What is Communication?

The process of generating meaning by sending and receiving verbal and nonverbal
symbols and signs that are influenced by multiple contexts.
- Initially we had oral societies, for communication and transacting business
- Also use of objects began (pebbles, stones)
- Aristotle – rhetoric – the art of being articulate and speaking persuasively

Evolution of Communication Media

- Written word comes with religion and religious scriptures

- Literacy guarded by the clergy (in India, among Hindus, Vedas)
- The writing age begins with the ‘Manuscript era’ of writing on leaves and papers
- Graduates to the ‘Print era’ – 1450 – invention of the printing press – ability to mass
produce written texts
- Then came the ‘audio-visual era’ – 1850 – 1990 tv, radio, telegraph, telephone, pager?
- Internet era

Defining Communication

Well, communication has been defined as the act of giving, receiving or exchanging
information, ideas and opinions so that the message is completely understood by both
parties.

The sender sends a message with a certain intention in mind. The receiver of the
message tries to understand and interpret the message sent. He then gives feedback to
the original sender, who in turn interprets the feedback. This process, repeated
continuously, constitutes communication.

Clearly, there are several major elements in the communication process a sender,
message, channel, receiver, feedback, context. There is both a speakers intention to
convey a message and a listeners reception of what has been said.

Thus, listening skills are just as important as speaking skills in order for communication
to be effective. This means that if you want to get your message across accurately, you
need to consider these three things:

• The message;

• The audience or receiver; and

• How the message is likely to be received.

A message is only considered successfully communicated when both the sender and the
receiver perceive and understand it in the same way. If this does not happen, then there
may be a breakdown in communication, which may ultimately stand in the way of you
realising your goals, either personally or professionally.

Elements of Communication

According to his definition, communication has the following elements:

a) Sender

b) Message

c) Channel

d) Receiver

e) Noise

f) Feedback

g) Context

h) Effect

Factors Affecting Communication

As mentioned earlier, effective communication is a two-way process but there are a

number of factors which may disrupt this process and affect the overall interpretation
and understanding of what was communicated. Myriad problems can pop up at
different stages of the communication process. These can relate to any of the elements
involved �the sender, message, channel, receiver, feedback and context. It is therefore
important to understand some of the factors that affect communication so that you can
try to get your message across with minimal misunderstanding and confusion.

Below are some possible problem areas that may turn out to to be barriers to effective
communication:

(a) Status/Role

The sender and receiver of a message may be of equal status within a hierarchy (e.g.
managers in an organisation) or they may be at different levels (e.g. manager/employee,
lecturer/student, business owner/clients).

This difference in status sometimes affects the effectiveness of the communication

process.
(b) Cultural Differences

Cultural differences, both within or outside the organisation (for example, inter-
departmental dealings and communication with outside organisations or ethnic
minorities) may impede the communication process.

(c) Choice of Communication Channels

Before you choose your communication channel, you should ask yourself whether the
channel is appropriate for a particular purpose and the person/receiver you have in
mind. Sending messages via inappropriate channels can send out wrong signals and end
up creating confusion.

(d) Length of Communication

The length of the message also affects the communication process. You need to be sure
that it serves the purpose and is appropriate for the receiver. Is the message too long or
too brief?

(e) Use of Language

Poor choice of words or weak sentence structure also hampers communication. The
same goes for inappropriate punctuation. The two sentences below illustrate clearly
how different placement of punctuation can change the entire meaning of a sentence:

(f) Disabilities

Disabilities such as impaired sight, dyslexia and poor mental health can also be barriers
to good communication, and should be taken into consideration when evaluating the
effectiveness of the communication process. You may need to use hearing aids, sign
language, magnifying systems, and symbols to alleviate problems caused by disabilities.

(g) Known or Unknown Receiver

Whether the receiver is known or unknown to you also plays a major role in
determining the effectiveness of your communication. A known receiver may be better
able to understand your message despite having insufficient information as both of you
probably have common experiences and a shared schemata. An unknown receiver, on
the other hand, may require more information and time to decode the message.

(h) Individual Perceptions/Attitudes/Personalities

Sometimes, the method of communication needs to take into consideration the

receivers personality traits, age and preferred style. The elderly and children, for
example, have different communication needs and preferences when compared to
young adults. Is the receiver of your message a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic sort of
person? How do you think they will react to your message? Can you adapt your
communication style to suit theirs?
(i) Atmosphere/Noise/Distraction

Our surroundings can sometimes pose as barriers to effective communication.

A noisy place (a party, for instance) usually puts a strain on oral communication as both
the sender and the receiver need to put extra effort to get the message across and
ensure that it is understood clearly and correctly.

(j) Clarity of Message

Is the message conveyed in a clear or ambiguous manner?

(k) Lack of Feedback

Feedback is important as it enables confirmation of understanding to be made by both

parties. The lack of feedback can sometimes create problems as it can lead to
uncertainty and confusion.

What is mediated and non-mediated communication?

- Mediated Communication is use of any medium to communicate. For example,

sending a letter, writing notes, sending an sms, recording voice messages, over
television, radio, internet
- Non-mediated communication is communication without the use of a medium.
For example – face-to-face communication between two or more people (verbal
or non-verbal)
- Difference between mass communication and mediated communication: All mass
communication is mediated communication, but not all mediated communication
is mass communication
- Different forms of mediated communication – traditional, technology or
computer aided communication
- Mediated communication or mediated interaction refers to communication
carried out by the use of information communication technology, and can be
contrasted to face-to-face communication.[1][2] While nowadays the technology
we use is often related to computers, giving rise to the popular term computer-
mediated communication, mediated technology need not be computerized:
writing a letter using a pen and a piece of paper is also using mediated
communication.Thus mediated communication as the use of any technical
medium for transmission across time and space.

Characteristics of Mediated Communication

1) Mediated technology and its effect on meaning

The type of mediated technology used can also influence its meaning.[2] This
is most famously rendered in Marshall McLuhan's maxim the medium is the
 message" Speaking on twitter, FB, TV different. Twitter as a medium has a
quality for being viral, immediate. 140 characters.

Watching war on TV vis-à-vis hearing on radio, Iraq war televised by CNN,

what that did to the concept of war, sep 11 attacks on TV

2) Mass-mediated communication
Mass-mediated communication, they are usually referring to newspapers,
radio and television stations, and so on. Thus, they focus on the channels, or
media, typically associated with this type of communication. Although each of
these channels would fall into a working definition of mass-mediated
communication, we borrow from Chaffee and Metzger (2001), who offer
three characteristics of “mass” mediated communication: mass production, a
lack of individual (audience) control, and it is finite in its available channels.
3) Limited bandwidth to carry information
Mass communication works with limited bandwidth. Bandwidth is the
amount of capacity a channel has to carry a signal/information. Be it the
plywood surface of a highway billboard, a particular television or radio
frequency, or the amount of space on a newspaper page, each channel is
physically limited in the amount of content it has, and (usually) having more
content is more expensive. Therefore, only a limited amount of content can
be produced and broadcasted through mass-mediated channels. More recent
thinking on media has, however, challenged the importance of these defining
characteristics.