COM 101 Midterm

Dyadic Communication

The exchange of verbal and nonverbal messages between two individuals.

Small Group Communication

The interaction and exchange of ideas among three or more individuals.

Mass Communication

The process of conveying information to a large audience through various media channels, such as television, radio, newspapers, and the internet.

Public Speaking

The act of delivering a speech or presentation to an audience.

Source

The person who creates a message.

Encoding

The physical process of delivering a message.

Receiver

The recipient of a source’s message; in public speaking, the audience.

Decoding

The process of interpreting a speaker’s message.

Message

The content of the communication process; a speaker’s thoughts and ideas put into meaningful expression.

Feedback

Response of the audience.

Channel

The medium through which the speaker sends a message.

Context

Influences that affect the speaker, audience, or occasion.

Noise

Interference that serves as a barrier to communications; can include physical sounds as well as psychological, emotional, or environmental interference.

Shared Meaning

Mutual understanding of a message between speaker and audience.

Invention/Content

A canon of rhetoric—what you say.

Arrangement/Organization

A canon of rhetoric—how you say your content.

Literary Element

A canon of rhetoric—symbolic language used to heighten public speaking.

Memory

A canon of rhetoric—knowing your topic and help the audience to know it.

Ethics

Branch of philosophy that deals with issues of right and wrong in human affairs.

Ethos

Being of good moral character, providing credibility, being honest, and not misrepresenting information.

Unethical Speech

Slander, invasion of privacy, perjury, hate speech, and inciting violence.

Plagiarism

Taking another person’s unique work or ideas and crediting it as your own.

Hearing

Auditory input entering one’s ears and being registered by the brain.

Listening

Active comprehension and processing of sound by the brain.

Audience Analysis

Identifying characteristics and preferences to adopt messages to meet audience needs.

Audience Demographics

Statistics on a given population.

Value

A moral/virtue in society.

Beliefs

A feeling about a value.

Attitude

Judgement about a belief (right or wrong).

Practice

The first key element of giving speeches.

Preparation

The second key element of giving speeches.

Personality

The third key element of giving speeches.