking can help you prepare your talks.  They are: **Assess, Analyse, Research, Organise, Deliver**, and\ **Discern.**  1.  **Assess** **your Speechmaking Situation**   1. - - - - ii. iii. iv. b. **Analyse your Audience** **Consider cultural considerations** Using the word "A-U-D-I-E-N-CE" as an acronym, we have defined some general audience analysis categories that these surveys should include.  ∙ **Analysis -** Who are they? How many will be there?  ∙ **Understanding -** What is their knowledge of the subject?  ∙ **Demographics -** What is their age, sex, educational background?  ∙ **Interest -** Why are they there? Who asked them to be there?  ∙ **Environment -** Where will I stand? Can they all see & hear me?  ∙ **Needs -** What are their needs? What are your needs as the speaker?  ∙ **Customized -** What specific needs do you need to address?  ∙ **Expectations -** What do they expect to learn or hear from you **Speech Format** **Title ** The title should comprise of the following elements: Name of the presenter, theme (If Any), name of occasion, date of the presentation, time of the presentation and venue of the presentation  Note: Title is not read at speech presentation **Salutation ** You greet and recognize the presence of the delegates at the occasion. The order of importance matters most at this point. (Start with the Guest of Honour to Ladies and gentlemen.) **Introduction and Welcoming Remarks** You introduce yourself and welcome members to the event. You take time to tell people the purpose of the event and the purpose of your speech **Body** This is where the central ideas are expounded and presented to the audience.  Each idea is presented in a separate paragraph (do not mix up ideas) 5-6 paragraphs will do **Conclusion** You conclude in a dramatic fashion. Always remember to thank your audience for their attention **Mediated Communication** This refers to communication carried out by the use of information communication technology. The media is very important in corporate communication. It is the means or channels through the corporate communication staff can reach its publics. The media is the tool used to reach the target publics with messages and information about  an organisation. To succeed, the corporate communication professional must have very good knowledge of the characteristics of the media available for him or her. Organisations use media to communicate messages that inform, attract attention, create interest, generate desire and persuade others, that inform, attract attention, create interest, generate desire and persuade others, that the communicator and his products (the products may be goods or services) are worthy of support and patronage. Such communications through media are known as promotion. **Kinds of Media** 1. **Print Media ** It comprises of daily newspapers, weekly newspapers; periodicals; and magazines. These carry articles, news items and advertisements. Print media, particularly newspapers and magazines, still dominates the scene.  2. **Broadcast Media**  This comprises of radio and television. Messages are transmitted by these media through the atmosphere and received by the viewers and listeners at their respective places. They carry sports sponsored programmes and commercials etc. For example the BBC TV programme to travel motivates a number of tourists.  3. **Electronic Media**  This comprise of audio and video tapes. This comprises of: hoardings (also called bill boards) which are printed and located at public places like busy streets, illuminated signs which may remain steady or keep flashing and changing, wall paintings and posters (which are printed bulletins) put up at bus stations, airports, offices or carried by person on the streets, panels which are small, painted or printed and attached to kiosks on lamp posts, buses (inside as well as outside), railway compartments taxis; exhibitions, trade shows and fairs, signs and banners at retail outlets, window displays that make sound, visual comprising of displays print, cinema slides, etc. and audio-visual comprising of video tapes, TV cinema.  **Media Terms**  While discussing media and its uses, certain words are usually used. These words have specific meanings which may not be the same as commonly understood. Hence, such words and their specific meanings are explained below:  **Advertisement** is the use of space in a publication or time in a broadcast, which has been paid for, to convey a message.  **Direct mail** is also advertising because the space, though not in publication, has to be paid for by the advertiser.  **Audience** refers to the people who see or hear or read the messages in the media.  **Audience profile** refers to the characteristics of the audience it terms of demographics and other factors like literacy, attitudes and interests, social and economic location, etc. This profile varies. For example, those who read newspapers might act or behave differently from those who read professional journals;. Those who may see the posters in the airport are not the same as those who may see the bus panel.  **Campaign** refers to a planned programme to communicate or promote, using media (one or more), with repetition and/or variety during a specified period of time. Circulation is the number of copies (of newspaper or journal or magazine) sold.\ **Commercial** is an advertisement message broadcast on T. V.  **Copy** is what appears in an advertisement by way of words and illustrations. The copy translates the abstract ideas and concept of the advertiser's message into a tangible form.  **Coverage** refers to the number of persons from the target audience that sees, hear or read the message. Coverage is less than \'exposure\', because not all who see a message may in fact see it.  **Cumulative Audience** (Gross) is the sum of exposure to all media in a campaign.  **Demographics** refer to the description of a population (market or audience) in terms of sex, age, family size, occupation etc.  **Duplication** is the overlap between media because of difference media reaching the same persons.  **Exposure** (or Reach) refers to those of the target audience having an opportunity to see or hear or read the message in the medium in a period of time. For example a specific T. V. programme may not be seen by all persons having T. V. sets. But only some of them will be the target audience. In the case of a newspaper also exposure can be more than the circulation. ** Flexibility** is the scope for variation in regionality, timeliness and creativity\'. Some media allow more scope for creativity in terms of colour, sound or movement.  **Frequency** is the number of times an audience has an opportunity to see or hear or read the message over a period of time. This will depend on the number of times the media has carried the message according to the schedules.  **Image of a medium** is the public perception of the medium\'s modernity, honesty, quality of content, etc. The image affects, positively or otherwise, the message carried by the medium.  **Impact** is the effect on the coverage in terms of recognition, recall or memory and influence on the audience.  **Intensity** is the degree of thoroughness with which the audience sees, hears or reads.  **Jingle** is an advertisement message set to music, usually broadcast on radio.\ \ **Layout** refers to the manner in which the advertisement space has been used, the manner in which the copy has been presented in the advertisement. It includes size of letters and spacing of words and illustrations. The copy and layout together make the impact. ** P. 0. P (point-of ---purchase)** refers to the displays at the retail outlets.  **Reach** is the same as exposure. It indicates the capability of the medium to reach the target audience.  **Schedule** is the programme of use of the media like sequence, dates, time, etc.  **Selectivity** means the ability of the medium to reach a target audience specified by geographic, demographic or other factors. Spots refer to the time for advertisement in a radio or T. V. Visual refers to the illustrations in the copy **Media Differences**  There are considerable differences between the different media, in terms of coverage exposure, flexibility and other characteristics. Some media go to where the audience is, for example, print and electronic media. Some of the display media, hoardings for example, or cinema do not move. Hence exposure is limited to those who go to where the medium is. Some media like radio, T. V. or some magazines, have an international or a nationwide reach, while others are exposed only to audiences within a limited geographical linguistic or professional boundary. Some media are also pursued at the convenience of the audience, while some present the messages according to the conveniences of the media owner. If the messages are not noticed, when being shown, they are missed. They cannot be recalled for a fresh look. If the message is not clear, one cannot ask for a repeat. If you are watching a video, you can ask for a repeat, but not while watching a T. V. or listening to a radio broadcast unless you have recorded it yourself. If the medium is a newspaper or a magazine, you can read it even after some lapse of time.  **Print Media** 1. **Newspaper** - The print media, particularly newspapers, have very large exposures.  - Advertisements for newspapers are relatively easy to prepare.  - Newspapers and magazines may carry exclusive pages as supplements.  - Newspapers are heavily crowded with all kinds of advertisements.  - Coverage could be poor despite large exposure, unless the advertisements occupies a lot of space and/or is appropriately positioned.\ **b. Magazine** - Magazines range from weeklies to biannual.  - They are read repeatedly.  - Very few people read a magazine from the beginning to the end in one sitting.  - Magazines may also be referred to after some time and they have longer lives than newspapers which are usually discarded within a few hours.  **Electronic  Media** 1. **Television ** - Using colour, sound and movement they can carry a wide range of communication at a time.  - T. V has become the most important medium because of its accessibility in more households than of any other medium.  - Exposure and coverage are both increasing even in the rural areas.  - Selectivity is possible if the audience profile is carefully determined. Audience profile changes according to the programme of the broadcast, as well as the time of the broadcast.  - Impact depends partly on the position of the advertisement in the sequence of commercials preceding and succeeding.  - As a medium, it overcomes the handicaps of illiteracy.  - Audience tends to relax while watching T. V. commercial combines attributes of storytelling and demonstration.  - It can convey demonstrations and messages on how to use. Hence, it is considered the fasted and the most dynamic medium for selling brands and services, the impact being more through the visuals. - In T. V. the attention to the small screen is less concentrated and less consistent.  - There are distractions also in the case of T. V. because of being watched at home.  - Commercial costs a lot to prepare and the charges for medium usage are also very high.  **Radio ** - Radio has a wider exposure than the print media and perhaps also more than the T. V. outside urban areas for the present. - The jingles become popular and are often sung by listeners.  - Messages can be detailed and made appealing in the form of dialogues using local slang and jargon.  - Selectivity depends on the programme and timing as in the case of T. V. - it reaches all social strata and overcomes the problem of illiteracy.  - Radio is not confined to a place as it moves along with the listener.  - We must remember that for a listener, the message is not durable and it may also be ignored.  - Flexibility is less than T. V. as only sound can be used. .\ **Media Research**  As a professional, suppose you have to plan a campaign to promote your product, Iphone, Laptop computer, robot, software etc. As a first step in this regard you would decide on:  What media to use?  What is to be presented in the media and how often?  Media selection has to depend on answers to questions like:  How many people see it?  What kinds of people see it?   How much does it cost?  What is the impact, etc?  Better knowledge about / viewership/ listenership/ readership patterns and behaviour helps make more valid decisions on the choice and use of media. It is here that through media research one gathers this knowledge. Media research provides estimates of:  Readership or viewership of average issue or programme profiled by age, sex, class, exposure to other media, purchasing patterns etc.  Where, when, how and how much do they read (see or hear)  Media research provides estimates of numbers and types of people in particular segments. They can be reached by any of a variety of ways using the media for a given cost. It is a specialised and costly study but of great help for advertisers to plan their campaigns. At times, media owners themselves provide research data. **Media Costs**  The cost of using media is an important consideration while planning a campaign. One must utilise the budget for the campaign for maximum benefits. You must know that every medium has fixed rate tariffs for carrying advertisements. These rates vary according to the space or time used.  For example:  Colour ads cost more than black and white ads,  Classified ads pages cost much less than display ads in other editorial pages,  National newspapers cost more than regional newspapers, and  Similarly, Radio and T. V. charge differently according to the time. Prime time costs more than non-prime time, the distinction being according to the exposure at any time.  Cost efficiency is more important than the actual cost of using the medium.  **Media Planning**  These are the stage of Media Planning.  It involves the determination of:  What media to use?  Frequency of use, and timing or space.  Planning decides on:  Details of media schedule,  Desirable extent of duplication if more than one medium is used,  Whether the ads should be spread evenly through a period or intermittently with thrusts of heavy ads and periods of relative inactivity, Options-descriptions of ad characteristics, other than the copy and artwork, and  How budget is to be allocated between the media. While doing so the considerations are:  Exposures (how many, how intense)  Segmentation effect (who is to be exposed, what percentage of target)  Media option source effect (qualitative value of media option, relative impact), and  Response function (related to class like T. V. better than magazine; option like full page better than column, etc.)  Pickton and Brodrick (2005) have listed nine (9) questions that determine media objectives:  1. **Who** do we want to reach?  2. **When** do we want to reach them?  3. **Where** do we want to reach them?  4. **How** many do we need to reach?  5. **How frequently** do we need to reach them?  6. **With what impact** and **effect?**  7. **What media** provide the best micro-environment and conditions for all the above?  8. **At what cost?**  9.  Can we **improve** on it.   Media carry promotional messages. There are several kinds of media. Each of these has some advantages and disadvantages. They cost differently. They have different impact on the audience, depending on a number of factors. These factors are identified through effective utilisation of advertising budgets.