PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION

LESSON 1: Communication Process and Models

The way you communicate regulates and shapes your behavior. It is an ever-continuing process going all
the time. Although you communicate so frequently, you often fail to realize the importance and complexity of
the process. The important question is whether the information or ideas you have expressed are truly
understood by others. Because it is a process, communication constantly moves, shifts, and changes; it does not
stand still. However complex or simple interactions are, people impinge on each other in multiple ways. It is a
short jump from recognizing that people affect each other through communication to recognizing that it is not
a neutral activity. You do not simply influence others; you touch each other in positive and negative ways, for
good and for bad.

Language is the most significant element of communication because human knowledge and
relationships are gathered, stored and imparted through it. The process of communication permits you to use
and reuse the experiences and knowledge from the past into the present and make it ready to function in future
with the help of the symbols of communication, which stand for some abstract idea. Honing your
communication skills can also bring about success to your personal and professional life. You need to learn how
to communicate purposefully in today’s society.

Barriers

The Communication Process

Elements of Communication
1. Sender/Messenger - The sender begins the communication process by forming the ideas, intentions and
feelings that will be transmitted. As the sender, you are required to filter out the details that are
unimportant and focus your energy on the most relevant information. The sender being the promoter
of the process is required to have clear vision of their expectation of the communication process. The
encoder generates a message through their past experiences, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings.

2. Message - It is the information which is being communicated. The source encodes an idea and then
determines whether or not to inform, persuade, or entertain. After deciding what message to send, the
source uses symbols to get the message across others. These symbols can take on numerous forms such
as language, words or gestures.

3. Channel - Channels are the means, by which messages are communicated which may be described and
analyzed in two different ways. It involves the form in which messages are sent to receivers through both
verbal and nonverbal channels of communication which may be perceived through the use of the five
senses. Channels may also be described according to the manner of presentation employed in
communication. Depending on the situation, the source would concentrate on verbal and/or nonverbal
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channels of communication. Whatever channels of communication are used, the source must learn to
adapt the message to make use of the most appropriate channels available for the situation.

4. Receiver/Recipient – It pertains to anyone who attends to the sender’s message. The act of interpreting
messages is called decoding. Receivers decode messages based on past experiences, perceptions,
thoughts, and feelings. You receive messages through all your senses, but most often you decode
messages by listening or seeing. It is important to remember that receivers make immediate decisions
about what they will respond in a given situation.

Of course, everyone is encoder and decoder; that is, you are capable of both transmitting and
receiving messages. When you receive a message, you must interpret it and then encode a response.
The response may be silent, noisy, or somewhere in between, depending upon the situation and the
existence of any barriers to communication.

5. Feedback – This is the return process as it tells the source how the receiver has interpreted each
message. Feedback may be negative or positive. It signifies whether the recipient understood the
message of the sender or not. Feedback can also be ambiguous, not clearly positive or negative. Positive
feedback occurs when the receiver receives the desired response based on a clear understanding of the
symbols used in the message. Negative feedback occurs when there is an undesired response because
of miscommunication. In some cases, not getting feedback is also a sort of feedback. Effective
communicators are always sensitive to feedback and constantly modifies their messages as a result of
the feedback being received.

The communication process is a system that involves an interrelated, interdependent group of elements
working together as a whole to achieve a desired outcome or goal. It is the perfect guide toward achieving
effective communication. However, at any point in the communication process a barrier may occur. Barriers
keep you away from understanding other’s ideas and thoughts.

There are two types of barriers—internal and external. Examples of internal barriers are fatigue, poor
listening skills, attitude toward the sender or the information, lack of interest in the message, fear, mistrust,
past experiences, negative attitude, problems at home, lack of common experiences, and emotions. Examples
of external barriers include noise, distractions, e-mail not working, bad phone connections, time of day, the use
of too many technical words for the audience, and environment. Barriers keep the message from getting
through. When communicating, you should watch out for barriers while you monitor the actions of the receiver.

Models of Communication
1. Aristotle’s Communication Model
Aristotle’s Model of Communication is initiated by a great philosopher, Aristotle, as the earliest
mass communication model. It was proposed before 300 B.C. after Aristotle found the importance of
audience role in communication chain in his communication model. This model is more focused on public
speaking than interpersonal communication. Aristotle advises speakers to build speech for different
audience on different time or occasion for different effects.

Aristotle’s Model of Communication

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President Rodrigo R. Duterte is giving his speech on drug war.

As a speaker, you play a vital role in Public speaking. You must prepare your speech and must
analyze the audience needs before you enter into the stage. You should make sure that you influence
the audience’s mind and persuade their thoughts towards you.

2. Shannon-Weaver Communication Model

This model is designed by Claude Shannon, an electronic engineer and Warren Weaver, an
American scientist, in 1948. They join together to write an article in Bell System Journal called A
Mathematical Theory of Communication which is also called the Shannon-Weaver model of
communication.
This model aims to develop the effective communication between sender and receiver. Shannon
and Weaver find factors which affect the communication process called noise. At first the model is
developed to improve the technical aspect of communication and later, it is widely applied in the field
of Communication. The model deals with various concepts like information source, transmitter, noise,
channel, message, receiver, channel, information destination, encoder and decoder.

Shannon-Weaver Model of Communication

3. Osgood-Schramm Communication Model

This model shows that communication is something circular in nature. Osgood-Schramm Model
of Communication is also called the Circular Communication Model. This breaks the practical way of the
sender-receiver communication. The message from starting to ending, there is an interpretation that
goes on. Based on this interpretation only the message is received.
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Osgood-Schramm Model of Communication

Two people talking may act simultaneously as both sender and receiver and hence use
interpretation. It simultaneously takes place i.e. encoding, interpret and decoding take place together.
Decoding and interpretation becomes difficult when semantic noise takes place and people get deviated
from the actual message.

Semantic noise happens when the sender and receiver apply different meaning to the same
message. This is also because of words, phrases, or the technical languages use by the sender or the
receiver.

4. White Communication Model

This model of communication is designed by Eugene White. According to White, it is possible to
begin at any of the stages outlined in his model. Given the eight stages, people may have this mistaken
impression that whenever they communicate, they always start with thinking. This model is a circular
model, so it means that is it a continuous process with no beginning or end.

Communication is a repetitive, cyclical event but the dynamic quality of interaction is not
depicted. The speaker is the originator of the communication process and the listener is a passive reactor
who does not initiate communication.

Thinking Symbolizing Expressing

Monitoring Transmitting

Feedbacking Decoding Receiving

1. Thinking – this is a desire, feeling, or an emotion that provides a speaker a stimulus to communicate a
need
2. Symbolizing – before the speaker can utter sounds, they have to know the code of oral language with
which to represent their ideas in order to make their selection
3. Expressing – through vocal mechanism, the speaker then produces the sounds of language
accompanied by facial expressions, gestures, and body stance
4. Transmitting – this is about the waves of sound spreading at 1,000 feet per second and waves of light
travelling at a speed of 186,000 miles per second carrying the speaker’s message to the
listeners
5. Receiving – sound waves impinge upon the listener’s ears after which the resulting nerve impulses reach
the brain via the auditory nerve; light wave strikes the listener’s eyes after which the resulting
nerve impulses reach the brain via the optic nerve
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6. Decoding – the listener interprets the language symbols they receive and think further
7. Feedbacking – the listener may manifest overt behavior like a nod, smile, or yawn or they may not show
any behavior at all
8. Monitoring – while the speaker watches for signs of reception or understanding of their message among
their listeners, they also attuned to what’s going on inside them; the speaker is receiving,
and decoding messages about themselves from their audience in order to adjust to the
particular situation
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LESSON 2: Communication Ethics

Communication is a process by which you involve yourself with others for understanding, for
cooperation, and for the accomplishment of a variety of goals. This process also requires ethical principles. It is
about developing and nurturing relationships and building communities within and across contexts, cultures,
channels and media. Ethical communication is also accepting responsibility for the messages you convey to
others and the short-term or long-term consequences of communication. Whether you are talking to a close
friend or addressing the workforce in an all-staff meeting, your message must be truthful and consistent with
your value system. Misleading your listeners and delivering a message that is clandestine or not truthful is the
antithesis of ethical communication.

Competent communicators are ethical. In communication, ethics has to do with how you, personally,
behave and how you treat others. In dealing with personal lives, society helps establish standards for the actions
and behaviors of its members.
According to some communication experts, there are five questions you can ask yourself to check
whether you are acting ethically.
The Golden Rule: Would I want to be treated this way by others?
The Professional Ethic: How would a jury of my peers view this action?
The Global View: Could our society continue to function if everyone acted like this?
The Utilitarian Rule: Does this action do the most good for the most people over the
longest period of time?
The TV Test: Would I be comfortable explaining this action on a national TV show?

The National Communication Association or NCA (1999) discussed principles in their CREDO for Ethical
Communication which was approved by the NCA Legislative Council in November 1999. It stipulates that ethical
communication enhances human worth and dignity by fostering truthfulness, fairness, responsibility, personal
integrity, and respect for self and others. They believe that unethical communication threatens the quality of all
communication and consequently the well-being of individuals as well as the society in which people live.
Following are the principles of ethical communication endorsed by the National Communication Association.
1. Advocate truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, and reason as essential to the integrity of communication.
2. Endorse freedom of expression, diversity of perspective, and tolerance of dissent to achieve the
informed and responsible decision making fundamental to a civil society.
3. Strive to understand and respect other communicators before evaluating and responding to their
messages.
4. Promote access to communication resources and opportunities as necessary to fulfill human potential
and contribute to the well-being of families, communities, and society.
5. Promote communication climates of caring and mutual understanding that respect the unique needs
and characteristics of individual communicators.
6. Condemn communication that degrades individuals and humanity through distortion, intimidation,
coercion, and violence, through the expression of intolerance and hatred.
7. Commit to the courageous expression of personal convictions in pursuit of fairness and justice.
8. Advocate sharing information, opinions, and feelings when facing significant choices while also
respecting privacy and confidentiality.
9. Accept responsibility for the short- and long-term consequences for our own communication and expect
the same of others.

To communicate ethically, you must give thought to the manner in which you communicate. Ethics is
not only a matter of political or social policy but is a part of our personal policies as well, an integral part of our
behaviors and our regard for others. Ethical communication will incorporate a respectful view of its audiences,
a consideration of the consequences of the communication for all parties involved, and a respect for truth. Such
a view is both a challenge and a reward.