ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION

Life Without Communication? “There has been more information produced in the last 30 years than during the previous 5,000 . . . The information supply available to us doubles every five years.” Richard Saul Wurman

Life Without Communication? Have you ever considered what life would be like without communication? No reassuring smiles, no love songs on the radio, no gripping novels, no comforting hugs, no friendly conversation.

Communication Defined Communication is the transfer or exchange of thoughts, information, ideas, and feelings by speech, writing, or signals between at least two people.

Interesting Info . . . “On the job, the average employee spends about 45% of his communication time listening, about 30% speaking, about 16% reading, and about 9% writing.” George Bell

Five Elements of Communication The Situation The Sender The Receiver The Message The Purpose of the Message

The Situation The situation that requires communication includes what is happening and where it is happening. As the situation changes, the types of communication activities may change too.

The Sender The sender is the person who is speaking or writing. The background, experience, attitudes, and skills of the sender always affect the message.

The Receiver The receiver of the message could be one person or thousands of people. The receiver of the message is also known as the audience. Audiences can be divided into two groups: specialists and the general audience.

Two Types of Audiences Specialists have interest, experience, and knowledge in a particular technical field. The general audience includes everyone else: clients, customers, patients, sales representatives, suppliers, and the general public. These people have little understanding of the technical details associated with your work.

The Message The message is the information and ideas relayed by the sender to the audience. Some examples: radio announcements, memos, letters, photographs, phone calls, speeches, CDs, E-mail messages, facial expressions, cartoons, maps, catalogs, etc.

The Purpose Messages that are sent to both specialists and general audiences can have many purposes. The purpose can be to: Socialize (small talk or inquiries about personal interests) Inform (about a situation, need, problem, or success) Persuade (to make a decision, revise an opinion, or take an action)

Effect of the Message Communication is effective if something happens as a result—but not just any something. The something that happens must accomplish the sender’s purpose. If, for example, you fax a letter to a customer asking her to pay a bill immediately, and a check arrives two days later, you have communicated effectively.

Effect of the Audience on the Message Effective communication is an interactive process—that is the sender acts upon or affects the audience and the audience in turn affects the sender. Once the sender has determined the content and purpose of the message, the sender must consider how to communicate effectively with his or her particular audience.

Effect of the Audience on the Message To do this, analyze (study) the audience and then adapt (adjust) the message.

Culture and Communication In analyzing the audience, one important consideration is the audience’s cultural background. Many factors shape cultural backgrounds. Examples: The region of the country or world where raised Religion Race Gender Age, etc.

Adapt the Communication for the Audience If a message can be understood in more than one way, it is ineffective. The writer or speaker must analyze the audience and adapt the message. Consider the questions on the following slide.

Questions How will the audience use the message? What vocabulary will the audience understand? Will an illustration or another visual help the reader understand? How can I convince the audience to do what I want?