1 About Communication

1.1 Why We Communicate

1.2 The Nature of Communication
1.3 How We Communicate Interpersonally
1.4 Building Your Communication Competence
1.1 Why we communicate
Communication touches many aspects of
our lives, from our physical and other
everyday needs to our experiences with
relationships, spirituality, and identity.
Communication Meets Physical Needs
 helps us maintain physical and mental well-being
 keeps us healthy
 inherently social beings that when we are denied
the opportunity for interaction, our mental and
physical health suffer
 research shows that people without strong social
ties, such as close friendships and family ties are
more likely to suffer major ailments, including
heart disease and high blood pressure and to die
prematurely than people who have close and
satisfying relationships
Communication Meets Relational Needs
 helps us form social and personal relationships
 needs for companionship and affection, relaxation
and escape
 probably value your friends
 needs relationships, and communication is a large
part of how we build and keep those relationships
 neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, are all social
settings in which we interact with people
 strong marriages promote happiness and well-
being
 personal relationships clearly play an important
role in our lives, and communication helps us
form and maintain them
Communication Fills Identity Needs
helps us decide who we are and who we
want to be
ways we communicate with others – and
the ways others communicate with us -
play a major role in shaping how we see
ourselves
good communicators also have the ability
to emphasize different aspects of their
identities in different situations
Communication Meets Spiritual Needs
lets us share our beliefs and values with
others
involves people’s beliefs about the
meaning of life , which often include
personal philosophies, an awe of nature, a
belief in higher purpose, and religious faith
and practices
Communication Serves Instrumental Needs
helps us accomplish many day-to-day
tasks
communicates to meet their practical,
everyday needs
includes short-term tasks
longer-term goals
each behavior is valuable
many instrumental needs
satisfying instrumental needs
Activity # 1
How is communication related to our physical
well-being?
What relational needs does communication
help us feel?
In what ways do communication behaviors
meet our identity needs?
How does communication help us express
spirituality?
What are some of the instrumental needs
served by communication?
2 The Nature of
Communication
2.1 Three Models of Human Communication
2.2 Six Characteristics of Communication
2.3 Dispelling Some Communication Myths
Three Models of Communication
Model- formal description of a process
1. Communication as Action
Source- the originator of a thought or idea
Encode- to put an idea into language or gesture
Message- verbal and nonverbal elements of
communication to which people give meaning
Channel- pathway through which messages are
conveyed
Decode-to interpret or give meaning to a message
Receiver-the party who interprets a message
Noise-anything that interferes with the encoding or
decoding a message
2. Communication as Interaction
Feedback
 verbal and nonverbal responses to a message
 actively involved in creating your conversation
Context
 physical or psychological environment in which
communication occurs
 environment you are in includes both the physical
and psychological context
 physical-physically interacting with each other
 psychological context-involves factors that
influence your state of mind
3. Communication as Transaction
maintains that both people in a
conversation are simultaneously sources
and receivers
conversation flows in both directions at
the same time
Six Characteristics of
Communication
1. Communication Relies on Multiple
Channels
1.1 channel-rich content
communication context involving many
channels at once
face to face conversations; see their
expressions and gestures, hear their tone
of voice, and feel them touch you
1.2 channel-lean context
communication context involving few
channels at once
Example: text messaging, relies almost
entirely on text, so we don’t experience
person’s voice or gestures
sending or receiving texts or letters
2. Communication Passes Through
Perceptual Filters
what one person says is not always
exactly what the other person hears
filter incoming communication through
our perceptions, experiences, biases, and
beliefs
3. People Give Communication Its Meaning
When we write or speak, we choose our
words deliberately so we can say what we
mean.
A word is a symbol, or a representation of
an idea, but the word itself isn’t the idea or
the meaning. The meaning of words – and
many other forms of communication –
comes from the people and groups who
use them.
4. Communication has Literal Meanings
and Relational Implications
Content dimension- consists of literal
information being communicated about the
subject of the message
Relational dimension- signals about the
relationship in which a message is being
communicated ( more messages than literal
content)
5. Communication Sends a Message,
whether Intentional or Unintentional
Your behavior sends message with intention
or without.
6. Communication is Governed by Rules
Rules tell us what behaviors are required,
preferred, or prohibited in various social
contexts.
Explicit rule- someone has clearly
articulated them
Implicit rule- rules that almost everyone in
a certain social group knows and follows,
even though no one has formally articulated
and expressed them
Activity # 2
What are some implicit communication
rules that you can recall?
Why do you suppose we so often think
communication can solve any problem?
3 How We Communicate
Personally
Characteristics of Interpersonal
Communication
Communication that occurs between two
people within the context of their
relationship and that, as it evolves, helps
them to negotiate, and define their
relationship.
1. Interpersonal Communication Occurs
Between Two People
1.1 Intrapersonal communication
 communication with oneself
 talk to yourself
1.2 Mass communication
 from one source to a large audience
 communication is transmitted to large
numbers of people
1.3 Small group communication-occurring
within a small groups of three or more people
as in a family, on a committee, or in a support
group
2. Interpersonal Communication Occurs
Within a Relationship
share some sort of relationship
can be intimate, romantic
relationships with different people;
relatives, close friends, classmates,
acquaintances, co-workers
3. Interpersonal Communication Evolves
Within Relationships
occurs overtime
not a one-shot deal but something that is
continually evolving within a realtionship
4. Interpersonal Communication
Negotiates and Defines Relationships
every relationship has its own identity
probably group them into friendship
types; very close friends, casual friends,
work friends, and school friends
Why Interpersonal Communication
Matters
ispervasive
can improve our relationships
can improve our health
Activity # 3
In what ways do your close relationships
improve your life?
What are some of the challenges involved
in maintaining those relationships?
4 Building Your Communication
Competence
4.1 What Communicating Competently Involves
4.2 Characteristics of Competent Communicators

Communication Competence- communicating in ways

that are effective and appropriate fro a given situation
What Communicating Competently
Involves
1. Communicating Effectively
 how well your communication achieves its
goals

2. Communicating Appropriately
 besides being effective, competent
communication should also be appropriate
 means attending to the rules and
expectations that apply in a social situation
Characteristics of Competent
Communicators
1. Self-awareness
 aware of their own behavior and its effects
on others
 self-monitoring

2. Adaptability
 adapt to different situations
 able to assess what is going to be
appropriate and effective in a given context
and then modify behavior accordingly
3. Empathy
ability to think and feel as others do
other oriented
understand other people’s thoughts and
feelings

4. Cognitive Complexity
ability to understand a given situation in
multiple ways
keeps you from jumping to the wrong
conclusion and responding inappropriately
5. Ethics
a code of morality or a set of ideas about
what is right
judging whether something is morally
right or wrong
Activity # 4
How would you describe your own level of
self-monitoring?
Where do your ideas about ethics come
from?