Communication Process and Principles

# Lesson 1: The Communication Process and Its Components - We define communication as the process of sharing meaning in any context - Wood (2003), in her book Communication in our Lives, defined communication as a systemic process in which people interact with and through symbols to create and inte...

# Lesson 1: The Communication Process and Its Components - We define communication as the process of sharing meaning in any context - Wood (2003), in her book Communication in our Lives, defined communication as a systemic process in which people interact with and through symbols to create and interpret meanings. - We communicate when we encode (get ideas and put them into messages) - Send them through our primary signal system (senses), to someone who receives them through his or her senses using a channel and decodes (translates) the message - He or she then gives his or her feedback. ## Figure 1: Communication Process | | | | | :---------------------------- | :--------------------- | :------------------------------------ | | **Noise** | **Message** | **Noise** | | **Source, Encodes Messages** | **Channel** | **Receiver, Decodes Messages** | | | **Feedback** | | # Lesson 2: Levels of Communication - Communication may be verbal or non-verbal. - **Verbal communication** encompasses any form of communication involving words, spoken, written, or signed. - Our conversation with a colleague, news on TV or the newspaper in the morning, even the text that we send or receive each time are all forms of verbal communication. - As Lucas (2017) puts it, our ability to communicate with a language that is based on an organized system of words, rather than merely sounds, is what sets us apart from lower species - Not only do we have language, but we also have the technology that enables us to communicate with one another no matter the physical distance. - **Non-verbal communication** includes body language, such as gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, and posture. Touch can sometimes illustrate personality characteristics. - The sound of our voice, including pitch, tone and volume are also forms of non-verbal communication. - Communication occurs in intrapersonal, interpersonal and public levels. - **Intrapersonal communication** occurs within the person. This is sometimes referred to as cognitive or personal communication or "self-talk.” Activities such as thought-processing and decision-making are intrapersonal communication. We engage in intrapersonal communication to better understand ourselves and to ultimately enhance our self-esteem. - **Interpersonal communication** refers to communication that occurs between two persons who establish a communicative relationship. Interviews, small group discussion and conversations are forms of interpersonal communication. - **Public communication** is a speaker sending message to an audience. It could be a direct, face-to-face message delivery of a speaker to an audience, or it could indirect, using radio or television. # Lesson 3: Functions of Communication - Communication serves some significant functions in our lives. 1. **We communicate to meet needs:** - Just as we need food, water and shelter, communication accomplish our need to talk to another human being. - In addition, we are social beings so we need other people all the more to communicate with them. - "A species' survival depends critically upon its ability to communicate effectively, and the quality of its social life is determined in large measure by how and what it can communicate." (Krauss, 2002 cited in Lucas, 2017). 2. **We communicate to enhance or maintain our sense of self:** - Because we communicate, we learn who we are and what we can do. 3. **We communicate to fulfill social obligations:** - We greet people, talk and communicate with them in order to meet our social obligation. 4. **We communicate to develop relationships:** - Through communication, we develop relationships with other people. - We can also deepen and maintain these relationships through communication. 5. **We communicate to exchange information:** - Some information we get through reading, observations, media and through communicating with others. 6. **We communicate to influence others:** - We use communication in encouraging and persuading others towards something like motivating a friend to study for an exam. # Lesson 4: Principles of Communication - Since we have learned about the process, the functions and types of communication, it is important that we also discuss the principles that guide our communication. 1. **Communication is purposive:** - The purpose of the communication may be trivial or significant - But one way of evaluating if the communication is successful is if it has accomplished its purpose. - However, different purposes require different strategies. 2. **Communication is continuous:** - Communication happens nonstop, even silence communicates something. - Even non verbal behavior represents reactions to your environment and to the people around you (Verdeber, 1999). - Therefore it is imperative that we be aware and conscious of the nonverbal behavior we constantly send. 3. **Communication messages vary in conscious encoding:** - Communication may occur spontaneously (without much thought), - It could also be based on a "learned” script, or it could be constructed based on the understanding of a situation. 4. **Communication is relational:** - In any communication setting, people not only share meanings but also negotiate and enhance their relationships. - Communication plays a role in developing, maintaining, and dissolving relationships. 5. **Communication has ethical implications:** - When we communicate we cannot avoid making choices with ethical implications. - In communicating, we must recognize some ethical standards. 6. **Communication is learned:** - Communicating well is a skill, therefore it can be learned. - Simply talking is not communicating. - It involves, listening, processing thoughts and opinions and then speaking. - This could be acquired through practice. # Lesson 5: Communication Ethics - All forms of communication involve ethical issues. - Ethics are values that have been instilled in us, we have knowingly or unknowingly accepted them and govern our actions. - Our ethical value system is our basis for our decision-making and our basis for communication ethics. - In all communication situations there are ethical considerations. - These relate to considerations of what is fair and unfair, right and wrong; it means communicating in a way that conforms to moral standards - We all acknowledge that "a speaker who uses language that degrades or injures human personalities by exaggeration, pseudotruths, twisting of words and name calling is clearly acting unethically.” (Berko, 1995) - Therefore, we should all be ethical communicators. - Ethical communicators or speakers according to Berko (1995) should: 1. Speaks with sincerity, 2. Does not knowingly expose an audience to falsehood or half-truths that can cause significant harm, 3. Does not premeditatedly alter the truth, 4. Presents the truth as she or he understands it, 5. Raises the listeners level of expertise by supplying the necessary facts, 6. Employs message that is free from mental as well as physical coercion, 7. Does not invent or fabricate information, 8. Gives credit to the source of information. - In ethical communication, you get your ideas across to your audience or listeners without violating their rights, without misrepresentation, and without misleading them.