INTRODUCTION TO

COMMUNICATION

B Y: A A M INAH H A S S A N
A A M INAH . H A S S A N @ C E M E . N U S T.E D U.P K
COMMUNICATION
DEFINED
Communication is a dynamic, systemic or
contextual, irreversible and proactive process
in which communicators construct personal
meanings through their symbolic interactions
(Wood, 1964)
COMMUNICATION
DEFINED
Communication scholars define communication as the
process by which people interactively create, sustain,
and manage meaning (Conrad & Poole, 1998).
As such, communication both reflects the world and
simultaneously helps create it.
Communication is not simply one more thing that
happens in personal and professional life; it is the very
means by which we produce our personal relationships
and professional experiences—it is how we plan,
control, manage, persuade, understand, lead, love,
and so on
COMMUNICATION DEFINED
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.
7 C’S OF
COMMUNICATION
To transmit effective written or oral messages, certain principles must
be followed. These principles are advocated by Francis J. Bergin, who
provided guidelines for choice of content and style of presentation,
adapted according to the purpose of the receiver of the message.

1. Correctness
2. Clarity
3. Conciseness
4. Completeness
5. Consideration
6. Concreteness
7. Courtesy
CORRECTNESS

Every communication must be complete and adequate.

Incomplete messages keep the receiver guessing, create
misunderstanding and delay actions. Every person should,
therefore, be provided with all the required facts and figures
Correctness means:
 Use the right level of language
 Correct use of grammar, spelling and punctuation
 Accuracy in stating facts and figures
BAD EXAMPLE

Dear David,
Further to our conservation today, I am attaching the plan for the
first stage of the project. Hope the one weak deadline is okay with
you and your team.
Regards
Sally
CLARITY
 Clarity demands the use of simple language and easy
sentence structure in composing the message.
 When there is clarity in presenting ideas, it’s easy for the
receiver/decoder to grasp the meaning being conveyed by the
sender/encoder.
 Here are some specific ways to help make your messages clear:
1. Choose short, familiar, conversational words.
2. Construct effective sentences and paragraphs.
3. Achieve appropriate readability (and listenability).
4. Include examples, illustrations, and other visual aids, when
desirable.
BAD EXAMPLE:

Dear James,
I would like to talk to you about the new client’s project
which the engineering team had discussed yesterday. I
might need the help of John from your team.
Regards,
Kevin
GOOD EXAMPLE:

Dear James,
As you may know we have signed up XYZ as our new client. I
had a meeting with the engineering team yesterday and had
discussed the campaign requirements for this project. John
Redden from your team had done a pretty good job last time
doing the social media campaign for ABC and so I would like him
to work on the XYZ campaign too. Would you be available
sometime tomorrow to discuss this further?
Regards
Kevin
CONCISENESS

 A concise message saves time of both the sender and the

receiver.
 Conciseness, in a message, can be achieved by avoiding
wordy expressions and repetition.
 Using brief and to the point sentences, including relevant
material makes the message concise.
 Achieving conciseness does not mean to loose completeness
of message.
BAD EXAMPLE:

Hi Suzanne
I think we need to talk about the CSR campaign, I mean the one
which we need to do as a quarterly exercise. I think it is a great
way of enhancing our brand image. Basically, it would just be a
visit to an orphanage but we can sort of do other things too. For
instance, we could take the kids out for a short trip to a nearby
park or zoo. Let us sit and talk tomorrow.
Regards
Jennifer
GOOD EXAMPLE:

Hi Suzanne
I need to discuss the quarterly CSR campaign with you. Let us
take the kids out this time to a nearby park or zoo instead of just
visiting them. This will help enhance our brand image. We’ll talk in
detail tomorrow.
Regards
Jennifer
COMPLETENESS

 Completeness means the message must bear all the

necessary information to bring the response you desire.
 The sender should answer all the questions and with facts and
figures. and when desirable, go for extra details.
BAD EXAMPLE:

Hi all,
Let us meet tomorrow to discuss the product launch event.
Please be there on time.
Thanks
Chris
GOOD EXAMPLE:

The best way to have written this email is:

Hi all,
Let us meet tomorrow at 11am at Conference room 3 to discuss
the product launch event. We will have to decide the keynote
speakers and complete the event invite draft tomorrow. Please be
there on time.
Thanks
Chris
CONSIDERATION

 Consideration demands to put oneself in the place of

receiver while composing a message.
 It refers to the use of You attitude, emphases positive pleasant
facts, visualizing reader’s problems, desires, emotions and his
response.
 Consideration means understanding of human nature
 Focus on "you" instead of "I" and "we.
 • Emphasize positive, pleasant facts.
 • Apply integrity and ethic
CONCRETENESS

 Being definite, vivid and specific rather than vague, obscure

and general leads to concreteness of the message.
 Facts and figures being presented in the message should be
specif.
 Concreteness reinforces confidence
BAD EXAMPLE:

“Hilltop
Resort is the best resort. Do come to us on
your next holiday”

This is a vague ad message. It is made to sound like

just another resort advertisement among a hundred
others. The audience will never remember this ad
message. There are no concrete details to take away
from this message.
GOOD EXAMPLE:

“Hilltop Resort is the jewel of the western hills. Take a break from
your work. Escape from life’s chaos and stress. Relax and
rejuvenate yourself at Hilltop. Go back fresh and energized!”

This message gives you visualizing details. The reader can

actually imagine being in a beautiful resort breathing fresh air and
swimming in a pool instead of slogging away at his or her office.
That is a concrete message conveyed to the audience.
COURTESY

 Courtesy means not only thinking about receiver but also

valuing his feelings.
 Much can be achieved by using polite words and gestures,
being appreciative, thoughtful, tactful, and showing respect to
the receiver.
 Courtesy builds goodwill.
 Courtesy strengthen relations.
BAD EXAMPLE:

Hi Drew,
I really do not appreciate how your IT team ignores the requests
of my team alone. My team is an important function in this
organization too and we have our own IT requirement. Can you
ensure that your team responds promptly to my team’s requests
hereon?
Regards
Stanley
GOOD EXAMPLE:

Hi Drew,
I understand that the IT team is swamped with work and gets
requests from every department in the organization. My team
however is working on a high-priority project and I would greatly
appreciate if you could ask your team members to respond to my
team’s queries promptly and help us complete this project on
time. Please do let me know if you need anything from me.
Regards
Stanley
TASK I
SHOW COURTESY BY AVOIDING TACTLESS & BLUNT
LANGUAGE.

 Your letter is not clear at all:

 Obviously, if you would read your policy carefully you will be
able to answer these questions yourself.
 You already forgotten what I wrote you two weeks ago.
TASK II
USE gender friendly substitutes
Mankind
 The best man for the job
 Manmade
 Manpower
 Businessman
 Sales man
 Chairman
COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE

HELPS IN DIVERSITY:

Effective workplace communication is important in

companies with workplace diversity.

Good communication skills help to reduce the barriers

erected because of language and cultural differences
COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE

GLOBAL BUSINESS
With global business transactions continually increasing,
the need for effective communication to meet global
demands is also increasing.

Managers and employees must know how to effectively

communicate with the company's international
counterparts.
 COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE

TEAM BUILDING
Effective communication in the workplace helps employees and
managers form highly efficient teams.

Employees are able to trust each other and management.

Effective communication reduces unnecessary competition within

departments and helps employees work together harmoniously.
 COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE
EMPLOYEE MORALE
An improvement in employee morale can result from effective
communication. Although pay is a concern for many workers, it
is not their only concern.

Employees appreciate good communication coming from

management. It produces a healthy work environment.

Failing to communicate effectively in a workplace leads to

frustration and confusion among employees
COMMUNICATION IN
THE WORKPLACE
 They must comply with organizational policies, perform their job
role efficiently and communicate any work problem and grievance
to their superiors.

 Communication promotes motivation by informing and clarifying

the employees about the task to be done, the manner they are
performing the task, and how to improve their performance if it is
not up to the mark.

 Communication is a source of information to the organizational

members for decision-making process as it helps identifying and
assessing alternative course of actions.
.
COMMUNICATION IN
THE WORKPLACE

 Communication also plays a crucial role

in altering individual’s attitudes, i.e., a well
informed individual will have better attitude
than a less-informed individual.
FRAMEWORKS OF
COMMUNICATION THEORY.
Mechanistic - The mechanistic view point says that
communication is simply the transmission of information from
the first party to the second party. The first party being the
sender and the second party being the receiver.

Psychological - According to the psychological view point,

communication is simply not the flow of information from the
sender to the receiver but actually the thoughts, feelings of the
sender which he tries to share with the recipients. It also
includes the reactions, feelings of the receiver after he
decodes the information.

.
FRAMEWORKS OF
COMMUNICATION THEORY:
Social - The social view point considers communication as a result of
interaction between the sender and the receiver. It simply says that
communication is directly dependent on the content and style of the
speech. “How one communicates” is the basis of the social view point.

Critical - The critical view point says that communication is simply a way
with the help of which an individual expresses his power and authority
among other individuals.
ARISTOTLE MODEL OF
COMMUNICATION
 The LASSWELL
Model

IN WHAT TO WITH WHAT

WHO SAYS WHAT WHOM
CHANNEL EFFECT
Communicator Message Receiver
Medium Effect

Verbal model advanced by Harold Lasswell in

1948
Sequential or linear pattern
SHANNON WEAVER MODEL
OF COMMUNICATION
 The SHANNON-WEAVER
Model
 A model originally designed for telephone communication:
EXAMPLE:
 Phone call – information source
 telephone – transmitter converts message into electronic signal
 telephone – receiver that reconverts electronic signal into a
message
 message – heard by another person, destination
 distorting signals – noise
 Depicts communication as one-way mechanical or of linear sequence
 Depicts noise as an element found ONLY within the message and not
throughout the communication process.
SCHRAMM’S MODEL
 Wilbur Schramm tried many models to convey his insights and
finally his fourth model was the charm!

 His fourth model emphasizes the “dynamism of human

communication.”

 People interact in a constant, cyclical fashion.

 Classify communication as an interactive process.

BERLO’S MODEL OF
COMMUNICATION
Berlo acknowledged the complexity of the
communication process as evidenced by the influence
of several factors on communication, to include an all-
encompassing system --- the communicator’s socio-
cultural framework.
BERLO’S MODEL
 DANCE Model
 Represented by a spiraling figure – helix
 The process of communication progresses or moves forward in a
cyclical fashion
 What we say now influences the future.
Helix as a symbol for the dynamics of human communication is visually
powerful.
Symbolizes evolution of human communication
ETHNOGRAPHY OF
COMMUNICATION
Ethnography of communication is the study of communication
within the background of social and cultural practices and beliefs.
First introduced by Dell Hymes in 1962

According to Hymes, language cannot be studied in isolation. It

has to be studied in the wider context of cultural and social
aspects.
Language is not limited to a mere technical set of grammatical
rules. In fact, it has a specific context, both in terms of the
individual and the cultural norms and beliefs.
THEORIES OF
COMMUNICATION
Hymes also developed the SPEAKING model which analyses speech in its
cultural context. It consists of sixteen parts which have been divided into eight
categories.
They are as follows:
S – setting and scene – the physical location where the speech takes place
P – participants –the people who take part in the speech
E – ends – the purpose and the outcome of the speech
A – act sequence – the speech acts and the sequence in which they are carried
out
K – key – the tone and manner in which the speech is carried out
I – instrumentalities – the medium of communication that is used
N – norms of interaction – the rules of speech, interaction and interpretation
G – genres – the ‘type’ of speech and its cultural contexts