Chapter Two
Exploring the Communication Process
Coach Dobbins
The Communication Process
• When you understand the process of communication you have some
powerful tools.
• What does baseball and communicating have in common? Both are a series
of actions that work together to produce a result…in other words they are
both process.
Elements of Communication
• Process: the parts and actions work together to achieve results
• Communication constantly moves, shifts, and changes
• Action, energy, and results
• Communication uses mental and physical energy of people who speak, listen, use nonverbal behaviors, and interpret the verbal and non-verbal behaviors of others.
Elements of Communication
• Meaning in communication
• Thoughts, ideas, and understandings that are created, exchanged, and shared by
communicators
• We constantly create meanings as we try to understand the world around us and as
communicators we try to share those ideas.
• One of the best ways to learn and retain information is to teach it to others.
• You do not understand an assignment so you talk to the teacher. You then go on and explain
the assignment to other students.
Elements of Communication
• Symbols in communication
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Stands for an idea or feeling
Ex: a trophy stands as a symbol of a victory
Symbolic interaction means you rely on words (verbal or non-verbal)
What are common symbols you see when communicating with:
• Friends
• Teachers
• Parents
Principles of communication
• You must understand what communication is before you apply it to your life.
• Five basic concepts:
• Transactional
• Complex
• Unavoidable
• Continuous
• Learned
Transactional
• A process that involves an exchange
• Sender
• Receiver
• Bargaining or persuading
• All components are interactive : each part and each action affects others.
complex
• Communication is complex because it is:
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Interactive
Symbolic
Personal/ cultural
Irreversible
Impossible to duplicate
Circular
Purposeful
Unavoidable
• Many of you have heard the saying “ we are not communicating” ( even a
refusal of communication is communicating)
• Your on an elevator alone and suddenly it stops to allow another person on.
What things do you do to avoid conversation? Even thought you may feel
uncomfortable because someone is in your space and you avoid conversation
…are you not still sending a message?
• How often do you use your phone to avoid conversation?
continuous
• Once you have an interaction with an individual, future communication with
him or her is forever impacted by your initial communication and your
memories of it.
• If you go to a restaurant and have a terrible waiter how likely are you to go
back?
• “ First impression is everything”
Learned
• Communication skills are mainly learned behaviors
• What are some communication skills that you have learned from your family?
• All these skills can be improved through practice.
Components of the communication process
• Context: provides people, occasion, task
• Physical environment: influences the quality of interaction within the physical space
• Climate: influences the emotional, attitudinal, and intellectual tone (emotional
atmosphere)
• Negative/ positive/ environment
• Communicator: creates meaning, sends and receives messages, and exchanges
meaning
Components of communication process cont.
• Message: conveys meaning, feeling and various types of energy from senderreceiver to receiver-sender
• Channel: provides the space through which the message must pass;
determines the message used to send the message
• Noise: interfere or disrupt communication
• Barrier: blocks communication
• Feedback: assures and provides insight.
Analyzing the Action: Sender-Receiver
• Sensory perception: complex physical process of taking data through the five
senses
• Data: things that catch a commentators attention ( objects, people, sounds…)
• Encoding: mental process of assigning meaning and language to data
• Connects meaning to data then filters that meaning
• Transmitting: physical process of sending verbal and non-verbal messages
Analyzing the Action: Receiver-Sender
• Acquiring: physical process used to take in a message
• Ex: Sight, smell, touch
• Decoding: mental process used to create meaning from language
• Takes symbols such as words and gives them meaning
• Feedback
• Verbal/ non-verbal
How would you complete the next sentence?
• I spend most of my waking time………….?
• 75% of our waking times is spent communicating
• Oral language
• Written communication
• Non verbal cues
5 levels of communication
Level of communication
Business example
Social example
Intrapersonal
Should I tell my manager her plan has
a flaw?
Do I agree with how this club spends
money?
Interpersonal
Did you go to the meeting?
May I sit here?
Small group
Who will volunteer to research the
personal needs for this project?
Who will make the signs for the
fundraiser?
One-to-group
Over the next half hour I intend to
show our potential sales this quarter
Remember everyone needs to bring a
dish for the potluck dinner.
Mass
The public is invited to attend a free
financial workshop this weekend.
As the weather gets warmer,
remember to provide plenty of fresh
water to your pets. For more tips on
pet care contact your local vet.
Becoming a competent communicator
Diagram pg. 58