interpersonal and communication skills- c.1-2

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INTERPERSONAL AND INTERPERSONAL AND COMMUNICATION SKILLSCOMMUNICATION SKILLS


OUR TOPICOUR TOPIC

1) COMMUNICATION PROCESSES

a) Elements of communicationb) Other vital elements of communicationc) Communication modelsd) Brief historye) Context of communication

2) VIEWS OF COMMUNICATION

a) Perspectives in defining communicationb) Levels of communicationc) Communication breakdown


a) Elements of Communication

• The process of communication needs some elements too.

• They are so important that without them communication may not be able to take place.


The four basic elements in the process of communication are the:

• source, • message, • channel, and • receiver.


Source

• The source or sometimes known as the sender, is the origin of an information or a message.

• People are an obvious source of a message.

• It can be a single individual and it can also be a group of people or organizations.


Message

• The message is the content of the communication process.

• It can be in the form of ideas or emotions.

• The source encodes the message into verbal codes such as in writings or speeches.

• The message can also be encoded into nonverbal codes.


Channel

• The channel is the medium used to convey the message.

• Channels can be in the forms of sound waves, light waves, visuals, smell, touch, or anything that may stimulate our senses.


Receiver

• The receiver or sometimes called the decoder is the person or party, who receives the message.

• The receiver (usually people) will decode or translate the received message into something that can be comprehended or understood.


b) Other vital elements in the communication process

• feedback, • noise, and• context or environment.

which include:


Feedback• Feedback is the receiver's response

towards the source.

• A feedback informs the sender that the receiver has received the message conveyed.

• In the process of influencing or informing others, feedbacks are very important to measure the effectiveness

of communication.


Noise • Anything that causes communication to be

ineffective.

• Beebe, Beebe, and Redmond (1999), define noise as "anything, either literal or psychological, that interferes the clear reception and interpretation of a message".

• Physical noises such as high or low temperatures or noises caused by machines or people may prevent communicators from getting the actual message in a communication.

• On the other hand, psychological noises such as uncontrollable emotions or pre-conceived ideas about something or someone may cause communication to be ineffective.


Context or Environment

• Another element that influence a communication process.

• Include the place, time, physical, and psychological situations as well as past and current knowledge of communicators involved.


c) Communication models


d) Brief History

basic and simple model

linear communication

model

behaviors of the Communicators

model


Lasswell's Communication Model


Shannon and Weaver's Communication Model


The Shannon and Weaver's communication model is very technical in nature and includes the following components.

Information source: ideas or emotions, Transmission source: origin of ideas or

emotions (sender), Encoding: translation of ideas or emotions

into sets of codes, Decoding: interpretation of codes by

receiver, who decodes and gives meanings to the message received,

Channel: medium of the message such as sound, visual, smell or touch, and

Noise: anything that distorts the real meaning of the message


Osgood-Schramm's Communication Model


The model also implies that communication is not a one-way or linear process and therefore, suitable to explain processes in interpersonal communication.


All communication models generally have the following components :

Source or sender, who encodes ideas into codes (verbal and non-verbal codes).

Message. Channel or medium of

transferring message. Receiver, who decodes the

message into codes that can be understood


• Communication is a dynamic and complicated process.

• The process of communication may change from time to time depending on the context.

e) Context of Communication


Psychological Context • Refers to wants, needs, values,

and personalities of the communicators.

• In interpersonal communication, an interaction between two communicators may turn into a conflict if any one or both of them are in different psychological contexts.


Relational Context• To the level of trust, self-

disclosure, power, and control.

• Related to each other either by circumstances such as relationships between family members or co-workers or by choice as in relationships between a husband and a wife or between intimate friends.

• can be impersonal (formal) or personal (informal).


Situational Context• Refers to the physical settings or

environment of communication such as in formal meetings or informal social functions.

• In formal meetings, there is etiquette to be followed but in informal social gatherings, we sometimes omit the use of protocols or titles in our communication because the environment doesn't seem appropriate for such formality.


Cultural Context• refers to the elements of culture

that influence the interaction between the communicators.

• Communicating with people from

different cultures is sometimes very confusing because there is information not explicitly communicated through language such as environmental or nonverbal cues (Beebe, Beebe, and Redmond, 1999).

• we may have to apply different communication styles to people from the low-context culture and the high-context culture.


• Different scholars describe communication differently because they study and observe it through different perspectives.


a) Perspectives in defining communication


The Linear Perspective

• it as a one-way communication process.

• One-way communication minimizes the importance of feedbacks, where the source does not know whether the receivers have received the message as there is no feedback from the receivers.


• A good example to demonstrate the process of a linear communication perspective is in mass communication.

• It involves a communicator with large audiences such as a speaker delivering a speech on the radio or a news anchorman reading the news on TV.

• In both these situations, there is only a one-way communication process, where the receivers are not able to give feedbacks on the message received.


The Interactional Perspective

• In the 1940s and early 1950s, our understanding of the communication process was as an interaction or exchange of message. This perspective emphasizes the following components in a communication process.

• Feedback: the response to the message.

• Context: the physical and psychological environment of the communication process.


• Although the interactional perspective is regarded as a two-way communication process, communication still occurs in a limited linear process.


The Transactional Perspective

• Originated from communication models formulated by scholars during the 1960s.

• It explains communication as a transaction or the formation of messages based on the following process.

• Both communicators send and receive messages simultaneously.

• During the transaction, both communicators mutually encode messages and decode symbols. The process of communication is said to occur simultaneously. It is not only a process of exchanging messages.

• The sending and receiving of messages take place in episodic stages involving mutual influencing between the communicators.


• The linear perspective is observed in mass communication involving large audiences and a communicator.

• The interactional and transactional perspectives are observed in interpersonal communication.


• The interactional perspective is best illustrated in computer-mediated communication (CMC) or in telephone conversations.

• Nonverbal messages in CMC or

telephone conversations are very limited and verbal messages are transferred and received in a linear fashion.

• The transactional perspective is associated with interpersonal, face to face communication.

• Communication is said to occur simultaneously and messages are encoded and decoded continuously through nonverbal cues during the transaction.


b) Levels of Communication

• Every educational level differs in terms of age and the knowledge acquired.

• Like education and our biological life, communication has its levels

too.


Intrapersonal Communication

• Is a communication within oneself or someone interacts with him or her own self.

• Also known as monologue, intrapersonal communication does not involve other people but only one communicator.

• Helps us analyze and evaluate ourselves.

• It is also useful in the process of making decisions or changing behaviors.


Interpersonal Communication

• Is a two-way communication between two communicators.

• Beebe, Beebe, and Redmond (1999) define interpersonal communication as "a special form of human communication that occurs when we interact simultaneously with another person and mutually influence each other, usually for the purpose of managing relationships".

• Interpersonal communication serves many functions, include improvements in family relationships, relationships with friends and colleagues as well as physical and emotional health.


Small Group Communication

• Is a two-way communication involving three to twelve people in a group.

• According to Cragan and Wright (1999), a small group is defined as "a few people engaged in communication interaction over time, usually in face-to-face settings, and have common goals in an interdependent manner".

• To share information, search ideas, solve problems, and help each other.


Public Communication

• Refers to a communication, whereby a speaker addresses a relatively large audience with a relatively continuous discourse, usually in a face-to-face situation (DeVito, 1997).

• The speaker in public communication acts as a provider of information with continuous talk.

• The speaker communicates by delivering the speech and the audience by responding to the speech with feedbacks.

• Public communication serves the functions of informing, persuading, entertaining, and influencing the audience.


Mass Communication

• Is a one-way communication that involves a sender and the public through various media channels.

• Occurred when an organization "employs a technology as a medium to communicate with a large audience" (Baran and Davies, 2000).

• Serves the functions of informing, persuading, entertaining, and influencing (although very seldom) the masses.

• Is an effective means to reinforce the beliefs, values, and behaviors of the target audiences.


c) Communication Breakdownc) Communication Breakdown

1) Is a phenomenon where the message delivered does not reach the recipient, or is misinterpreted.

2) Can cause many problems in any institution, be it family unit, businesses or large

organizations.


The factors that lead to communication blockagesThe factors that lead to communication blockages

Communication breakdown is often caused by three factors namely:

communication climate, psychological disturbance, and language.


Communication ClimateCommunication Climate

Is one of the factors that can contribute to communication breakdown.

Like the weather we experience everyday, communication climate can be warm, cold, stormy, or may be healthy.

A good communication climate creates a positive atmosphere where communicators involved in the communication are able to communicate productively with each other.


•Two types of communication climate, that is, positive and negative.• Positive communication climate is sometimes termed as confirming communication. •According to Adler and Towne (1999), confirming communication occurs on three increasingly positive levels that is:

e.g.: replying an e-mail message to a friend or visiting a friend.

The ideas and feelings of others. For example, when we listen attentively to our friend it is a form of acknowledgement or confirming communication.

(to agree with the other communicator). A sincere praise can also be considered as an endorsement, for example, "You did a great job, thank you".


In contrast, negative communication climate is known as disconfirming communication.

A disconfirming communication in a defensive climate may cause communication breakdown.


communication climate, also refer to physical climate or environment such as culture, technology, and social structure that can create communication breakdowns if we fail to identify and understand their significance in communication.


Psychological DisturbancePsychological Disturbance

Personal factors such as our behavior, emotion, and cognitive competency contributes to communication breakdowns.

For example, our communication with others may be more effective if we are more self-confident. On the other hand, we may find it difficult to influence others if we have low self-concept or esteem.


Emotion can ruin our communication with others if not properly managed.

We often fail to control our communication if we cannot control our anger but our positive emotion always leads us to a better communication and understanding of others.


Emotion can be a channel of our message.

Example, facial expression may determine the type of communication climate that will take place in our communication with others.

Facial expression suggesting sadness may interfere with others' jovial and lively conversation.

Emotion of fear or anxiety can interfere with our voice intonation causing distortion to the message we want to convey to others.


LanguageLanguage

Communication is affected when the message we convey does not share the same interpretation or meaning with our audience.

Sometimes, we fail to share meanings of messages because we do not speak the same language as others.


Language has a great impact on effective communication.

Proper and precise use of language will avoid ambiguity.

The use of destructive language such as sharp personal criticism and static evaluation must always be avoided.

We must be wise in applying equivocation, abstraction, euphemism, and relative language to avoid breakdowns in our communication.


CONCLUSIONCONCLUSION

• An effective communication way attained if there are feedback from the receiver, reduction in the level of noise, and the right context pr environment of the communication.

• They are many models formulated to describe definitions of communication, but generally the all from following components is source or sender, who encodes idea into codes (verbal and non verbal codes).

• A successful communication knows how to communicate in different context of communication and adapt easily to the changes.

• Different perspectives imply different effect of communication.

• Different communication processes occur at different level of communication.

• Communication breakdown is a sign a interaction failure and meaningless communication.



a) Elements of communicationb) Other vital elements of communicationc) Communication modelsd) Brief historye) Context of communication


a) Perspectives in defining communicationb) Levels of communicationc) Communication breakdown


THATS ALL THATS ALL

THANK YOUTHANK YOU

ANY QUESTIONSANY QUESTIONS

interpersonal and communication skills- c.1-2

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