The document discusses roles in communication and management. It defines roles as the positions people adopt when communicating and characterizes them by the type of action and relationship to the audience. It provides examples of managerial roles like leader, facilitator, and coach. It also discusses how roles are determined by one's status in an organization as an executive, subordinate, or peer. The relationship between the communicator and audience helps determine the appropriate level of formality, genre, and appeals used in the communication.