Communication
Dorota Piontek, AMU
dorota.piontek@amu.edu.pl
schedule
 communication in general
 interview – how to prepare
 workshop
communication as a process
 communication is a process in which people share
information, ideas, and feelings
 basic elements of communication:
 senders and receivers
 messages
 channels
 feedback
 setting
senders and receivers
senders - receivers send and receive messages simultaneously
message
 is made up of the ideas and the feelings to be shared
 are represented by symbols
 symbols – that stand for sth else
 symbols: verbal and nonverbal
 verbal symbols: concrete and abstract
channels
 route traveled by a message between the senders-receivers
 senses and technical means
feedback
 response of the receivers-senders to each other
 immediate and delayed
noise
 interference that keeps a message from being understood or
accurately interpreted
 three kinds of noise:
 physical
 semantic
 psychological
setting
 where the communication occures (the surrounding)
 is made up of several components
principles of transactional
communication
 participation is continuous and simultaneous
 all communications have a past, present, and future
 all communicators play roles
types of communication
 intrapersonal
 interpersonal
 small-group communication
 institutional communication
 mass communication
intrapersonal communication
 occures within a person
 is centered in the self – one is the only sender-receiver
 message – thoughts and feelings
 channel: one’s brain
 social experience
interpersonal communication
-one to one or a few
- each functions as a sender-receiver
- verbal and nonverbal symbols
- channels: all senses
- immediate feedback
small-group communication
 each has a chance to interact with all
 more complicated, more chance for confusion
 usually to solve a problem
 messages more structured
 channels: all senses
 immediate feedback
institutional/organizational
communication
 e.g. political system or business firm
 complicated and indirect
 delayed feedback
 messages structured
 formal and informal channels
 need for technical devices
mass communication
 delivering information, ideas, and attitudes to a sizable,




diversified audience through use of media designed for that
purpose
professional communicator
mass audience
highly structured message
delayed feedback
barriers to effective communication
 selective attention, distortion, and recall
 channel noises
 psychological noise
 language noise
 fields of experience
 value judgements
 mis-matching
 selectivity
barriers to effective communication
 status differences
 time constraints
 overload
verbal communication
 symbol – stands for the object or concept that it names
 denotative meaning – dictionary definition
 connotative meaning – feelings or associations one has about
a word
 meanings are determined by people, not by words
language environment
 people
 their purpose
 the rules
 the actual talk
language
 ritual
 appropriate
 specialization
role and verbal image
 style – result of the way we select and arrange words and
sentences
 verbal style – connected with the role
 instrumental vs expressive language
improving verbal communication
 what do you want to say
 how do you want to say it
 to whom are you talking
 metatalk
metatalk
 the meaning exists on three levels:
 what the speaker is saying
 what the speaker intends to say
 what the listener thinks speaker is saying
metatalk
 how are you / how do you do
true meaning
 hello; does not have a meaning – tell me, how have you really
been
metatalk
 call me
true meaning
 don’t bother me now; I would accept if you asked me out; I
can’t discuss this here; don’t go so fast
metatalk
 I’ll call you
true meaning
 let’s start something; don’t call me
 let’s have lunch
 social acquaintances: if you have nothing to do and I have
nothing to do – let’s get together; business: if you have sth
useful to say to me I’ll listen
 let’s have dinner
 social: let’s advance this friendship; business: let’s turn this
into a friendship
metatalk
 we must get together
 I like you but I’m too busy now to take on more friendship
 I can’t make the time to see you
 we really must see more often
 we must do this more often
true meaning
 I can’t make the time to see you
 we must do this more often
 this was surprisingly enjoyable, but it still going to happen
infrequently
 I only say what I really mean
 I’m about to insult you
nonverbal communication
 any information communicate without using words
 little or no control
 involves several related messages
 need to know a person
verbal and nonverbal differences
functions of nonverbal
communication
 to complement a verbal message
 to regulate verbal communication
 to substitute for verbal message
 to accent what sb’s saying
principles of nonverbal
communication
 is culturally determined
 may conflict with verbal messages
 is largely unconscious
 is important in communicating feelings and attitudes
types of nonverbal communication
 paralanguage
 body movement
 body type
 attractiveness
 body adornment
 space and distance
 touch
 time
paralanguage – the use of voice
 rate (speed) – varying is important
 pitch (highness or lowness) – middle in pitch is the best
 volume – change good for attention
 vocal fillers
body movements
 emblems
 illustrators
 regulators
 display of feelings
 adaptors
body
 body type
 attractiveness
 body adornment
space and distance - proxemics
 intimate distance
 personal distance
 social distance
 public distance
touch and time
 cultural differences
inter-cultural communication - barriers
 ethnocentrism
 prejudice
 stereotypes
 uncertainty
 wrong interpretation of non-verbal communication
 language
types of cultures - Geert Hofstede

1.
2.
3.
4.
four dimensions of culture:
distance towards authorities: small vs huge
collectivism vs individualism: collective vs individualistic
musculine vs feminine: male vs female
avoiding uncertainty: open vs close
power vs distance
 the degree to which the less powerful members of a society
accept and expect that power is distributed unequally
 fundamental issue here: how a society handles inequalities
among people
 people in societies exhibiting a large degree of power
distance accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a
place and which needs no further justification
 in societies with low power distance, people strive to equalise
the distribution of power and demand justification for
inequalities of power
individualism vs collectivism
 individualism - a preference for a loosely-knit social
framework in which individuals are expected to take care of
themselves and their immediate families only
 collectivism - a preference for a tightly-knit framework in
society in which individuals can expect their relatives or
members of a particular in-group to look after them in
exchange for unquestioning loyalty
 a society's position on this dimension is reflected in whether
people’s self-image is defined in terms of “I” or “we.”
masculinity vs femininity
 masculinity - a preference in society for achievement,
heroism, assertiveness and material reward for success;
society at large is more competitive
 femininity - a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for
the weak and quality of life; society at large is more
consensus-oriented
uncertainty vs avoidance
 expresses the degree to which the members of a society feel
uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity
 fundamental issue: how a society deals with the fact that the
future can never be known: should we try to control the
future or just let it happen?
 countries exhibiting strong UAI maintain rigid codes of belief
and behaviour and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviour
and ideas
 weak UAI societies maintain a more relaxed attitude in which
practice counts more than principles
long/short time orientation
 can be interpreted as dealing with society’s search for virtue
 societies with a short-term orientation: a strong concern with
establishing the absolute Truth; are normative in their thinking,
exhibit great respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to
save for the future, and a focus on achieving quick results
 societies with a long-term orientation: belief that truth depends
very much on situation, context and time; show an ability to adapt
traditions to changed conditions, a strong propensity to save and
invest, thriftiness, and perseverance in achieving results
indulgence vs restraint
 indulgence - a society that allows relatively free gratification
of basic and natural human drives related to enjoying life and
having fun
 restraint - a society that suppresses gratification of needs and
regulates it by means of strict social norms
lower vs higher context cultures (E.
Hall)
 a culture's tendency to use high context messages over low
context messages in routine communication
 a high context culture: many things are left unsaid, letting the
culture explain; words and word choice become very important in
higher context communication, since a few words can
communicate a complex message very effectively to an in-group
(but less effectively outside that group)
 a lower context culture: the communicator needs to be much
more explicit and the value of a single word is less important
lower vs higher context cultures
 lower context culture: Australian, English Canadian,
English, Finnish, German, Irish, New Zealand, Scandinavia,
Switzerland, United States (excluding the Southern United
States)
 higher context culture: African, Arab, Brazilian, Chinese,
Filipinos, French, Canadian French, Greek, Hawaiian,
Hungarian, Indian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean,
Latin Americans, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Southern
United States, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, Vitnamese, South Slavic
cross-cultural communication
task
 prepare to interview:
- applicants – cv and motivation letter
- recuirement staff – selection of 5 applicants to the further
interview
motivation letter
 introduce yourself
 be clear about position you’re applying for
 give good reasons for your application
 give good arguments that you are the best choice
 hand-written signiture
 not longer than ¾ of a page
interview
 homework
 information about the organization
 important attributes
 first impression
 body language
homework
 job description and general information
 position
 salary
 department – in large or medium organization
 location
 description of the main resposibilities of the position
homework
 objectives
 key tasks
 personal specification
 social issues
information about the organization
 whatever you can
 have a „larger picture” of the history, aims, and corporate
values
important attributes
 communication skills
 personal presentation
 self-motivation
first impression
 up to 1 min
 personal presentation
 confidence and assertivness
 preparation
 communication skills
 enthusiasm for the position
 punctuality
 eye contact
 impressive application/C.V.
body language
 greet the interviewer
 sit comfortably
 keep an eye contact
 pause to think
 smile