COMMUNICATION THEORY

COMMUNICATION

Communication: Process of sending and receiving messages

Nonverbal - communicating without the use of words

Kinesics: body language

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

(TOTAL OF 9) Vocalization: sighs, groans, laughs

Eye Contact

CONTINUE NON-VERBAL

Touch

Proxemics (management of space)

Humans are territorial like animals

How do you react when someone is a

Close talker?

CONTINUE NON-VERBAL

Dance

Signs

Sign Language

CONTINUE NON-VERBAL

Visual Art Forms

Edvard Munch’s The Scream

CONTINUE NON-VERBAL

Time

In American culture, time is a commodity and is equated with attention and worthiness

Example: By showing up late, you are communicating, “You are not worth my time.”

COMMUNICATION: VERBAL

Verbal: communication through the use of words and includes paralanguage.

Paralanguage: The way we say our own words (volume, stress, pitch…)

Process of Symbolic Speech The Process of Symbolic Speech is a bridge between

the speaker and listener where private ideas are made public.

Communication is successful when the listener hears the same message the speaker sends.

Communication breaks down if the decoded (heard) message is different from the encoded (spoken) message.

MESSAGE MODEL DIAGRAM

Sender (initiates) Receiver

-idea -message

-encoding -decoding

-message -idea

Non-verbal and verbal feedback

VERBAL COMMUNICATION (CONT)

(a)The speaker is influenced by four factors: (1)Words known. Limited by own vocabulary

(2)Estimation of whether or not words suit his audience (age, background, technical expertise)

(3)Assessment of social context (cursing around friends or grandparents)

(4)Types of words associated with ideas to communicate (Shut up, Be quiet, Settle down)

CONTINUE PROCESS

(b) Sending – Has an idea and chooses words to convey it.

(c)Message

(d)Receiving – the message faces distracters (noise, volume)

(e)Interpreting – no assurance symbols will be interpreted as the speaker intended

(f)Listener – one who reacts to message conveyed. How listener reacts is dependent upon past experiences

PROBLEMS WITH THE MESSAGE MODEL (TOP OF PAGE 4)

Language is ambiguous – listener must determine which of the possible meanings of an expression is the one the speaker intended

What the speaker is referring to is vague Listener fails to recognize the speaker’s intentions

“I’ll be here tonight” (prediction? promise? threat?) We speak non-literally (sarcasm, euphemisms) We speak indirectly – we are communicating more than

what our words say “Did you drive today” means, “Can I get a ride home?”

Speaker and listener do not share similar backgrounds or experiences

CONTINUE PROBLEMS (MIDDLE OF PAGE 4)

Dialectical differences Regional: pop or soda; hoagie, sub, or hero. Pronunciation: water, aunt, Acme British/American: biscuit/cookie, truck/lorry,

trunk/boot

Language – is a learned shared patterned system of arbitrary vocal symbols through which a society interacts and communicates in terms of a common cultural experience