THINKING ABOUT

COMMUNICATION

Chapter#1
Communication Elements

 Sender
 Message
 Medium
 Receiver
 Context
 Feedback
 Noise
Communication Systems

 Formal System
 Internal
 Newsletters
 Memos
 Group Meeting
 External
 Media relations
Communication Systems

 Informal System
 Grapevine
 Conversations

 Casual access to boss office

Flow of Communication

 Downward Communication
 Two Characteristics:
 Message tends to get larger
 Distortion

 Upward Communication
 Two Characteristics
 Requested feedback to superiors
 Unsolicited ideas/suggestions
Flow of Communication

 Lateral Communication
 Characteristics
 Acrossfunctional communication coordination
 Cooperation
Barriers to communication

 Technical Interference
 Semantic Interference
 Environmental Interference
 Age
 Gender
 Physical Appearance
 Cultural attitudes
 Language Apprehension
 Emotional
 Filtering
Interpersonal Communication

 Nonverbal Communication
– Advantages: Supports other communications
and provides observable expression of
emotions and feelings
– Disadvantage: Misperception of body
language or gestures can influence receiver‘s
interpretation of message
Interpersonal Communication

 Oral Communication
– Advantages: Speed and feedback
– Disadvantage: Distortion of the message

 Written Communication
–Advantages: Tangible and verifiable
– Disadvantages: Time-consuming and lacks
feedback
Nonverbal Communication

 TYPES OF NON-VERBAL MESSAGES

 Body Language or Kinesics
 Clothing or Artifactual Communication

 Voice or Paralanguage

 Space and Distance, or Proxemic factors

 Color

 Time, or Chronemics

 Touch, or Haptics
Nonverbal Communication

 Body Language
“The bodily gestures, postures, and facial
expressions by which a person
communicates nonverbally with others”
 Kinesics
 Gesture
 Posture

 Facial Expressions

 Gaze/Eye-Contact
Nonverbal Communication

 Body language---Posture
OPEN / CLOSED
 People with:
 arms folded
 legs crossed
 bodies turned away
 Are signaling that they are:
 rejecting messages.
 People with:
 showing open hands
 fully facing you
 both feet planted on the ground
 Are accepting them.
Nonverbal Communication

 Body language---Posture
FORWARD/ BACK
 When people are :
 Leaning forward
 Pointing towards you
 They are
 actively accepting or rejecting the message.
 When people are :
 Leaning back
 looking up at the ceiling
 cleaning their glasses
 They are
 Either passively absorbing or ignoring it.
Nonverbal Communication

 Body Language-----Face
 Facial expressions
 Eyes

 Lips
Nonverbal Communication

 Artifactual Communication and

Color
 Artifactual communication, is an integral part
of the nonverbal package
 It includes the use of personal adornments
such as clothing, jewellery, makeup, hairstyles,
and beards.
 People are apt to make inferences about us
based on the way we dress.
Nonverbal Communication

 Proxemic
 Edward Hall says there are four different
distances that we keep between ourselves and
other people:

 Intimate distance-0 to 18 inches;

 Personal distance-18 inches to 4 feet;
 Social distance-4 to 12 feet
 Public distance-12 feet to the limit of sight.
Listening

 What is Listening?
An active activity that involves receiving,
deciphering, and perceiving a message with
an intent to respond.
 Approaches to Listening
 Passive Listening-----no response
 Active Listening-----interactive
Listening
 Listening Empathy
 Mirroring Techniques
 Paraphrasing-----restating words
 Clarifying-----restating full expression
 Reflecting feelings
 Summarizing

 Listening to understand
 Listening as a critic
Active Listening Skills

 Pay attention
 Look at the speaker
 Avoid distractions
 Don’t interrupt
 Ask questions
 Repeat what the person said
Questioning
 Open question
 How can we improve listening?
 Closed question
 Should we play?
 Loaded question
 Why haven’t you done anything to control pollution?
 Hypothetical question----”What if” critical thinking
 Two-part question