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©2007 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 1

The basics

©2007 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin
 What Is Communication?
 Communication
◦ Creating message meaning within a person and exchanging meaning
between people

◊ Continuous process
- Various contexts,
- Cultural symbols
- Spoken, nonverbal, and visual symbols

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Skills for 21st-Century Business

Twenty-first-century business communicators

need multiple communication skills.
© Jon Feingersh/CORBIS

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 Skills for 21st-Century Business
1.  Intrapersonal or internal communication
◦ internal processing of messages

 Listening
◦ active mental and cognitive process of attending to
and interpreting sounds

 Reading
◦ intrapersonal process of attending to and
interpreting written language

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Skills for 21st-Century Business
FIGURE 1.1 Intrapersonal Communication

© C. Borland/
PhotoLink/ Getty
Images

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 Skills for 21st-Century Business
2.  Business communication
◦ design and exchange of messages between and
among members to accomplish organizational
goals

3.  Interpersonal or external communication

◦ interaction between at least two people who co-
create a relationship

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 Skills for 21st-Century Business
4.  Small-group communication
◦ two or more people who join together to accomplish
specific goals

5.  Verbal communication
◦ use of both spoken and written language to
accomplish message goals

6.  Public communication
◦ public speaking or lectures presented to a group
audience
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 Basic Communication Principles
• Communication Is a Process

• Communication Is Contextual

• Communication Is Continuous
 Nonverbal communication
◦ body movements such as gestures, facial
expressions, and vocal sounds that do not use
words

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 Basic Communication Principles
FIGURE 1.2 Intrapersonal Communication Is Continuous

© C. Borland/ PhotoLink/ Getty Images

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 Basic Communication Principles
• Communication Coordinates Our
Relationships

• Communication Is Symbolic

 Symbol
◦ type of sign that has no natural connection to the
idea, word, or object it represents

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 Basic Communication Principles
FIGURE 1.3 Common Visual Symbols

© Royalty-Free/ CORBIS;

© Photodisc Collection/
GettyImages; © S. Meltzer/ PhotoLink/
GettyImages;

© LawrenceLawry/ Getty
Images; © Royalty-Free/CORBIS

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 Basic Communication Principles
• Communication Is Culturally Linked

 Culture
◦ socially constructed way of thinking and behaving
in the world

 Intercultural communication
◦ interactions between people from different cultural
groups

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 Basic Communication Principles
• Communication Is Collaborative
 Collaborative writing
 Collaborative decision making & problem solving
 Collaborative presentations

• Communication Is Ethical
 Ethics
◦ principles that guide appropriate conduct

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How Does Communication Work?
FIGURE 1.4 Interactive Model of Communication

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 How Does Communication Work?
• Is High Fidelity Hard to Achieve?

 High fidelity
◦ achievement of mutual understanding, which is the
ideal communication experience

 Noise
◦ interference that interrupts or affects the exchange
of messages

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How Does Communication Work?
FIGURE 1.5 Noise

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 How Does Communication Work?
• Components of the Communication
Process
1. Ideas and encoding

 Ideas
◦ generated at the point of perception, when
information from the environment or from inside
your mind stimulates and arouses your attention

 Encoding
◦ transformation of ideas into symbols to design
communication messages
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 How Does Communication Work?
• Components of the Communication
Process (continued)
2. Communication source and receiver

 Source
◦ originator and transmitter of the message

 Receiver
◦ recipient of the message, or the destination point

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 How Does Communication Work?
• Components of the Communication
Process (continued)
3.  Messages
◦ ideas encoded and designed into one or more
symbols to communicate meaning

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 How Does Communication Work?
• Components of the Communication
Process (continued)
4. Communication channels
 Channel
◦ medium that carries messages within and between people

 Human channels
◦ thoughts, verbal communication (speech and writing),
nonverbal behaviors (body movements and vocal sounds),
sound, sight, and smell

 Technological channels
◦ radio, TV, telephone, fax, video, e-mail, and hand-held
devices

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 How Does Communication Work?
• Components of the Communication
Process (continued)
5. Decoding
 Decode
◦ perceive, translate, and interpret information
received in a message

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 How Does Communication Work?
• Components of the Communication
Process (continued)
6. Message feedback
 Feedback
◦ special type of message designed as a response to
a received message

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 Communicating Intrapersonally
• Encoding and Decoding Messages
Intrapersonally

 Selectivity

◦ choosing certain information to focus on

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 Communicating Intrapersonally
• The Meaning of Symbols

 Intrapersonal factors

 Interpersonal factors

 Contextual factors

 Social factors

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 Communicating Intrapersonally
• Sending Ourselves Messages

 Self-talk

 Mental imagery

 Nonverbal behaviors

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 The Intrapersonal and Business
Communication Connection
• Designing Business Communication

 Communication designer

◦ someone who skillfully plans and designs effective

business messages

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 The Intrapersonal and Business
Communication Connection
• What Is a Communication Design Strategy?

 Design strategy
◦ set of techniques that enable a business
communicator to design messages more effectively
and accomplish communication goals

 Predesigned strategies

 Integrated and situational strategies

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Questions

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