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PROFESSOR: In this module, you will learn the definition
of communication.
You will be able to understand the communication model you
will also learn about the amount of time
that we spend communicating as well
as the difference between verbal and nonverbal communication.
What is communication?
Communication is the act of transferring information
from one place to another.
We all communicate each and every day of our lives.
But it is an active process of sending and receiving
information.
Here is the communication model, and as I shared,
there is a process that the communication takes place in.
We have the sender, who also serves as the receiver,
and then at least one or more individuals
will serve as the receiver.
And later on we'll come back as a sender in the communication
process.
If you notice, there is also a channel.
And this channel is how the communication, or how
the message, is being transported from the sender
to the receiver.
And as you can see, there is a box with the gray area
that we have labeled as our contacts.
And our contacts is the environment
in which the communication process takes place.
And at the top part you see the word noise.
Noise is anything that kind of interrupts, or may even
interfere with the communication process.
Sometimes its background noise, if you are at a restaurant,
and you're trying to either talk on the phone
or talk to your person or partner that's there with you
having lunch or breakfast or dinner,
and sometimes the music can be a bit loud.
If you are in a library, and you start hearing a child or a baby
crying, that could interrupt the communication process.
If you're having a discussion with someone in person,
or if you are trying to send a message via email,
it could interrupt your train of thought.
So noise is anything that's that kind of ambient noise
that's surrounding the environment in which
communication is taking place.
And if you'd also notice, there is two green arrows,
which represents feedback.
And feedback can be given from the center to the receiver,
as well as from the receiver to the sender.
And we're going to explore a little bit more
about how feedback can come into play within the communication
process.
I've also provided a breakdown of the communication process.
So the model that we just looked at,
the sender encodes, or basically translates
a message that circulates through the channel
to reach the receiver.
In face to face communication, that channel
is the use of speech.
It is encoded by the sender as he or she chooses his words
to convey the message.
The receiver on the other end decodes or interprets
the message.
In addition, noise affects each step
of the communication process.
Noise is everything that affects the communication process
and originates from the environment,
although it can also originate from within.
All communication is influenced by the context,
which is the environment in which the communication takes
place.
And finally, feedback gives an indication
to the sender of how well the message has
been received by the receiver.
Now in this model, the roles of sender and receiver
can be reversed as the communication
process continues.
So I kind of want to go back to the communication model,
and now we can see how the definitions, the sender,
sending the message through the channel by which
the communication of the message is being sent from one person
to another.
We can also see how the feedback, which kind of
indicates whether we're understanding what's
being said, or there are ways that you
can be able to pick up that a person is not quite getting
the information.
And again, the gray area is representing the environment.
Basically where the communication is taking place.
And I will have, as a supplement in our module, the full PDF
version of both the communication model,
as well as the process being explained altogether.
Now when we are communicating, we
spend a great deal of our time communicating.
As we can see here, we spend time communicating as well as
not communicating.
And this particular chart, which is
from skills you need to know, is showing
a breakdown of communication, and how much time
we give to various areas.
If you will notice, we spend approximately 70%
of our time communicating and the remaining 30%
of our time not communicating.
When we break down that 70%, or look even closer
to the whole process of what are we doing
with our time in communicating, we
can see from the smaller pie chart that 45% of our time
is spent listening, 30% of our time is spent speaking,
16% of our time is spent reading, and 9% of our time
is spent writing.
So when we look at this time that we
invest on a daily basis with communicating,
we then want to kind of peel back just a little bit more
and look at the different types of communication.
And there are two types of communication.
We have verbal communication, and we also
have nonverbal communication.
Verbal communication is simply what we say, and how we say it.
Examples of verbal communication include asking questions,
giving positive feedback, paraphrasing, summarizing,
probing.
Of course talking on the phone, speaking to someone directly
in person, or even texting are forms of verbal communication.
Nonverbal communication.
Nonverbal communication is what we communicate without words.
All of the things that we do without speaking or using
words, that's what we consider as non verbal communication.
Some examples of non-verbal communication
include active listening, facial expressions, gestures,
body language, silence, not saying a word can communicate
a message.
Eye contact, appearance, and distracting habits.
Now when I talk about distracting habits,
I'm referring to if you are giving a public speech,
and a distracting habit may simply
be fidgeting, where you're sort of wringing
your hands as you're talking, where you may be pulling
or tugging on your clothes, your pant, or your blouse,
at the end of your blouse.
Those are distracting habits that can be perceived and tell
a particular story when you're communicating
without saying a word.
Those are little non-verbal pieces that can say a lot.
When we talk about body language, body language,
as in your posture, if you're standing straight up,
that's exuding confidence.
When you are maybe hunched over, or hovered over,
that tends to show a little bit of insecurity or low
self-confidence.
So it's important with your body language
to be mindful that you're delivering a message
without saying a word.
Your appearance, how you dress, are your garments well-kept?
Are they ironed?
Are they in the best shape?
They're not tattered or torn, especially in the workplace.
Or when you're going on an interview,
those are key indicators of your appearance
that you want to realize they're sending a message
to your prospective employer.
So be mindful of your appearance when
you are going on an interview, because that
is going to read a certain level of communication.
It's going to send a particular type of message.
If you come well-put together, that's going to read one way,
and if you come ill prepared, and you are not in your best
light, as far as appearance, that's
going to read negatively without you saying a word.
Again, that's what nonverbal communication is about.
It's what you say without even saying it.
Gestures, something as simple as--
mean something-- that means something.
That's another way to communicate.
Those are things that we do every day,
that we tend to send a message through a mode
of nonverbal communication.
Now, we're going to have a quick quiz over communication counts
with the first part of module three.
I'm Angelique Feaster Evans, and I look forward
to joining with you on Communication
Counts for module 3, part 2.
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