Components of Communication

All communication encounters have certain common elements that together help define the communication process. The better you understand these elements, the easier it will be for you to develop your own communication abilities.

PEOPLE

Senders and receivers are persons who give out and take in messages. It is important to understand that during communication the role of sender does not belong exclusively to one person and the role of receiver to another. Instead, the processes of sending and receiving are constantly being reversed; thus, when we communicate with one or more people, we simultaneously send and receive.

CODE

People have ideas or thoughts they wish to express, and they express them in the form of messages. How can our thoughts become messages? We use codes to share our ideas to others. A code is any systematic arrangement or comprehensive collection of symbols, letters, or words that have arbitrary meanings and are used for communication.

Verbal codes consist of words and their grammatical arrangement. All languages are verbal codes. The English symbols, letters, and words we use arbitrary.

Nonverbal codes consist of all symbols that are not words, including our bodily movements, our use of space and time, our clothing, and sounds other than words.

ENCODING AND DECODING

The process of communication may be viewed as one of encoding and decoding. Encoding is defined as the act of putting an idea or thought into a code. Decoding is assigning meaning to that idea or thought.

CONTEXT

Communication always takes place in some context, or setting. Sometimes a context is so natural that we hardly notice it. At other times, however, the context makes such an impression on us that it exerts considerable control over our behavior. Consider the extent to which your present environment influences the way you act toward others. Consider the extent to which certain environments might cause you to alter or modify your posture, manner of speaking, or attire. Take into account the fact that sometimes conditions of place and time - that is, context - can affect our communications without our consciously realizing it.

MESSAGES

During every interpersonal, small-group, or public communication encounter we all send and receive both verbal and nonverbal messages. What you talk about, the words you use to express your thoughts and feelings, the sounds you make, your posture and gestures, your facial expressions, and perhaps even your touch or your smell all communicate information. In effect, a message is the content of a communicative act. When you smile, frown, shout, whisper, or turn away, you are communicating, and your communication is having some effect.

CHANNELS

We send and receive messages with and through all our senses; equally, messages may be sent and received through both verbal and nonverbal channels. Thus in effect we are multichannel communicators. We receive sound messages (we hear noises from the street), sight messages (we see how someone looks), taste messages (we savor the flavor of a particular food), smell messages (we smell the cologne a friend is wearing), and touch messages (we feel the roughness of a fabric). Effective communicators are adept at switching channels. They recognize that communication is a multichannel experience.

NOISE

In the context of communication, noise is anything that interferes with or distorts our ability to send or receive messages. Thus, although we are accustomed to thinking of noise as some particular sound or group of sounds, the aware communicator realizes that noise can also be created by, for example, physical discomfort, psychological makeup, intellectual ability, or the environment. Thus noise includes distractions such as a loud siren, a disturbing odor, and a hot room as well as personal factors such as prejudices, daydreaming, and feelings of inadequacy.

FEEDBACK

Whenever we communicate, we also receive information in return. The verbal and nonverbal cues that we perceive in reaction to our communication function as feedback. A smile, a frown, a chuckle, a sarcastic remark, a muttered thought, or simply silence can cause us to change, modify, continue, or end a transaction. Feedback that encourages us to continue behaving as we are is positive feedback, and it enhances whatever behavior is in progress. In contrast, negative feedback serves to stop a behavior and serves a corrective rather than a reinforcing function.

Both positive and negative feedback can emanate from internal or external sources. Internal feedback is feedback you give yourself as you monitor your own behavior or performance during a transaction. External feedback is feedback from others who are involved in the communication event. To be an effective communicator, you must be sensitive to both types of feedback. You must pay attention to your own reactions and the reactions of others.

EFFECT

As people communicate, they are each changed in some way by the interaction, which in turn influences what follows. In other words, communication can be viewed as an exchange of influences. This means that communication always has some effect on you and on the person or people with whom you are interacting. An effect can be emotional, physical, cognitive, or any combination of the three. An interpersonal, small-group, or public communication contact can elicit feelings of joy, anger, or sadness (emotional); communication can cause you to fight, argue, become apathetic, or evade an issue (physical); or it can lead to new insights, increased knowledge, the formulation or reconsideration of opinions, silence, or confusion (cognitive).

2. Match the beginnings and endings of the following definitions:

1	A message is	A	words and their grammatical arrangement.
2	Feedback is	B	a set of conditions and circumstances that is relevant to an event of communication.
3	Positive feedback is	C	the content of a communicative act.
4	Negative feedback is	D	persons who give out and take in messages.
5	A context is	E	anything that interferes with or dis­torts our ability to send or receive messages.
6	Senders and receivers are	F	the act of putting an idea or thought into a code.
7	A code is	G	assigning meaning to that idea or thought.
8	Verbal codes consist of	H	any systematic arrangement or comprehensive collection of symbols, letters, or words that have arbitrary meanings and are used for communication.
9	Nonverbal codes consist of	I	feedback that serves to stop a behavior and serves a corrective rather than a reinforcing function.
10	Encoding is	J	all symbols that are not words, including our bodily movements, our use of space and time, our clothing, and sounds other than words.
11	Decoding is	K	a set of verbal and nonverbal cues that we perceive in reaction to our communication function.
12	Noise is	L	feedback that encourages us to continue behaving in the same manner.

3. Answer the questions to the text:

1. How do people share the roles of a sender and receiver in the process of communication?

2. By what means do people transform thoughts and ideas they want to express into messages?

3. What is a code?

4. What is the difference between verbal and non-verbal codes?

5. What is the difference between encoding and decoding?

6. Do people always realize the context they communicate in?

7. Does context always affect our communications?

8. What does the term “message” mean?

9. What things can communicate information?

10. What do we send and receive messages with and through?

11. What types of channels do we use in the process of communication?

12. Why is it important to understand that communication is a multichannel experience?

13. What does the notion of noise mean?

14. What can noise be created by?

15. What does the concept “feedback” imply?

16. What is the difference between positive and negative feedback?

17. What is the difference between internal and external feedback?

18. Why must an effective communicator be sensitive to all types of feedback?

19. What do we mean when we say that communication can be viewed as an exchange of influences?

20. What types of effect do you know?

21. What effect can communication produce on interacting people?

4. Explain whether the following sentences are true or false:

1. The better you understand the elements of communication, the easier it will be for you to develop your own communication abilities.

2. When we communicate with one or more people, we send and receive messages in turn.

3. A code is any systematic arrangement or comprehensive collection of symbols, letters, or words that have arbitrary meanings and are used for communication.

4. Encoding is the act of assigning meaning to an idea or thought received, whereas decoding is the act of putting an idea or thought into a code.

5. Sometimes conditions of place and time - that is, context - can affect our communications without our consciously realizing it.

6. People transform ideas or thoughts they wish to express into verbal messages.

7. A message is the context of a communicative act.

8. In the act of communication we all send and receive either verbal or nonverbal messages.

9. All of us are multichannel communicators.

10. Feedback that encourages us to continue behaving as we are is positive feedback. In contrast, negative feedback serves to stop a behavior and serves a corrective rather than a reinforcing function.

11. External feedback is feedback you give yourself as you monitor your own behavior or performance during a transaction. Internal feedback is feedback from others who are involved in the communication event.

12. Communication can be viewed as an exchange of influences. This means that communication always has some effect on you and on the person with whom you are interacting.

5. Read the following statements and say whether you support them or not. Give your arguments.

1. Individuals perform the roles of the sender and receiver of messages simultaneously and continually.

2. The code includes the words and phrases we use to communicate our ideas as well as our facial expressions, bodily movements, gestures, touch, tone of voice.

3. The message may be relatively brief and easy to understand, or it may be long and complex.

4. Some messages are intentional, while others are accidental.

5. If we are watching television or a movie, we rely on two channels of communication - audio and video ones. All forms of communication require two or more channels.

6. Feedback is part of any communication situation. Silence and hesitation on the telephone is feedback. Restive behavior and quizzical looks in the lecture hall are examples of feedback for a public speaker.

7. Imagine you need to find a restroom in an unfamiliar building. You say to a person passing quickly past, “Excuse me, can you…” But the person keeps on going without paying any attention to you. This is an example of positive verbal feedback.

8. Loud sounds, a bit of food on someone’s face, a person standing too close, daydreaming about a loved one, worry about the bills, pain from a tooth can be examples of noise.

6. The “Noise Noose”

In what ways might each of the following elements function as noise and thus choke off effective communication?

chewing gum	stomachache
black eye	sunglasses
cold, damp room	shyness
personal bias	television
inappropriate choice of words	a habit of not smiling

7. Compare and contrast the types of communication that would be most likely to occur in each of the following contexts. Include a description of the nature of each interaction, the probable attire of each interactant, and his or her demeanor.

first few minutes of a party	queue in a clinic
business meeting	political rally
your home at mealtime	football stadium

8. Inventory all types of channels that you’ve received messages through today. Describe the messages. Which channel are you most attuned to? Why? To what extent do you rely on one or more channels while excluding or disregarding others?

9. Arrange the following actions by the type of feedback they belong to:

a) positive verbal feedback;

b) positive non-verbal feedback;

c) negative verbal feedback;

d) negative non-verbal feedback.

A forward body lean, positive facial expression, “Of course”, frowns, movements away, smiling, “So what?”, laughing, decreased touching, “That’s interesting”, “I don’t see your point”, increased touching, general non-responsiveness, movement toward the other person, “That’s right”, “Let’s change the subject”, decreased eye contact, “I agree with you”, “That’s OK”, brevity, defensiveness, “It sounds good”, “I see what you mean”.

Describe situations that could serve as examples of communication with zero feedback.

10. Choose a partner and role-play one of the following situations:

- a conversation between two strangers waiting for a bus during a storm;

- quarrel between lovers;

- a controversy between a teacher and a student over a grade;

- a discussion between friends about the rising cost of tuition.

You may imagine any other situation that you like. After enacting your scene, describe all the components of communication in it, focusing on effect.

11. Draw or build something that represents your understanding of communication. You can focus on any or all of the components of the process. Your model can be lifelike or abstract. Be ready to present it to the class. Specifically, be sure to do the following:

1. Describe what your model suggests are the essential elements of the communication process (whether pictured or implied);

2. Explain what your model says about the communication process;

3. Develop a saying or epigram that sums up your perception of the state of being a participant in communication;

4. Prove that your model of communication is an advantageous one.

1. Read the text and explain why communication is important for any business.