Module Two
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• Communication is the process of using verbal
and nonverbal messages to generate meaning
across various contexts, cultures, and channels.
• Although we communicate all the time, we
can always learn how to communicate better.
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• A national survey of 1,000 human resource
managers concluded that oral communication skills
are the most critical factor for obtaining jobs and
advancing in a career.
• Fortune 500 companies claim the college graduates
they employ need stronger communication skills as
well as a demonstrated ability to work in teams and
with people from diverse backgrounds.
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• We need to learn how to apply interpersonal
communication theories, strategies, and skills
to multiple communication contexts.
• Complete the following in your EZ Guide
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1. Good communicators are born, not made.
2. The more you communicate the better your communication will
be.
3. Unlike effective speaking, effective listening really cannot be
taught.
4. Opening lines such as “Hello, how are you?” or “Fine weather
today” serve no useful communication purpose.
5. The best way to communicate with someone from another
culture is exactly as you would with someone from your own
culture.
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6. When verbal and nonverbal messages contradict each
other, people believe the verbal message.
7. Complete openness should be the goal of any meaningful
interpersonal relationship.
8. Interpersonal conflict is a reliable sign that your
relationship is in trouble.
9. Like good communicators, small-group leaders are born,
not made.
10. Fear of speaking is detrimental, and the effective speaker
must learn to eliminate it.
How did you do?
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• This is a good time to start practicing the
critical thinking skill of questioning commonly
held assumptions about communication and
about thinking of yourself as a communicator.
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• Answer the following questions: YES or NO
• Personal: Do I have meaningful personal relationships with close
friends, relatives, and romantic partners?
• Professional: Do I communicate effectively within and on behalf of a
business, organization, or work team?
• Educational: Do I demonstrate what I have learned in collegiate,
corporate, and other training settings?
• Intercultural: Do I understand, respect, and adapt to people from
diverse backgrounds?
• Intellectual: Do I analyze and evaluate the meaning of multiple and
complex messages in an ever changing world?
• Societal: Do I critically analyze and appropriately respond to public
and mediated messages?
• Ethical: Do I apply ethical standards to personal and public
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communication in a variety of situations?
• Communication is a process – that is constantly
moving and the elements interact with one
another to bring about a result.
• The characteristics of other communicators can
affect your communication
• Communication is a psychological, emotional
and behavioural process that asks you to make
multiple, interdependent decisions about how
you will use verbal and non verbal messages to
generate meaning.
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1. Know yourself
2. Connect with others
3. Determine your purpose
• Ensure you understand how
your characteristics and
attitudes affect the way you
communicate
• Communication is relational;
the nature of your relationship
with others affects what , when,
where, why, and how you
communicate
• What you and others are
trying to accomplish by
communicating – is purposeful
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4. Adapt to the context
5. Select appropriate content
• The context is the circumstances
and setting in which the
communication takes place
• Enlist the power of good ideas
and language; since there is no
tangible relationship between a
symbol, the thing it represents,
and how you may feel about it,
there is always potential for
misunderstanding
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6. Structure your message
7. Practice skillful
expressions
• Refers to how the components
or parts of something are
assembled and arranged to
form a whole – organize
message into a coherent and
purposeful order
• You can’t undo communication; it
is irreversible; interpersonal
communication channels are the
physical and electronic media
through which we express
messages
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• Communication models:
• Identify the basic components in the communication
process
• Show how the various components related to and
interact with one another
• Help explain why a communicative act succeeds or
fails
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• Source-Receiver
• Encoding-Decoding
• Messages
•
•
•
Message Overload
Feedback
Feedforward
• Channel
• Noise
• Context
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Encoder
Participants
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Sending Channel
Encoder
Decoder
Meaning
Encoder
Participants
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Context
Context
Sending Channel
Noise
Encoder
Noise
Decoder
Meaning
Meaning
Decoder
Encoder
Participants
Feedback Channel
Context
Context
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Verbal and non-verbal messages that
express your thoughts and feelings; must be
sent and received.
• Message Overload
• Feedback
• Feedforward
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The medium through which message signals
pass. The channel works like a bridge
connecting source and receiver.
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Anything that interferes with either sending or
receiving a message.
•
•
•
•
•
Physical
Physiological
Psychological
Semantic
For examples, see Table 1.1 on page
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Four Types of Noise
Type of Noise
Definition
Example
Physical
Interference that is external to both speaker and
listener; interferes with the physical transmission of
the signal or message
Screeching of passing cars, hum of computer,
sunglasses
Physiological
Physical barriers within the speaker or listener
Visual impairments, hearing loss, articulation
problems, memory loss
Psychological
Cognitive or mental interference
Biases and prejudices in senders and receivers,
closed-mindedness, inaccurate expectations,
extreme emotionalism (anger, hate, love, grief)
Semantic
Different meanings assigned by speaker and
listener
Language difference, use of jargon or overly
complex terms not understood by listener
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The environment that influences the
form and content of communication.
•Physical
•Cultural
•Social-Psychological
•Temporal (timing)
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• Physical – where communication takes place,
the environment, the distance between
participants, seating, time of day
• Social – the nature of the relationship
• Historical – the background of previous
communication
• Psychological – the moods and feelings
• Cultural – the set of beliefs, values, and norms
that are shared by a large group of people
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• Competence in interpersonal communication
depends on critical thinking
• Critical thinking is logical thinking; it’s thinking
that is well reasoned, unbiased, and clear
• It enables you to ask and answer questions of
clarification or challenge, to draw and evaluate
conclusions, and to organize your thoughts
and speak or write them coherently.
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• Critical thinking is the thought process you use to
analyze what you read, see, or hear to arrive at a
logical conclusion or decision
• Good critical thinkers know how to develop and
defend a position on an issue, ask probing
questions, be open-minded, and draw reasonable
conclusions. They are highly skilled listeners.
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• A claim is a statement that identifies your belief
or position on a particular issue or topic.
• Critical thinkers know how to separate claims
of fact ( a statement that can be proved true or
false) from claims of inference
• An inference is a conclusion based on claims of fact
• When you accept an inference as a fact, you are
jumping to conclusions that may not be accurate
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• A fallacy is an error in thinking that has the potential to mislead or
deceive others; can be intentional or unintentional. Fallacies:
• Attacking the person – attacking the person rather than the content
of the message
• Appeal to authority – when a supposed expert has no relevant
experience on the issues being discussed
• Appeal to popularity – claims an action is acceptable or excusable
because many people are doing it
• Appeal to tradition – a certain action should be followed because
that is the way it was done in the past
• Faulty cause – when you claim a particular event or situation is the
cause of another event before considering other possible causes
• Hasty generalization – you jump to a conclusion based on too little
evidence or too few experiences
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• Reflection refers to critically thinking about an
experience as it occurs or after it occurs; it is part of
the learning process and takes time and practice
• To reflect meaningfully, use effective listening,
critical thinking skills, and objective observations
• The intention of reflective practice is to gain clearer
and deeper understanding of our experiences; it
involves taking the time to review and ask
questions to understand yourself and others
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Think critically about interpersonal communication, keeping the following ideas
in mind.
• The study of interpersonal communication involves theory,
research, and practical skills for increasing interpersonal
effectiveness. A knowledge of theory will help you better
understand the skills, and a knowledge of skills will help you
understand theory.
• The principles discussed throughout this course relate directly to
your everyday interactions. To help make this material easier to
assimilate, try to recall examples from your own
communications to illustrate the ideas considered in the course.
• Be willing to change your ways of communicating and even
your ways of thinking about interpersonal communication.
Carefully assess what you should strengthen or revise and what
you should leave as is.
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• Complete the question – Can you give an example of a
situation in which you experimented with ways of
communicating different from your usual?
• Regarding this course, answer the eight questions from the
“Questions Implied by the Universal Structures of Thought”
• These are in your EZ Guide. Please complete them there.
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• Theories: statements that explain how the world works;
describe, explain, and predict events and behaviour
• Communication theories come from observation, empirical
research, scholarship – they help you understand what is
happening when you communicate and why it is sometimes
effective and sometimes ineffective
• Learning about theories will not make you a more effective
communicator
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• Strategies are the specific plans of action you select to
help you communicate
• Strategies are based on theories; if you don’t understand
theory, you won’t know why strategies work in one situation
and fail in another
• Strategies based on theory help you understand when, where,
why, and how to use a particular strategy most effectively
• Learning about strategies is not enough
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• Skills are the tools or techniques you use to
communicate. They are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
How to be more assertive
How to think critically
How to resolve conflicts
How to speak clearly
How to organize a message
How to explain complex concepts or persuade others
• Skills are most effective when based on theory
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• Knowledge plays a role similar to theories and
strategies: it describes what to do and why to
do it. Skills represent how to do it
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• Communication has consequences
• Is it fair?
• Is it right?
• Is it deceptive?
• Ethics requires an understanding of whether
communication behaviours meet agreed-on
standards of right and wrong
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• Exaggerate your virtues to get a job?
• Tell the truth if it causes hurt feelings?
• Hold threats or promises over someone?
• Ignore someone else’s cheating?
• Conceal your emotions from your partner?
• Swear you’ll keep a secret—and then tell
it?
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• Complete “Check Your Ability” in EZ Guide
• Please bring laptops to next class. If you
don’t have access to one, get one from the
library. You will need your student ID card.
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• Please go to your EZ Guide in www.thebusinesscore.com to
complete your assignments.
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