What are the essential elements of communication?

      

List the essential elements of communication.

  

Answers


Maurice
State and explain the elements of communication.

Receiver:

the person who decodes the signal and attempts to make sense out of what the source
encoded for the communication to be accomplished. On gaining verbal and non-verbal
signals the receiver processes them through a memory search so that the signals are
translated into the receiver’s language system. The message is filtered through past
experiences, attitudes, beliefs, values, prejudices and biases.

Messages:

the written, spoken and unspoken elements of communication to which we assign
meaning. We can send messages intentionally (e.g. speaking to a friend), unintentionally
(e.g. sleeping during a class), verbally (saying hi), non-verbally (e.g. a smile and
handshake) or in written form.

Channel:

A message is communicated from sender to receiver via some pathway called a
channel. With today’s technological advancements, we receive messages from a variety
of channels:
- Through the internet or a fax transmission, the channel is a telephone line.
- Cellular telephone uses a wireless channel.
- If the communication occurs face to face these channels may be some or all of the five
senses. Typically, we rely on sight and sound as channels in speaking and listening.
- In some instances, we may choose to send a message to someone by means of physical
contact, such as tapping the person on the shoulder. In this case we use the touch channel.

Feedback:

Once the receiver assigns meaning to the received message, s/he is in a position to
respond. Feedback is the response to the message. Without it communication is less likely to be
effective. It can be a verbal (e.g reply) or a non-verbal (e.g. yawning) reaction to a message or
both.
Feedback indicates whether the receiver understands (e.g. by nodding), misunderstands (e.g. by
shrugging the shoulders and saying, “I don’t understand.”), encourages the source to continue
(e.g. by leaning forward and saying, “Yes.”) or disagrees (e.g. by pulling the chair and saying,
“No way!”) The act of responding, by which the receiver sends feedback to the source, actually
shifts the role of the receiver to that of the source.

Context:

the physical, historical and psychological communication environment. All
communication takes place in some context and the interpretation of the message is done in view
of the context. The setting or environment influences the way you act towards others or
determines the nature of communication encounter you share with them. For example, you can
alter your posture, manner of speaking or attire due to the environment.
Context encompasses not only the physical environment but also the number of people present,
their past relationships with the communicators, the communication goals and the culture in
which the communicators are steeped.
The psychological context includes the impact of what is going on in the minds of the
communicators. The speaker’s and the listener’s personality and styles of interacting with others
influence how the messages are understood.

Noise:

any internal or external interference in the communication process. Noise keeps a
message from being understood and achieving the intended effect. Without noise all our
messages would be communicated with considerable accuracy. But noise is always present and a
competitor in the communication process, because it gets in the way of the message and may
even distort it.
maurice.mutuku answered the question on August 14, 2017 at 11:51


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