First, let’s review:
Two main facets of communication?
Most of anything can be used in communication (everything is at play)
Miscommunication is VERY common.
Sender-Receiver Model
Begins with sender
The sender sends a message
A receiver receives a message
A receiver gives feedback
All messages travel through a medium. A medium is the carrier which a message is transmitted. Think: social media, spoken word, text, etc.
What are issues with the Sender-Receiver Model?
Is perfect communication ever possible?
Can we *really* know what’s up with the receiver?
So, we know how communication works…
But how should we work with it?
Key Question – when we persuade, are we educating or coercing?
Coercion
1) It’s a form of persuasion
2) We associate it with threats of some kind
Central question – does a threat need to be us threatening them or educating them about a threat?
Education
Assisting one in learning
Can we *really* educate someone if they’re not already thinking we’re right?
Ethics
A person’s sense of right and wrong
Things may not ONLY be coercion IF it’s meant to do the right thing
Value Structure has 3 elements – Working to be a good person
Communicating constructively
Caring about your audience
Two major ways to identify “the good”
1) By consequences – your choice would create good consequences and avoid bad ones. Consequences are the results of a particular choice or action. The long fancy word for this is Consequentialism.
Example – doing something as a means to an end
2) By rules – you have ethical rules (or principles) and you abide by them. The long fancy word for this is Deontology.
Example – refusing to break with your principles (Tho shalt not kill, etc.)
Interpersonal Communication
“Talking with others”
Takes place any time messages are transmitted between two or more people.
Not just public speaking – includes all conversation.
Ethics are central to both
You should *care* about your audience
Their reaction and feedback is the goal of your oratory and investing in rhetoric.