Communication Process

Introduction to
Communication Process
Boutkhil Guemide
University Mohammed Boudiaf,
M’sila
Algeria

Overview
 Introduction
 Communication: Definition
 Components of communication
process (Elements)
 Common barriers to communication
 Factor influencing the communication
process.

Introduction
 Communication is at the heart of our everyday lives; it is a
ubiquitous phenomenon (as we all communicate nearly every
minute of every day of our lives).
 It an activity that equally exists in the world of animals (even
plants).
 Hybels & Weaver (2005), ‘… communication, …, is so important to
daily life that it has spawned an entire industry of books, articles,
and seminars explaining how to do it better’.
 It is the art of persuading, influencing, entertaining, sharing,
discovering and transmitting information; We are either senders,
or receivers of messages.
 Communication is acclaimed the most precious gift given to
human race by the Creator.

What is communication?
 It is the sharing of ideas and
information;
 The act of transmitting;
 A giving or exchanging of information,
signals, or messages as by talk,
gestures, or writing;
 The information, signals, or message;
 Close, sympathetic relationship.

Communication is
 The transfer of information
(data) from one person to
another.

 A means of communicating; specifically a system for sending
and receiving messages, as by telephone, telegraph, radio, etc.
 A system as of routes for moving troops and material;
 A passage or way for getting from one place to another
 The art of expressing ideas, esp. in speech and writing
 The science of transmitting information, esp. in symbols.
 Transmission of message via verbal and non- verbal cues;
 Communication is a transaction in which the participants are
mutually engaged in the process.

 G.G. Brown: “Communication is transfer of
information from one person to another,
whether or not it elicits confidence. But the
information transferred must be
understandable to the receiver”.
 Fred G. Meyer: “Communication is the
intercourse by words, letters or messages”.

Communication?
 To communicate= “to share” or ‘to participate‘.
 The transmission of a message or information by speaking or
writing.
 The giving or exchanging information, signals, messages by
talk or gestures or writing.
 A social intercourse.
 Communication is giving, receiving or exchanging ideas,
information, signals or messages through appropriate media,
enabling individuals or groups to persuade, to seek
information, to give information or to express emotions.
 This broad definition includes body-language, skills of speaking
and writing. It outlines the objectives of communication. It
emphasizes listening as an important aspect of communication.

 “Communication”: originated from Latin
word Communicare: “share” and in as
much as it presupposes a communicator and
a receiver, relationship between them– a
mutual awareness or orientation of one
another, intent of the communicator; an
external referent – what the message is
about, a common language and some sharing
of experience, we cannot contend with such a
definition.

 Communication is the art of transmitting information, ideas and attitudes
from one person to another.
 Communication is the process of meaningful interaction among human
beings.
 ITS ESSENCES :
 Personal process.
 Occurs between people
 Involves change in behavior
 Means to influence others
 Expression of thoughts and emotions through words and actions.
 Tool for controlling and motivating people.
 It is a social and emotional process.

What are the most common
ways we communicate?

Contexts of communication
Intrapersonal It considers communication with oneself
Interpersonal
It is the personal process of coordinating meaning
between at least two people in a situation that
allows mutual opportunities for both speaking and
listening (Pearson et al.,
2003). It occurs for a variety of reasons to (1) solve
problems, (2) resolve conflicts, (3) share
information, (4) improve one’s perception, or to (5)
fulfill social needs. Through
this context, people are able to establish
relationships with others (friendships and romantic
relationships).
Public
It involves the process of generating meaning in a
situation where a simple source transmits a
message to a number of receivers (often range
between 3 to 12 people, or more) who give non-
verbal and sometimes, question and answer
feedback. This kind of communication is recognized
by its formality, structure and planning (Examples:
lectures, seminars, conferences, direct speeches and
religious services).
Mass communication It is a context between a source and a large number
of unseen receivers. In this context, there is always
a mediator between the source and the receiver.
The mediator is often in the communication
technology; such as, television and radio. They are
the channel and the method of distribution

Basic Functions of
Communication
 For interaction
 For increasing the store of information
 For better understanding of our self and the
world we live
 For changing people’s attitudes, beliefs,
opinions and actions
 For making decisions

Components of communication
process (Elements)
 Communication is basically a two part system; whatever you are speaking or
writing, listening or reading.
 It is a process of transmitting and receiving messages.
 The process of communication cannot be completed unless it gets response:
It is considered effective when it achieves the desired response from
receiver.
 The steps involved in the process of communication called elements of
communication.
 It is a chain of events that can be broken into six phases:
1. Source;
2. Message;
3. Channel;
4. Receiver;
5. Effect;
6. Feedback;

Source
 “Sender of message who determines the point,
message, material and channel of message.”
 The source is the originator of the idea or the
message.
 It is also known as sender or encoder who may be an
individual or group.
 He chooses such words or symbols to express the
message so that the receiver may understand it and
reacts with the desired response.
 He decides which words or symbols best convey his
message and which sending mechanism to choose
among the available written and oral.

Message
 “When a person expresses his ideas, thoughts, and
emotions in the form of words so that the meaningful
words become message for the other person”;
 A message is the conversion of conceived idea into
words.
 It may consist of both verbal and non-verbal.
 Whenever you compose a message, you need to
consider what content to include, how the receiver will
interpret, and how it may affect your relationship.
 For instance, for thanking some one the word “Thank
you” is suitable but not for the excuse.

Channel
 “Medium, channel way which is used for sending message,
it may be printed words, electronic mail, sound etc.”
 Inter- relationship between the sender and the receiver
and the urgency of message are the major determiners of
the medium used for the message.
 The other factors are number of receivers, cost, and
amount of information and effectiveness of the channel.
 The channel may be print media such as newspaper,
brochure, hand bill or the electronic media like T.V, Radio
and internet etc.
 Selection of channel depends upon the message.

Receiver
 “A person who receives the message and takes
decision in the form of feed back is known as
receiver.”
 The receiver is the person for whom the message
is intended.
 It is the single most important element in the
communication process.
 Any neglect on this part of receiver, the
communication will be ineffective.
 Actually message receiver is your listener, also
known as “Decoder”.

Effect
 Effect is the change in the behavior
of the receiver occurring in response
to the message receiver.
 The receiver may ignore the
message or store the information
received, or act according to the
wishes of the sender.

FeedBack
 “Feedback is the action or decision taken by
receiver after receiving the message.”
 “It can be oral or a written message, an action or
simply silence.”
 Feedback is the response that sender gets from
the receiver. It may be positive or negative.
 If the receiver incorrectly perceives our message,
we may say it as miscommunication.
 “The success or failure of the communication is
indicated by the feedback we get.”

 Barriers to communication: the
aspects or conditions that interfere
with effective exchange of ideas or
thoughts.
BARRIERS TO
COMMUNICATION

Noise
 Physical noise (outside
disturbance)
 Psychological noise
(inattentiveness)
 Written noise (bad
handwriting/ typing)

Time and Distance
 Improper Time
 Defects in Medium of
communication
 Network Facilities
 Mechanical Breakdowns

 The misunderstanding between the sender and
receiver arising due to the different meanings
of words, and other symbols used in the
communication.
 The semantic barriers usually arise when the
information is not in the simple language and
contains those words or symbols that have
multiple meanings.

LANGUAGE BARRIERS
Different Languages
No Clarity in Speech

Using Jargons
Not being specific

 Psychological barriers: distorted
communication because of human
psychology problems.

 Attitude and opinions
 Emotions
 Filtering and distortion of message
 Status difference
 Inattention
 Open- minded vs. Closed- minded
 Fields of experience

 Language
 Values
 Social Relation
 Gestures

 Loss or distortion of messages as they
pass from one level to another
 Filtering of information according to
one’s understanding/interpretation
 Messages not read completely or not
understood correctly
 Deliberate withholding of information
from peers perceived as rivals

Factors Affecting
Communication
 Status/Role
 Cultural Differences
 Choice of communication
 channels
 Length of Communication
 Use of Language
 Disabilities
 Known or Unknown Receiver
 Individual Perceptions
 Clarity of Message
 Lack of Feedback

Status/Role
 The Sender and receiver of a message may be
of equal status within a hierarchy or they may
be at different levels,
 This difference in status sometimes affects the
effectiveness of the communication process.

Cultural Differences
 Cultural differences, both within or outside
society may impede the communication
process.

Choice of Communication
channels
 Before you choose your communication channel
you should ask yourself whether the channel is
appropriate for particular purpose and the
person/ receiver you have in mind.

Length of Communication
 The Length of the message also affects
communication process.
 You need to be sure that it serves the purpose
and appropriate for the receiver

Use of Language
 Poor choice of words or weak sentence
structure also pampers communication.
 The same goes for inappropriate punctuation
 For Example :
 Women, without her, man is nothing
 Women, without her man, is nothing

Disabilities
 You may need to use hearing aids, sign
languages, minifying systems and symbols to
alleviate problems caused by disabilities

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.

Individual perceptions
 Sometime the method of communication needs
to take into consideration the receivers
personality traits, age and preferred style.

Clarity of message
 Is the message conveyed in a clear or
ambiguous manner

Lack of Feedback
 Feedback is important as it enables
confirmation of understanding to be made by
both parties.

Models of Communication
The models help people understand how
communication works, how messages are
transmitted, how it is received by the other
party, and how the message is eventually
interpreted and understood.
Linear (Action) Communication Model
Transactional Model
Interactive Model

Originally created by Aristotle
Harold D. Lasswell (1902- 1978) developed in
1948 his model of communication;
Aka action model/ or linear model/ or one way
model of communication.

1960, David Berlo postulated Berlo's Sender- Message-Channel-
Receiver (SMCR) Model of Communication

Components of Berlo’s Model of Communication
S -Sender
Sender is the source of the message or the person who originates the message. The person or
source sends the message to the receiver. The following are the factor related to sender and is
also the same in the case of receiver.
Communication Skills
Communication skills of a person is a factor that affects the communication process. If the
sender has good communication skills, the message will be communicated better than if the
sender’s communication skills are not good. Similarly, if the receiver can not grasp the message,
then the communication will not be effective. Communication skills include the skills to speak,
present, read, write, listening, etc.
Attitude The attitude of the sender and the receiver creates the effect of the message. The
person’s attitude towards self, the receiver and the environment changes the meaning and effect
of the message.
Knowledge Familiarity with the subject of the message makes the communicated message have
its effect more. Knowledge on the subject matter makes the communicator send the message
effectively.
Social Systems
Values, beliefs, laws, rules, religion and many other social factors affect the sender’s way of
communicating the message. It creates difference in the generation of message. Place and
situation also fall under social systems.
Culture Cultural differences make messages different. A person from one culture might find
something offensive which is very much accepted in another culture.

Components of Berlo’s Model of Communication
M-Message
A message is the substance that is being sent by the sender to the receiver. It might be in the
form of voice, audio, text, video or other media. The key factors affecting the message are
Content Content is the thing that is in the message. The whole message from beginning to end is
the content.
Elements Elements are the non verbal things that tag along with the content like gestures, signs,
language, etc.
Treatment Treatment is the way in which the message is conveyed to the receiver. Treatment
also effects the feedback of the receiver.
Structure The structure of the message or the way it has been structured or arranged, affects
the effectiveness of the message.
Code Code is the form in which the message is sent. It might be in the form of language, text,
video, etc.
C-Channel
Channel is the medium used to send the message. In mass communication and other forms of
communication, technical machines might be used as a channel like telephone, internet, etc. But
in general communication, the five senses of a human being is the channel for the
communication flow and it affects the effectiveness of the channel.
Hearing – We receive the message through hearing.
Seeing – We perceive through seeing. We also get non-verbal messages by seeing.
Touching – Many of the non-verbal communication happens from touching like holding hands.
Smelling – We collect information from smelling.
Tasting – Taste also provides the information to be sent as a message.

Linear model has defined set of components required for a
communication to be established where:
Sender: the person who sends a message after encoding.
Encoding: the process of converting the message into codes
compatible with the channel and understandable for the
receiver
Decoding: the process of changing the encoded message
into understandable language by the receiver
Message: the information sent by the sender to the
receiver.
Channel: the medium through which the message is sent.
Receiver: the person who gets the message after decoding.
Noise: the disruptions that are caused in the
communication process in channel or in understandability
Components of Linear (Action) Communication Model

The exchange of messages between sender and receiver where each take
turns to send or receive messages.
Both "sender" and "receiver" are known as "communicators" and their role
reverses each time in the communication process as both processes of
sending and receiving occurs at the same time.
Transactional Communication Model

Shannon-Weaver’s Model of Communication

Interactive Model of Communication
AKA The Convergence Model
The exchange of ideas and messages taking place both ways
from sender to receiver and vice-versa.
The communication process take place between humans or
machines in both verbal or non-verbal way.
This is a relatively new model of communication for new
technologies like web.
Schramm's Model (1954)
Both the sender and the receiver take turns playing the role
of the encoder and the decoder when it comes to
communication.
Field of Experience: the things that influence the
understanding and interpretation of message like culture,
social background, beliefs, experiences, values and rules.

Communication Process

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to Communication Process

More from Boutkhil Guemide

Recently uploaded

Communication Process