Chapter 1:

The Process of
Business
Communication
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

1 Acquire superior knowledge about the meaning of business

communication;

2 Internalize the power of communication, the principles of

communication, and advantages of printed communication;

3 Decode the meaning inherent in metacommunication and in kinesic

communication;

4 Translate into practice the purposes of communication and achieve the

goals of communication at work; and

5 Value the importance of effective business communication.

 The Power of
Communication
What does communication mean?
Is it something innate to every human being?
If then, what is it, and how does it work in our
society?

There are some concepts that will demonstrate

the power of communication and how does it
impact different fields and institutions.
A. Creation of Things
Through brief utterances God had created
marvellous things including man in the following
order (Gen. 1:1 – 29): day and night, the sky, the
earth and the sea, plants, sun, moon and stars,
birds, fishes, all kinds of animals, and man.
These items are unquestionably the sources of
all items of trade and undeniably the subjects of
all business transactions among persons in the
global market.

Biblically, everything is created by the Almighty including us humans with unique ability to
think, listen, speak, and therefore communicate. Can you imagine a world without
communication? How will business transactions work without letters, memos, meetings, and
the like? The world is beautiful but it would be empty and voiceless without humans
communication with one another.
B. Attainment of Global
Peace

The meeting of all delegates of fifty allied nations on 25 th of April 1945 in San Francisco
persuaded powerful nations like United States, Great Britain, the United Soviet Socialist
Republic, and China to agree on a proposal for a new international body known as the United
Nations. The adoption of a new charter for the United Nations convinced all peace-loving
states to become members.

Through this, World War II finally came to end. Also, the body had created peacekeeping
institutions, the International Monetary Fund to promote international monetary cooperation,
and the International Court of Justice to adjudicate disputes between nations according to
international law.
 C. Business Communication
The Metrobank’s jingle, philosophy or mission-vision “YOU’RE IN GOOD HANDS
WITH METROBANK” and its annual reports manifest the strength of the
institution. Its reports also contain vital information that convinces people to
incessantly patronize the products and services of the bank. Over the years,
Metrobank maintains its rank as the undefeated financial institution of the
Philippines.
 
Other countless highly performing institutions inform the public and their
stakeholders their truthful company image through various media of information.
Such disseminated facts when felt doubtless may serve as bases of customers in
patronizing the products and services of such institutions.
How does communication help attain both local and global
peace?

Why is communication regarded

as a tool to effective business transactions?

Based on the above concepts, communication

clearly stage itself as a highly valuable tool to attain
global understanding and linking countries across the
world, and even establishing efficient institutions.

The attainment of global peace is the product of how

powerful and convincing every word is. When there
are consistent and genuine utterances of words, it is
no doubt that peace could last long. This is how the
power of utilizing communication play not only in our
locality, but in the entire masses of the world.
 What is Business?
Business is an occupation, a
profession, a trade, a commercial
enterprise, a commercial pursuit or
employment. Business is an interest
regularly pursued for pecuniary gain or
to secure a livelihood. It shall provide
goods or services that satisfy the
consumers, clients, customers,
passengers, depositors, patrons, or
buyers.
What is Communication?
Many would say that communication is all about talking or speaking. If this is your answer, you are
partly right and wrong. How about talking to your classmates, siblings, parents, or other people without
expecting responses? In this case, you are limiting the scope of communication to only speaking.
Communication is not just about speaking, nor a simple transfer of messages to one person or another. It
involves the speaker sharing ideas, concepts, and information to its receiver (listener). This is
Communication.

Communication
The word communication comes
from the Latin word communico
which means “I share.” It is a
variety of behaviors, processes
and technologies by which
meaning is transmitted or derived
from the information. (Academic
American Encyclopaedia, Vol. 5)
According to Sigband in 1984,
communication is a complex
process often involving
reading, writing, speaking
and listening. It is a process
by which information is
conveyed from the source to
the receiver.
A communication though letters is
known as correspondence.
In the Holy scriptures, the letters
written by the apostles are called
epistles.
Letter is a direct written message that
is usually sent at some distance from
one person to another or even to a
group of persons or organization.
 
Communication (Collier’s
Encyclopaedia, Vol. 7) is the
transfer of information from
person to person, creature to
creature, or point to point.
Hence, communication is a
complex process of
purposeful interchange of
information in any decodable
manner between parties.
What is Business Communication?
 BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

How does it differ or structured similarly to

communication?

Business Communication (Feinberg, 1982) is a process of

imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions or information
by speech, writing or sign of for the business of living, learning
or earning a living.

Business Communication is a complex process of

information exchange involving ideas, situations, feelings,
functions, resources, products, and services for the satisfaction
of the parties concerned.
SPEAKER
 SPEAKER

The speaker is the source of information or message. He/she

formulate the message according to his/her preference, chooses
his/her purposes, chooses the mode or channel of communication,
and decides as to how he/she is going to deliver his/her message.
Anyone could be the speaker in selected situation. Example in a
group discussion where the students will discuss their reports, anyone
on the group could be the speaker based on their turn to speak. We
can all be the speaker, but not all at the same time. We listen when
someone is speaking, and we speak when we want or if it is required
or necessary.
MESSAGE
 MESSAGE

What is a message?
Is it what we received through email, announcement or speech?

Message in communication needed to be delivered or imparted to the listeners.

It is considered as the central point in the process of communication because it
directly connects the speaker from the receiver. The message to be sent by the
speaker relies on his/her preference – whether to inform, persuade, to
entertain or etc. Message is the content of communication process. This is the
starting point of receiving and giving of feedbacks of the speaker and the
receiver, or simply the cue that both the source and the receiver mutually
understand the focus of communication.
LISTENER
 LISTENER
How does one listen? Is listening simply receiving the information given by the source?

The common definition of listener is one who receives the message. It has been said even
how or great is the speaker and even how beautiful the content of his message, if there is
no listener, or if the listener is not paying attention to the speaker, then communication will
fail and will not meet its objective. Listening is decoding or extracting meaning from the
message delivered by the speaker. It is the listener who gives life to the message of the
speaker. In what way? – by clapping, nodding the head, replying, asking, following the
speaker, falling asleep, or walking out. Communication is an interaction between the
speaker and the listener. It is a divided process where both the involved persons share the
same importance. Imagine how would you feel when you want to tell your husband that
you are pregnant but you found out that he is not around? Even more worse is your
parents are present but for some unexplained reason they didn’t pay attention to what are
you saying.
CHANNELS
 CHANNELS
What are the ways to send and receive messages? The ears, eyes, skin, mouth,
and nose are the only five channels where a message can be sent and received.
This is because messages are first received through the ears by hearing and or
listening, facial expressions and gestures are directly received by our eyes through
seeing. The main pathways of sending a message are through the mouth, skin,
and nose. They are also said to be crucial in the process of imparting and
receiving messages. Imagine trying to comfort a friend whose father had just
passed away. Incapable of saying the correct words to ease the pain, an arm
around their shoulder or an embrace will “say” the message.

The letters carry, relay stations or transmitters are some common channels.
RESPONSE
 RESPONSE

How do we know if our listeners are really listening? Is looking at the

speaker an indication of listening? Response is the only way to know if the
message from the speaker has been transmitted or received by the
listener. The listener’s response or reaction is based on what he understood
or interpreted from the speaker’s message. The interpretation of the
listener may vary- it is either positive or negative depending on how he/she
will react on it. Example: A mother asking her daughter to do the laundry.
A minute after, the daughter did the laundry. This means that the listener
interpreted the message correctly and positively. In contrary if the
daughter did not respond to her mother, it only means that the listener
interpreted the message negatively.
FEEDBACK
 FEEDBACK

How do we handle or monitor the listener’s response? Is it the

speaker’s responsibility to clarify what has been misinterpreted
by the listener? The answer is- yes. Feedback is the way the
speaker monitor the listener’s response. As mention on the
previous paragraphs, the listener may respond to the message,
positively or negatively. The Speaker’s responsibility is to watch
out the response and or reaction of the listener. This is to
monitor whether the message is interpreted positively or
negatively. Through monitoring the response, the speaker will
be aware of his next message.
BARRIERS
 BARRIERS
Is the message always imparted successfully to the listener? What do we considered as
barriers to communication?

The following are the types of noise:

 
a. Physical Noise. This is an actual noise such as loud music or irritating engine of an
airplane or motorcycle. A friend talking to you while your teacher is discussing is
considered “noise” because it prevents and disturb you from listening.
b. Physiological. Imagine having a severe headache while your teacher is discussing.
Do you think you can listen effectively? Physiological noise is when our body becomes
or considered as hindrance to effective communication.
c. Psychological. Imagine your friend whose father just passed away. Do you think he
can listen effectively during class discussion? Psychological noise happens when one is
suffering from an emotional condition (sadness, depression, confusion) or when one
is thinking deeply about something. These factors discourage someone to participate
effectively in communication
 
The Process of Communication

Message Listener

Speaker Channels

Feedback Response
  
Models of
communication
 
Models of communication

are conceptual models used to explain the

communication process- human
communication process. These models
show how a simple message transmitted to
the receiver and the different channels of
communication as well as its barriers.
 Aristotle Model of Communication
It was Aristotle who first proposed and wrote about a unique model of
communication and even put up an academy to produce good speakers. Today,
his model is referred to as the Aristotle Model of communication. The great
philosopher Aristotle already created this linear model before 300 BC, placing
more emphasis on public speaking than on interpersonal communication. The
simple model presented in a diagram and is still widely used in preparing
seminars, lectures and speeches today.
   
Aristotle’s model can roughly be divided into five elements. The speaker is the
most important element, making this model as speaker-oriented model. It is the
speaker’s task to give a speech to the public. The role of the audience is passive
(receiving). This makes the Aristotle Model of Communication a one-way model, from
speaker
 
to receiver.
 
SPEAKER SPEECH AUDIENCE EFFECT
 
 

‘noise’, feedback, and response are not present because it only

focuses to the speaker
 Shannon and Weaver Model of Communication
This has been called the “mother of all models.” Social
Scientists use the term to refer to an integrated model of
the concepts of information source, message,
transmitted, signal, channel, noise, receiver, information
destination, probability of error, encoding, decoding,
information rate, channel capacity, etc. This second
model of communication gave us the concept of “noise”.

The Shannon-Weaver model (1949) depicts communication as a linear or one-way process

consisting of five elements: a source (producer of message); a transmitter (encoder of
message into signals); a channel (signals adapted for transmission); a receiver (decoder of
message from the signal); and a destination. This model, however, has been criticized for
missing one essential element in the communication process: feedback. Without feedback, the
speaker will not know whether the receiver understands the message or not.
 
 
Shannon –Weaver model is also often called as the Telephone Model because it is based
on the experience of having the message interfered with by “noise” from the telephone
switchboard back in the 1940’s. This model asserts that the message sent by the speaker is not
necessarily the message received by the listener. This is the result of noise interfering the
process of communication.
Goals of Communication
 
These goals of communication address the end that message sender wants to achieve:
 
1. To seek understanding. Of course, the message should be fully understood by the
receiver. The idea in the mind of the sender should correspond to the idea formed in the
mind of the message receiver. Any incongruence in the interpretation of the message
between the sender and the receiver results to miscommunication.
2. To elicit response. It is not enough that the receiver understands the message, the most
important action is undertaken for the message.
3. To establish good will. You create good relations with other individuals in organizations.
This tends to build mutual agreement, respect, cooperation and collaboration not only at
present but also for future undertakings
Advantages of Printed Communication
 
It is true that communication may be in oral form but the following lines teach us the
value of writing or printing out messages.
 
1. Written materials may reach many people, busy or idle, able or handicapped, rich or
poor in different places both international and local even in the remotest barangay.
2. Printed materials provide lasting impact. These may serve as references, evidences,
archival collections for future use. Written materials also chronicle transactions made
between business organizations.
3. Written materials are ensured of their confidentiality if only handled by trusted
courier. Messages transmitted through bilabial process are surely made known to the
channel and this transmission is applicable only to open messages.
4. Written materials do not reveal the speech defect or hearing disability of the message
sender as well as the same incapability on the part of the addressee.