INTRODUCTION TO

COMMUNICATION
M.MOJI
OBJECTIVES OF THE LECTURE
• Definition of communication
• Purpose of communication
• Types of communication
• Models of Communication
• The communication process
• Elements of the C. Process
TRUE OR FALSE
Respond to each statement by responding T/F.
1.We communicate only when we want to communicate.
2.Words mean the same thing to both speaker and listener.
3. We communicate only with words.
4.We believe what a person says, by how s/he says it .
5.Communication is a one –way flow of information from the
speaker to the listener
• Define communication in your own words

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Introduction to Communication
 The term communication originated from a Latin word
‘communicare’, whose equivalent meanings in the English
language include:
• to reveal
• to impart
• to transmit
• to convey
• to share”,etc
Communication Defined

• Communication is the process of sharing information using a

set of common rules (Northouse and Northouse, 1997)
• Human communication refers to interactions between people,
and involves use of symbols and language some of which may
be representational (ibid)
Factors to be transmitted:
Information and / or ideas
Knowledge
Affection
Attitude

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Cultural / Social background, etc.
• Communication can, thus, be defined, as the process by which
information is shared / transferred between a source and a
receiver through verbal and non-verbal means (messages)

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• Communication is also cyclical and dynamic—i.e., it is a two-
way process involving relaying information from a sender ( or
encoder ) to a receiver who in turn must internalize and react
to it (decoding).

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• Communication is the transfer of information from a sender to
a receiver with the information being understood by the
receiver.

• Communication is a transaction-people construct meanings

together
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Communication must be HOT!

Honest
Open
Two-way
‘ Dan Oswald’

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Purpose of Communication
• Information dissemination: Information is key to progress in
any society.

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• Regular exposure to information over a period of time

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generates awareness on a given issue, problem or matter of
concern

• Education and Training: Communication results in sharing of

information, which in turn makes people knowledgeable and
thus productive members of the society.

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Purpose Cont…
• Socialization : For the well being of the society, nation and
culture, it is crucial that we are exposed to different view

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points so that we understand and appreciate the need for
plurality of ideas and diversity of views.

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Purpose Cont…
• Entertainment : To break the monotony of human life, we
need to be exposed to art, literature, music, films, dance,

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drama, sports and other modes of entertainment.
• Communication provides us with this necessary diversion.
• Thus entertainment is an equally important function of

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communication

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Purpose Cont…
• Motivation: A motivated individual plays a useful and active
role in a society.

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• Sharing success stories of those who have overcome the odds
in life and have been able to achieve their goals can do this.
• This function of communication, although relevant in all walks

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of life is more pronounced in business and industry where
communication is being increasingly used as a tool for
motivation.

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Functions Cont…
• Persuasion: Yet another important function of communication
is to persuade. This may be to influence us towards a new

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idea, technique or a product and also to persuade us to buy
these products.

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Functions Cont…
• Preservation of culture: Communication helps to preserve the
culture and heritage of a nation and society.

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• The transmission of values from one generation to another
has been taking place orally as well as through written texts,
over the ages.

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Why study business communication?
• Your career depends on effective communication.

• To succeed in Buss. today you need the ability to communicate

with people both inside and outside your organisation.

• Whether you are competing to get the job you want or to win
customers your company needs, your success or failure
depends to a large degree on your ability to communicate
• To some extent, all species can communicate. for example…

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TYPES/LEVELS OF
COMMUNICATION
• Intrapersonal Communication
The word 'intra' denotes 'within'. When we communicate within

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ourselves, it is intrapersonal communication. This can take the
form of thinking, analyzing, dreaming or introspecting. Day
dreaming, self-talk and memories are all facets of intrapersonal

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communication

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Interpersonal Communication

• When two persons communicate with each other, the

communication is interpersonal.

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• In interpersonal communication, the roles of the sender and
receiver become interchangeable.
• Feedback is immediate. It allows you to clarify your views,

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persuade or motivate another person more effectively than
any other mode of communication.

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Group Communication

• When people communicate in group situations, this is known

as group communication.

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• This is an extension of interpersonal communication where
more than two individuals are involved in the process of
communication.

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• The groups can be both formal as well as informal depending
on the type and objectives of communication but generally
they have common interests and goals.

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Mass Communication

• The communicator is separated from the audience in terms of

time and place.

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• Communication takes place simultaneously with the help of an
electronic device, in which an institution is involved.
• These electronic devices are known as mass media such as

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print, radio, television, the Internet, etc.
• The audience is 'mass' i.e. it has a heterogeneous profile, are
unknown to each other and located in widespread locations.
• Feedback in mass communication is considered to be weak
and delayed as compared to group and interpersonal
communication.
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MODELS OF
COMMUNICATION
• No single theory or model has found a general acceptance.
• A model is a graphic representation designed to explain the

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way a variable works.

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LINEAR MODEL’S OF COMMUNICATION

Linear model of communication is a simple one way

communication model. The message flows in a straight line

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from the sender to the receiver.
• There is no concept of feedback. The only task that a receiver
does is to receive the message.

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• Different models that follow the linear model of
communication include:
• Lasswell’s model
• Aristotle’s model
• Shannon Weaver model
• Berlo’s S-M-C-R model
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Lasswell Model (1948)
• One of the early models of communication was developed by
the political scientist Harold D. Lasswell who looked at

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communication in the form of a question:
• Who
• Says What

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• In Which Channel
• To Whom
• With What Effect

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• 'Who' raises the question of identification of the
source/sender of the message.

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• 'Says what ' is the subject of analysis/content of the message.
• Channel is the medium/media through which the message has

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travelled.
• 'To whom’ deals with the characteristics of the receiver/
audience
• 'what effect' can be seen as evaluation of the effect of the
message/the feedback of the receiver to the sender

• It was considered an oversimplified model which implied the

presence of a communicator and a purposive message. 25
Shannon and Weaver Model (1949):
• This model of Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver has been
considered as one of the most important models of

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communication and it has led to the development of many
other models.
• It is referred to as the transmission model of communication

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as it involves signal transmission for communication.

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• In this model, the information source produces a message to be
communicated out of a set of possible messages.

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• The message may consist of spoken or written word. The
transmitter converts the message into a signal suitable for the
channel to be used.

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• The channel is the medium that transmits the signal from the
transmitter to the receiver.
• The receiver performs the inverse operation of the transmitter by
reconstructing the message from the signal. The destination is the
person or thing for whom/which the message is intended.
• This model introduced the concepts like 'noise' i.e. disturbances or
errors in transmission, problems in accepting the signal (message),
etc. 28
• This model did not take the element of feedback into account.
TRANSACTIONAL MODEL’S OF
COMMUNICATION
• In TM, senders and receivers both are known as
communicators and both play equally important roles in the

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communication.
• Non-verbal feedback i.e gestures, body language etc is also
considered as feedback.

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• Different models that follow the transactional model of
communication include:
• Barnlund’s TM
• Helical model
• Becker’s Mosaic model

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Interactive Model’s of Communication
• People can exchange their views and ideas
Different models that follow the interactive model of

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communication include:
• Schramm Model (1954):

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Schramm Model (1954):
• His first model has a lot of similarity with Shannon and Weaver
Model

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• In the second model, Schramm visualized the process of
communication as a process of sharing of experience and

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commonality of experience of those communicating.
• It introduced the concept of shared orientation between
sender and receiver.

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• The circles in this model indicate the accumulated experience
of two individuals engaged in communication. The source can
encode and the destination can decode in terms of the
experience

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• The source can encode and the destination can decode in

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terms of the experience/s each has had
• Communication becomes easy as both the participants have a

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common field of experience. If the circles do not meet there is
an absence of such common experience which makes the
process of communication difficult.

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Charles Osgood's Model (1954)

• Osgood in his model showed communication, as a dynamic

process in which there is an interactive relationship between

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the source and the receiver of the message (M).
• An individual engaged in the communication process sends as
well as receives messages and as such encodes, decodes and

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interprets messages through a number of feedback
mechanisms.

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• Osgood stressed the social nature of communication. This
model was found more applicable in interpersonal

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communication in which the source and receiver were
physically present.

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COMMUNICATION PROCESS
• We have used some terms such as sender, message, channel,
receiver, noise and feedback. These are known as Elements of

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Communication that makes it a continuous process.

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Encoding
• When you put your idea into a message (words, images, or a
combination of both)that your receiver will understand, you

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are encoding it.
• A process of translating ideas, feelings and thoughts into
symbols

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Sender:
• The sender is the source of information that has to be
imparted.

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• The sender has to decide how to communicate a message,
which channel is to be selected for the message so that the
message makes the desired response.

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• Encoding-when you put your idea into a message (words,
images, or a combination of both)that your receiver will
understand, you are encoding it.

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Message:
• Message is a set of signs and symbols which are sent by the
sender to the receiver.

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• Message is the content which is shared between the
participants in the communication process.
• To make the message effective, the sender has to understand

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the nature and profile of the receiver of the message, his/her
needs and expectations and possible response to the
message. This is important in both face-to-face as well as
mediated situations.

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Channel:
• Channel is the medium used to communicate a message from
the sender to receiver. The channel could be:

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• spoken word
• printed (letters, road sign,email etc)

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• electronic media (radio etc)
• non-verbal cues such as signs, gestures, body language, facial
expressions, etc.
• The selection of an appropriate channel is crucial for the
success of communication.

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Decoding
• the process of extracting the idea from the message is known
as decoding

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• A process of translating incoming information into
understandable concepts

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Receiver:

• Intended recipient of the message

• Is the person who gets the message after decoding

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Noise:
• Noise is the disruptions that are caused in the communication
process.

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• Noise could be due to internal as well as external sources.
Noise creates barriers in communication and it could be of
many types.

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Feedback:
• The response given by the receiver to the message of the
sender is known as feedback.

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• Receiver’s can decipher the facial expressions, body
movements and cross question each other to remove their
doubts/queries.

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• Feedback may be verbal(through words) or non verbal(sighs,
smiles etc.)or it may take the written form i.e. memos, reports
etc

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Activity

• Construct a simple model of communication based on a

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conversation you have had with your friend on a classroom
lecture. Bring out the different elements and discuss the role
each element plays during the conversation.

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