DEFINITIONS OF COMMUNICATION
Communication is a complex process through which we express, interpret, and coordinate
messages with others. We do so to create shared meaning, to meet social goals, to manage
personal identity, and to carry out our relationships. At its core, then, communication is about
messages. (Verderber, R. et al.)
Communication starts relationships. Every time you communicate to another person, you share
yourself to that person. This sharing of information would eventually result to interpersonal
connections. This is when you form relationships.
Communication is the way interpersonal connections are created, enhanced, maintained, and
destroyed.” Communication connects people. The old adage “No man is an island.” – speaks so
much of how communication bonds people together and thus, creates a society of mutual
understanding. (Joesting 1998)
Communication is a transaction in which the participants are mutually engaged in the process of
creating meaning. It is defined as the two-way process of exchanging of information, ideas ,
thoughts and feelings. (Comeaux 1996)
Communication is the transmission of messages via verbal and non-verbal cues. It also
involves creating and sharing of meaning through the use of mutually understood signs. (Ang
2004)
According to Bizell (1989), effective communication is context dependent. As Halliday (1978)
puts it, communication is more than just an exchange of information and ideas but more so it
creates social reality
The communication context is made up of the physical, social, historical, psychological, and
cultural situations that surround a communication event.
The physical situation includes the location, the environmental conditions (temperature,
lighting, noise level). The physical situation may also be virtual as we interact with others via
social media on our computers, tablets, and smart phones. It can influence how we interpret the
messages we send and receive.
The social situation is the nature of the relationship that already exists between the participants.
The better you know someone and the better relationship you have with them, the more likely
you are to accurately interpret their message and to give them the benefit of the doubt when a
message seems negative.
The historical situation is the background provided by previous communication between the
participants. For instance, suppose Che texts Ann to tell her she will pick up the draft of the term
paper they had left for their teacher. When Ann sees Che at lunch that day, she says, “Did you get
it?” Another person listening to the conversation would have no idea what the “it” is to which
Ann is referring. Yet Che may well reply, “It’s in my bag.” Ann and Che understand one another
because of their earlier exchange.
Effective communication involves stages or levels which are cyclical. It has to begin with a step
then progresses to another step. Each of the stages in the communication plays a significant role
in the over-all success of the communication. The term process suggests that it involves certain
steps, procedures or levels.
Nordquist (2018) INGREDIENTS/ELEMENTS/COMPONENTS which make up a
communication process are:
1. Sender/Encoder. The communication process begins with the s ender, who is called the
communicator or source. The sender has some kind of information – a command,
request, or idea – that he or she wants to share with others. In order for that message to
be received, the sender must first encode the message in a form that can be understood
and then transmit it.
2. Message. The message or content is the information that the sender wants to relay to the
receiver. It is relayed between the parties. Put all three together and you have the
communication process as its most basic.
3. Medium/Channel. It is the means by which a message is transmitted. Text messages, for
example, are transmitted through the medium of cell phones.
4. Receiver/Decoder. The person to who a message is directed is called the receiver or the
interpreter. In order to comprehend the information from the sender, the receiver must
first be able to receive the sender’s information and then decode or interpret it.
5. Feedback. The communication process reaches its final point when the message has been
successfully transmitted, received, and understood.
The receiver, in turn, responds to the sender, indicating comprehension. Feedback may be
direct, such as a written or verbal response, or it may take the form of an act or deed in
response.
The communication process is not always simple or smooth, of course. Two other
elements may affect how the message is transmitted, received, and interpreted.:
6. Noise. The can be any sort of interference that affects the message being sent, received,
or understood. It can be as literal as static over a phone line or esoteric as misinterpreting
a local custom.
7. Context. This is the setting and situation in which communication takes place. Like
noise, context can have an impact on the successful exchange of information. It may have
a physical, social, or cultural aspect to it. This context will be further discussed in
Principles of Communication on p. 7.
THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS
Sender Messages Transmissions Recipient Receiver
(ideas) (encodes) (signals) (decodes) (meaning)
Feedback
Figure 1
Communication Model
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Since communication is a two-way process, it is important that you know the principles
to be observed to make it effective. For both oral and written communication, you should
be able to apply the following principles:
1. Know your purpose in communicating. Are you communicating basically to inform,
to entertain, or to persuade? While you may have more one purpose, there is still a
more dominant objective or reason why you communicate.
2. Know your audience. In both speaking and writing, you should know your audience
as it will dictate the speaking or writing style are you going to employ. Consider the
age, educational background, profession, culture, and other salient features of your
listeners or readers.
3. Know your topic. You communicate essentially because you want to share something.
In speaking situation, speakers are invited because they have something to share. This
also applies to writing. You write because you wish that other people learn from you.
You may then utilize several or multiple communication techniques to easily catch the
attention of the audience.
4. Adjust your speech or writing to the context of the situation. The environment in
which your speech or writing is to be delivered determines the kind of language you
will use.
5. Work on the feedback given you. Once you receive comments from the
listeners/readers, work on them. Take kindly to criticisms. In the long run,
constructive criticisms will prove beneficial to you as you learn to address them.
PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE ORAL COMMUNICATION
1. Be clear with your purpose. You should know by heart your objective in
communicating.
2. Be complete with the message you deliver. Make sure that your claims are supported
by facts and essential information.
3. Be concise. You do not need to be verbose or wordy with your statements. Brevity is
a must.
4. Be natural with your delivery. Punctuate important words with the appropriate
gestures and movements. Exude a certain degree of confidence even if you not feel
confident enough.
5. Be specific with your feedback.
PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE WRITTEN COMMUNICATION: THE 7Cs
1. Be clear. Be clear about your message. Always be guided by your purpose in
communicating.
2. Be concise. Always stick to the point and do not beat or run around the bush. Be brief
by focusing on your main point.
3. Be concrete. Support your claims with enough facts. Your readers will easily know if
you are bluffing or deceiving them because there is nothing to substantiate your
claims.
4. Be correct. It is important that you observe grammatical correctness in your writing.
Always have time to revise and edit your work. Even simple spelling errors may
easily distract your readers.
5. Be coherent. Your writing becomes coherent only when you convey a logical
message. The ideas should be connected to each other and related to the topic. Make
sure that you observe a sound structure that will present a smooth flow of your ideas.
Use transitional or cohesive devices so that the ideas cohere with one another.
6. Be complete. Include all necessary and relevant information so that the audience will
not be left wanting of any information. Always place yourself in the shoes of the
audience, who is always interested to receive new information.
7. Be courteous. The tone of your writing should be friendly. Avoid any
overtone/undertone or insinuation to eliminate confusion and misinterpretation.
COMMUNICATION MODELS
Why it is important that you know the communication models? You will realize
their importance because they will help you understand how a communication process
works. It is only by knowing the flow of communication that you will be able to make the
communication process effective.
A model is often abstract. It is representation of a real world phenomenon applied
to different forms. The interplay of variables in the model is represented graphically. Try
to assess later what comprises the communication models and what variables are
common to each of them.
There are many conceptual models for human communication but in this lesson,
you will be exposed to only four: (1) Aristotle’s model; (2) Laswell’s model; (3)
Shannon-Weaver’s model; and David Berlo’s model of communication.
ARISTOTLE’S COMMUNICATION MODEL
Aristole emphasized that there are three variables in the communication process:
speaker, speech, and audience as illustrated in the communication floe below:
Speaker Speech Audience
Note that the speaker variable here is very important. Without the speaker, there
will no speech to be produced. Depending on the profile of the audience, the speaker
adjusts his/her speech. Some considerations for the audience demographics are age; sex;
background, culture, race, religion, gender, social and economic status, and political
orientation or inclination, among others. Even beliefs, views, and attitudes also play an
important role when talking about audience consideration since oftentimes, the audience
bring these with them when they decode a message in any given situation.
LASWELL’S COMMUNICATION MODEL
In 1948, Harold Dwight Laswell described communication as being focused on
the following: Ws: Who says What in Which channel to Whom and with What effect as
seen in the model below:
Who Says what In which To whom With what
channel effect
Communicator Message Medium Receiver Effect
While this model is similar to Aristotle’s in the sense that both are linear and have
the same components. Laswell’s also differs in that there are five variables involved, with
the addition of two medium and effect.
SHANNON-WEAVER’S COMMUNICATION MODEL
Sender Encoder Channel Decoder Receiver
Noise
Feedback
DAVID BERLO’S COMMUNICATION MODEL
David Berlo’s model conceptualized in 1960 is probably the most well-known
among the communication models. Initially, Berlo’s model was called SMCR which
stands for sender of the message, sent through a channel or medium to a receiver.
However, it was modified later on to include noise, hence the acronym SMCRN.
ENCODES DECODES
Source Message Channel Receiver
Communication Content Hearing Communication
Skills Elements Seeing Skills
Attitudes Treatment Touching Attitudes
Knowledge Structure Smelling Knowledge
Social System Code Tasting Social System
Culture Culture
The major variables involved in the communication process are (1) source, (2)
message, (3) channel, and (4) receiver.
