Unit-1

The communication process

The four basic communication skills:

• Listening. (Active listening)

• Communicating nonverbally. (Signs, symbols, gestures, postures, expressions.)

• Using your voice. (Tone, pitch, phonation etc.)

• Engaging the audience. (Audience analysis; age, gender, profession, culture, education etc.)

Communication is also; intentional and deliberate to bring response and fulfill a purpose. It is
transactional and involves participants exchanging information. Communication is symbolic too. It uses
words, pictures, signs, symbols sounds and sensory elements.

These are the basic principles of communication; clarity, timeliness, coherence, urgency, conciseness,
correctness, courteousness, and completeness.

The concept of communication involves transmitting non-verbal and verbal information through a
channel that includes a sender, medium of communication, and a receiver.
Aristotle’s model

Aristotle's model of communication primarily focuses on the sender (public speaker, professor, etc.)
who passes on their message to the receiver (the audience). The sender is also the only active member
in this model, whereas the audience is passive. According to Aristotle the speaker can make use of three
elements of persuasion; Ethos (credibility/reliability) Pathos (Emotion) Logos (Logic/reasoning). This
model is very effective in public speaking and has been used by many famous orators, politicians and
other public figures.

The Shannon-Weaver model

Shannon weaver model is a model consisting of basic elements such as a source, encoder, medium,
decoder, receiver, and noise. It describes the way in which information flows from a sender to a
receiver. This model was designed to foe effective communication between sender and receiver.

The Johari window model

The Johari (Combination of Joseph +Harry=Johari) Window model is a psychological tool meant to
increase self-awareness and improve communication. The model was developed by Joseph Luft & Harry
Ingham in 1955. The Johari Window Model involves developing self-awareness and communication.
Through this model, self-awareness is strengthened by understanding how people perceive themselves,
and how others experience them in interactions. The model is represented and explained with a window
diagram that contains 4 windowpanes representing four quadrants. They are as follows: Open or Arena
Box, Hidden Area or Facade, Blind Spot, and The Unknown Area.

Newcomb’s model
The New Comb’s model of communication was introduced by Theodore M Newcomb of the University
of Michigan in 1953. The main purpose of this theory is to introduce the role of communication in a
social relationship (society) and to maintain social equilibrium within the social system. He does not
include the message as a separate entity in his diagram, implying it only by use of directional arrows. He
concentrates on the social purpose of communication, showing all communication as a means of
sustaining relationships between people. Sometimes it’s called as an “ABX” model of communication.

Berlo’s model

David Berlo was an American communications theorist who is known for developing the SMCR model of
communication in 1960. According to Berlo, effective communication occurs when the sender of a
message and its receiver are on the same level or are roughly similar. For example, if a speaker has
exceptional communication skills, the receiver should have comparable listening skills for effective
communication to occur between them. Furthermore, Berlo defines communication as any type of
information that is being sent or transferred to a receiver. So, this can include casual conversations
between friends or formal presentations given at a scientific conference.

Osgood-Schramm model
Schramm's model holds that communication occurs in a circular way. Being circular implies that both the
sender and the receiver exchange roles and participate equally in communication. This differentiates it
from other models, which view communication as linear. Schramm's model of communication includes a
feedback loop and the processes of encoding, decoding, and interpretation. The success of
communication also depends on the fields of experience of the participants. A field of experience
includes past life experiences as well as attitudes and beliefs.

De Fleur model

De Fleur simply expands the Shannon & weaver model of communication by inserting the Mass Media
device and suggested the communication process is circular as well as it gives possible two way
feedback. In this whole communication process, noise may occur at any stages. Defleur pictures the
source, transmitter, receiver and destination as separate phases of mass communication. Defleur’s
another important suggestion in this model is “Feedback Device”. This feedback device is helps to
analyse the target audience (as separate from the receivers). Here, all these receivers are not
considering as a target audience because the target audience will make some kind of feedback which
will helps to find the target audience by using feedback device.

Modes of Communication

Mode of communication refers to the medium or channel through which communicative intent is
expressed. Typical communication modes include natural speech, facial expression and gesture.
Exceptional communication modes include the use of graphic symbols or synthetic speech (AI

1. Interpretive Communication (one-way communication focused on comprehension & analysis by

listeners)

2. Interpersonal Communication (exchange of information, ideas and feelings between two or more
people)

3. Presentational Communication (one-way communication that pertains to a speaker)

4. Linguistic or Alphabetic Communication (written or spoken words.)

5. Gestural Communication (body movements)

6. Aural Communication (System of speaking and hearing.)

7. Visual Communication (use of visual elements convey ideas and information)

8. Spatial Communication (physical closeness between people and objects.)

9. Multimodal Communication (Application of different methods in communicating)

10. Cultural and Intercultural Modes of Communication. (Inter-culture interaction/Cross-culture

interaction)

11. Digital/electronic communication (exchange of information, data or messages via electronic

devices.)

Methods of Communication

Methods of communication refer to an orderly logical arrangement usually in steps. There are various
different methods of communication. These include; spoken/oral communication, non-verbal
communication, listening, written communication and visual communication. Research has shown that
non-verbal cues and body language, facial expressions and tone of voice account for almost 55% of all
communication.

Verbal communication: Verbal communication is when we use the spoken or written words to
communicate with others. This can be face to face with another person or group of people, or over the
telephone or video call, for example Skype or Zoom, texting or emails etc. Verbal communication can be
informal, for example casually chatting with a friend, or it can be a more formal process such as a work
meeting, interview, conferences, lectures or oral presentation. Face-to-face verbal communication is
usually the preferred method of communication.

Non-verbal communication: Non-verbal communication includes facial expressions, eye contact, hand
movements, touch and posture. These things usually provide reinforcement to verbal communication.
Non-verbal communication is not usually used on its own without verbal communication except when a
person is using sign language. Physical non-verbal communication consists of body posture, eye contact,
facial expressions, touch, and overall movements of the body and tone of voice. All non-verbal
communication helps to convey a message to the person or people you are communicating with.

Visual communication: Visual communication can take place with the help of visual aids. These can
include things like: Drawings. /Graphic design. /Illustrations, pictures / Colours. /Graphs,
charts,/Typography./Signs. Visual communication such as graphs and charts can be useful in written
communication and sometimes can replace it completely. Visual communication can be a very powerful
way of getting a message across and can be more powerful than verbal and non-verbal communication.
Visual communication is much easier and more varied now due to the developments in technology. This
also means that visual communication can be much more creative.

Oral communication: Oral communication is the process of verbally transmitting information and ideas
from one individual or group to another. Oral communication can be either formal or informal. Examples
of informal oral communication include: Face-to-face conversations. Types of Verbal Communication
are:

Intra-personal Communication. (This form of communication is extremely private and restricted to us.)

Interpersonal Communication. (This form of communication takes place between two individuals and is
thus a one-on-one conversation.)

Small Group Communication. (Examples of small group communication are: A science group discussing
a project in a class. A group of local farmers of an area discussing better fertilizers. /Parents
communication with teachers.

Public Communication. (Examples include seminars, press conferences, political campaigns, and public
speaking events. Political campaigns and public speaking events typically use radio, newspaper, and
television to share ideas with the public.)

Written communication: Written communication might be a letter, email, a report, or a message on

social media. In a broad sense, written communications include letters, circulars, manuals, reports,
telegrams, office memos, bulletins, and other types of written correspondence whether digital or on
paper. It is a more rigid and formal way of communicating. It is not open to changes. A properly kept
written document creates a permanent record for future use. There are many advantages of written
communication, such as ease in preserving, ease in understanding, serving as legal documents, and
many more. But just like everything has two sides, so does ‘written communication.’
Advantages: Easy to Preserve/Clarity and Clear Understanding/ Permanent Record/Makes Presentation
Easy/Serves as a Legal document/No wastage of time and money/Fewer chances of
distortion/Maintaining Image/Ease in verification

Other Advantages of written communication are:-

Written communication is often used as a reference.

It can be used as a controlling tool for controlling the activities of the organization.

The recipient of the information gets sufficient time to think, act and react.

In the case of long-distance communication and repetitive standing orders, written communication is
very useful.

Disadvantages: Expensive/Time Consuming/Lack of confidentiality/ Delay in response and decision

making/Red Tapism/Impractical for Illiterate/Fabrication of the information/Complexity in formation

Basic systems in communication

Communication pervades all stages of the lifetime of all living creatures. No matter its nature, each
communication system has 3 essential elements: transmitter, medium/channel, and receiver.
Communication systems also include telephones, radios, emails, messaging apps, and social media
platforms that can be used for voice communication, data transfer, video conferencing, and messaging.

Barriers of business communication

1. Language and semantic barriers: Semantic barriers are obstacles in communication that distort or
misinterpret the meaning of a message. These barriers can arise from differences in language,
terminology, or the context in which words are used, leading to misunderstandings and
miscommunication.

2. Psychological barriers: Psychological barriers in communication are mental or emotional blocks that
can hinder the exchange of ideas or messages between people. These barriers to communication
include perceptions, biases, and emotional states that distort understanding and receptivity to
messages. These barriers manifest as resistance, insecurity, or anxiety, hindering effective interpersonal
exchange.

3. Organizational/systematics barriers: These barriers in communication are obstacles that impede

effective information exchange, often arising from structural and cultural factors. These include rigid
organizational hierarchies, cultural differences, technological gaps, and linguistic challenges in the
organization.

4. Personal barriers: Personal barriers to communication are internal obstacles that can stem from a
variety of sources, such as psychological factors, past experiences and individual personality traits (Fear
and Anxiety, Lack of Self-Awareness, Preconceived Judgments and Stereotypes). Understanding these
barriers is the first step toward overcoming them and unlocking the full potential of our interpersonal
interactions.

5. Mechanical barriers: Mechanical barriers include audio and/or video problems on the cell phones and
computers used, failures in operating systems, and any other obstacle related to the equipment used in
the day-to-day work teams.

Overcoming barriers: Use of simple language/Elimination or reduction of noise/Active

listening/Emotional state/Simple organizational structure/Avoid information overload/Give constructive
feedback/Proper medium&channel selection/Openness and transparency/Cultural sensitivity/

Writing process

1. Make a Plan of What You Are Going to Write: Making a plan for the content of your message is the
first stage. Make the purpose or goal of writing clear first. Once a goal has been established, gather data
while keeping the audience’s needs in mind. After that, devise a plan or choose a platform to deliver
your message. For the delivery of your desired message, use the appropriate communication channel.
It’s time to organize the thought and decide whether to use a direct or indirect technique to convey a
message. Wonders happen when writers’ motivation is practiced. The ideal strategy is to create an
outline so you won’t forget to include key details. Thus, the process involves:

● Investigate the Situation: You establish the purpose of your writing in this step and create a profile of
your audience. Without knowing your writing purpose, you risk having a limited comprehension of your
target audience and creating a message that is ignored or receives no reaction.

● Collect Data: This step involves identifying the audience’s needs and gathering the data necessary to
meet those needs. What information must your audience have? This process aids in helping you
concentrate on the key components of your message.

● Select the Correct Delivery Vehicle

Now you must pick the most efficient means of communication delivery (medium). Does your intended
audience read textual correspondence such as emails and letters? To effectively communicate your
message, you must choose the appropriate media. If you don’t, your intended audience won’t hear you.

● put the Data in the Proper Order: Once you’ve completed the fundamental tasks of obtaining,
analyzing, and selecting how to present your information, it’s time to organize it all. In this section of the
planning step, we will establish the key communication concept and decide whether to deliver the
message directly or indirectly. In accordance with best practices, the communication’s substance should
be outlined at this point.

2. Get Started with Writing Phase: Compose the message after careful planning. You will concentrate on
the “You” mindset strategy during this phase. This approach seeks to engage the audience and
effectively deliver the message. This technique will help you learn more about your audience’s
preferences in terms of fashion, age, education, and professional issues. It’s time to write a strong,
concise, and meaningful statement. It would be beneficial if you used terms that impacted the readers.

● Awareness about Audience’s Requirements: The objective is to discover as much as you can about
your audience. Find out about their prejudices, education, age, status, sense of style, and personal and
professional issues. Convey the message in clear English with a conversational tone using the right voice.

After figuring out how to tailor our business communication to our target, you must write the message.
Write the message with our audience in mind, in other words. You can communicate with them to meet
their needs using this knowledge. Additionally, in this step, you should aim to develop credibility to forge
a close bond with the audience.

● Write the Message: The final phase in the writing process is to select powerful words that result in
phrases and paragraphs that make sense. If you are writing for a general audience, make sure you
distinguish between abstract and concrete words in your writing and eliminate any jargon. When writing
to a technical audience, jargon is allowed since they will comprehend your message better than a
general audience. Choose terms when writing your message that will affect both the reader and the
message.

3. Final Phase: In this final phase, you will evaluate your message. Check whether it is effective or in
presentable form. Now you need to revise and review the message. See whether the information is
accurate and relevant to the target audience or not. Ensure the message format is fine such as fonts,
digital, analog, etc. After this, proofread the message to fix the grammatical mistakes and errors. Now
it’s time to distribute the message to your audience. Use a reliable and authentic channel.

● proofread Your Work: Check the communication component for layout mistakes. Verify your
grammar and spelling as well. Read your message numerous times, paying attention to various areas
with each reading. By reading your work backward, you can check for spelling mistakes. After your initial
examination, put the document aside and return to it a few hours or a day later. You will be able to find
any errors you might have missed during the initial review with the aid of fresh eyes. Ensure that all the
materials and documents you intend to distribute relate to your message.

Conclusion: Regular practice and use of the three-step writing process for business communication will
help you become a better writer. Adhere to the above instructions to accomplish your goal.

Importance of communication

Academic & fiction writing

1. Prewriting: Brainstorming can be a response to a half-formed thought you had while riding the
subway, or to a writing assignment like a prompt that kick-starts your writing one day. Either way, the
writing process often looks very much like an iceberg: thinking about characters and plot, daydreaming
about the world where your story is set takes up more time than most people realize.

Make a habit of writing down the things that have captured your attention in the past week or month.
These may become the source motivators of your writing, maybe of your career. Any writing project will
require a sustained interest, so be sure to fill this page with your truth: What interests you? This can be
anything: a word, a movie, a person, an event, so long as it inspired you. It can be subjects (cactus
species, muscle cars, and a voyage to Mars) or people/types of people (therapists, spies, your relatives
and friends). Try to include things from other arts—for example, foods, music, or movies.

2. Planning: Common wisdom holds that there are two types of writers. Plotters are those who
meticulously plan every book before they write it, and pantsers are those who fly by the seat of their
pants, setting off into a novel without a clear map. For plotters, problems arise when their characters
decide to do something they weren’t expecting. It can be difficult to accept that your story isn’t what
you thought it would be, and there’s often a tendency to force your way forward. Pantsers incline
toward a different problem: they get lost, usually in the middle section of their work, because they
haven’t got a clear enough idea of where they’re going. Plotters will benefit from a re-thinking of their
story structure, and pantsers will often benefit by building some of the architecture their story needs.
New writers in particular find it helpful to have a road map, because it can be challenging to create a
cohesive plot that remains interesting from start to finish.

3. Drafting: Time to let the words flow. Enjoy the process of creating your first draft. Focus on getting
through it from start to finish, and remember that you can always go back and change things later. If a
novel feels too intimidating, try writing a short story instead. (Of course, short stories can be deceivingly
more difficult to write than novels and poems since they require a concise and extremely economical
narrative containing all the elements of a novel—in a fraction of the space.) If you’re working from an
outline, you can choose to approach your story in any order that feels right for you. If you prefer to write
in a linear fashion, begin with the first chapter. You will inevitably make changes to your original plan
along the way, and this is a good thing. But remember that once you add an element to you book, such
as a surprising new character or some sort of plot twist, you’ll need to go back and establish that
character or story element early on in order to prepare your readers for what is coming down the line.

Sometimes a fear of making mistakes will sabotage your writing process or stop you from putting ideas
on the page. It can cause writer's block while you’re in the middle of a project. Keeping speed in mind
will help you move past this. If you feel stuck, it’s best to push through and just get something—
anything—onto the paper.

4. Revising: As you enter the revising stage, read your manuscript aloud. Your ear will catch awkward
patches of sentence structure and infelicities that your eye often won’t. Here you’ll just be looking at
language, formatting, and style. One good technique is to identify problem areas that you’d like to
improve and then mark all of those areas with a colored highlighter. Look especially for sections where
the writing seems different—maybe it’s too sloppy, or something is overwritten—or sequences where
someone acted out of character. Search for sections that are too heavy on dialogue, or too dense with
exposition, and try to balance them out. Let your instincts guide you to the places where something
feels off and go back to them later for correction. That will make seeing it objectively difficult, and may
get in the way when it’s time to cut or tighten.

5. Editing: There are two kinds of editing: editing as you write, and editing once you’ve finished a draft.
It’s a good idea to practice the first type on a daily basis by tightening and proofreading your prose to
make it concise and effective. When reviewing the work that you’ve just done, ask yourself if it conveys
what you meant it to, if it makes sense, and if the writing feels good. The second type of editing involves
reading an entire manuscript while trying to imagine what a reader will think of it. It’s difficult to edit
your own writing without distance. Put the manuscript aside for a few weeks or months. When you go
back to the manuscript, try to print out a physical copy. This not only gives you space to take notes on
problem areas; it makes a difference in how you read stories, poems, novels etc. Don’t spend too much
time editing the same problem areas over and over. This is a type of procrastination and will generally
only augment your feelings of frustration. Try to find a balance: edit to smooth out your writing but
don’t edit so much that you ruin the original magic of your writing.

6. Publishing: A piece of writing may never truly feel complete to its author, but if you’ve made it all the
many iterations of your draft, and feel confident that you’ve answered your major dramatic question,
you’ve arrived at the last step! Once you’ve finished editing your novel, you have two choices: you can
self-publish or sell your book to a publisher. Self-publishing has become more popular with the rise of e-
books and the ease with which you can upload your work online.