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Forrest Buck

Erika Chambers

Intro to Communication

21 Sep. 2009

The Elements of Communication

Communication is defined by dictionary.com as the imparting or interchange of thoughts,

opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs. The elements of communication are

sender-receiver, messages, channels, noise, feedback, and setting. All of these elements are

important to the communication process. I have used all of these many times throughout my life

time and will probably do so again.

The sender-receiver method of communication is one of the most important because it is

the basic concept of a conversation. That basic concept is someone talks and another person

listens. The sender is the person that is talking at the time and the receiver is the person that is

listening. I use this element of communication every day. I have friends on campus and I talk to

them all the time and when we talk, we usually both have thoughts and opinions we wish to

share with one another so we both are sending and receiving messages using the sender-receiver

element of communication.

The next element of communication is the message. The message is basically what the

sender is saying. Messages do not have to be verbal. A message can be sent in all forms of

communicating: verbally, written, or using signs. I also send messages every day and in each of
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those forms as well. Every day I find myself talking to someone, texting someone, or just

nodding my head at someone. So I’m basically sending messages to people all day every day.

Another element of communication is channels. The channel is basically how a message

is received. We all use channels in communicating every day. For instance I use the channel of

sight when I dress or the channel of touch when I shake someone’s hand. There is channel for

every type of communication one can do.

Not all elements of communication have to deal with the actual communication itself

such as noise. Noise is the interference of communication. It can be anything that disrupts the

communication process. Noise is another element of communicating I encounter on a regular

basis. For instance when I am in class and the teacher is trying to teach but some students are

talking in the background I might not be able to properly hear what is being taught this is a form

of external noise. Noise can also be internal though. Many times I have found myself not paying

attention to what someone is saying to me because I start to day dream, sometimes it is because I

am having a problem that day, another example may be that I am focused on something else at

the moment. These are all examples of noise and how they can affect the communication

process.

Elements of communication can also be something that influences how a person might

communicate such as a setting. A setting is where the communication takes place. The setting

usually influences how the communication process will go. Monday through Friday I go to class

and in each of those classes I speak proper English and avoid using slang because it is a learning

environment and a more professional setting. I also eat in the cafeteria with my friends everyday
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and there I use slang and speak loudly without any kind of structure because it is a more casual

setting. These are just some of the ways communication can be affected by setting.

The final element of communication is feedback. Feedback is the reactions by the

receiver of a sender’s message. All the time when I am with my friends I give them feedback.

We are always playing around and telling jokes which cause us to laugh. Laughter is a form of

feedback because it is a reaction by the receiver to a message by the sender.