ideas, perceptions, sensation, emotion,
Meaning of communication Communication
as:
● A process through which individuals
mutually exchange their ideas, values,
thought, feeling and actions with one or
more people.
● The transfer of information from the
sender to the receiver so that it can be
understood in the right context.
● It is a process of initiating, transmitting
and receiving information.
● The means of making the transfer of
information productive and goal
oriented.
● The process of sharing information,
ideas and attitudes between individual.
Definitions for communication by different
authors
● According to Newman and Summer, "
Communication is exchange of facts,
ideas, opinion or emotions by two or
more persons."
● According to Behind Brown,
"Communication is the transmission and
interchange of facts, ideas, feelings or
course of action."
● According to Cumming M.W, "The word
communication describes the process of
conveying messages (facts, ideas,
attitudes and opinions) from one person
to another, so that they can
understood."
● According to Megginson.
"Communication is the process of
transmitting meanings, ideas and
understanding of a person or a group to
another person or a group."
Elements of communication
Referent:
● A reference motivates the sender (or
receiver) to share information (message,
objects, sounds, site, time, schedule,
odour, etc.) that may initiate
communication.
● For example, a nurse sighting a patient
with difficulty in breathing may serve as
a referent to the nurse promoting her to
initiate communication with the patient.
Sender:
● A sender is a person who encode and
sends the message to the expected
receiver through an appropriate
channel.
● A sender is the source of the message
that is generated to deliver the receiver
message after appropriate stimulus from
the reference.
Message:
● The message is the content of
communication and may contain verbal,
nonverbal or symbolic language.
● Perception and personal factors of the
sender and receiver may sometimes
distort this element and the intended
outcome of communication may not be
achieved. For example, the same
message may be communicated or
perceived differently by two individuals.
Channel:
● A channel is the medium through which
a message is sent or received between
two or more people.
● Several channels can be used to send
or receive the message, that is seeing,
hearing, touching, smelling and tasting.
● While selecting channels of
communication, seven factors are
considered: availability of channels,
purpose, suitability, type of receiver,
type of message, preference of sender
and receiver, communication skills of
the sender, cost, etc.
● Channel: vehicle through which a
message is sent
 ● Examples: x Magazines × TV x Radio
Classification of channel of communication
● Visual channel: Facial expression,
body language, posture, gestures,
pictures & written words, electronic
mails, mass media, etc.
● Auditory channel: Spoken words,
sounds, telephone or mobile
communications, delivering audio
content (radio, voicemail), etc.
● Tactile channel: Touch sensations.
● Combined channel: Audio-visual
media, consoling a person with touch
and spoken words.
Receiver:
● A receiver is an individual or a group of
individuals intended to receive, decode
and interpret the message sent by the
sender / source of message.
● Receiver also known as decoder.
● He is expected to have the ability and
skills to receive, decode and interpret
the message
Feedback:
● It is the return message sent by the
receiver to the sender.
● It is most essential element of
communication process as it shows that
the receiver has understood the primary
message sent by the sender & the
communication process is now
considered complete.
● A successful communication must be a
two-way process where the sender
sends a message and receives
feedback from the receiver.
● This feedback will be verbal and
nonverbal.
Type of communication
1. Based on means of delivering the
message.
2. Based on purpose of communication.
3. Based on levels of communication.
4. Based on patterns of communication.
i) Based on means of delivering the message
a) Verbal communication:
● It occurs through the medium of
spoken or written.
● A combination of several words is used
and each word conveys a specific
meaning.
● Some important elements of verbal
communication are language,
vocabulary, clarity, intonation,
consciousness, precisencess brevity,
comprehension, timing and relevance.
Types of verbal communication
● Spoken communication.
● Written communication.
● Telecommunication.
● Electronic Communication.
b) Nonverbal communication
● This communication occurs without
words, where the five senses and whole
range of body movements, posture,
gesture, facial expressions & silence are
used for sending and receiving the
message.
● Nonverbal communication is more
accurate way of communication
because it convey the true and intended
meaning of the message.
Non verbal communication may be
accomplished by the following means:
● Touch
● Eye contact
● Facial expression
● Posture
● Gesture
● Physical appearance
● Sound
 ● Silence
ii) Based on purpose of communication
a) Formal communication:
● Formal communication flows line of
authority and is generally used in
organisation to achieve organisational
objectives.
● For example, the manager will contact
the supervisor for any updates and
information rather than contacting
directly to labour or workers.
b) Informal communication
● Informal communication does not flow
line of authority.
● Example of informal communication
are gossip, ChitChat and kitty parties.
● It is very fast and usually takes place in
social group like friends, family, peer
groups, etc.
c) Therapeutic communication:
● Therapeutic communication take place
between health care personnel and a
patient, with the purpose of modifying
the patient behaviour.
● This is accomplished with repeated
interaction using certain attribute such
as trust, empathy, tenderness, concern
& non-judgemental attitude.
iii) Based on levels of communication
a) Intrapersonal communication:
● It take place within an individual, we
may also say it is self-talk.
● It is crucial because it provide a person
with an opportunity to assess self or a
situation, before acting on it, ultimately
affecting the person behaviour.
b) Intrapersonal communication
● It takes place whenever two or more
people interact and exchange messages
or ideas.
● This is also one of the most common
form of communication in our daily lives.
● Interpersonal communication may
further categorised into assertive, non-
assertive and aggressive
communication.
c) Transpersonal communication:
● It takes place within a person's spiritual
domain.
● The purpose of transpersonal
communication is to realise selfhood,
enhance spirituality and answer
questions that are equal in nature.
c) Transpersonal communication
● It occurs within a person's spiritual
domain. Many persons use prayer,
meditation religious rituals to
communicate with their higher power.
Nurses who value the importance of
human spirituality often use this form of
communication with clients and for
themselves.
d) Small group communication:
● Communication among three or more
people and are perhaps equally active
parties, who are usually in proximity and
who are usually in close proximity.
● A relatively small collection of
individuals who are related to each other
by some common purpose.
e) Public communication:
● Public is generally defined as a large
group of people.
● Communication with such a large
group of people is known as public
communication.
● Public communication requires
essential skills to influence people at
 large and media material to reach
member of public clearly and loudly.
f) Organisational communication:
● It takes place when individual and
Groups communicate within an
organisation.
● People in an organisation
communicate with each other to achieve
established organisational goals.
iv) Based on the pattern of communication
a) One-way communication:
● It take place when message are
delivered to the audience from the
communicator only without constant
feedback.
● A common example of one-way
communication is lecture delivered in
the classroom.
b) Two-way communication:
Press Conference
● It take place when the communicator
and audience take part in the process.
● The audience may raise question and
add information, ideas and opinions on
the subject.
e) Many-to-one communication:
● Many-to-one communication takes
place when several people
communicate with one person at the
same time.
● A panel of experts taking an interview
is an example of many-to-one
communication.