Comm exam 1

Unit of analysis

The item that the researcher is trying to understand or study

Encode

The process of creating a message using symbols

Channel

Pathway through which the symbols travel (has a sender and receiver on either side of the channel)

Noise

Anything that interferes with the reciever’s ability to properly recieve the message

Decode

The process of interpreting the symbols within a message

Feedback

The various verbal and non-verbal responses to the messages by the reciever

Context

The physical, emotional, and psychological enviornment in which the communication event takes place

Communication competence

The ability to effectively and appropriately interact in any given situation

Self-monitoring

The process of being attuned to how our actions and messages impact others

Generalized other

A composite mental image we use to practice our potential statements or behaviors before we actually enact them

Empathy

The ability to understand and feel the same way as another person

Cognitive complexity

The ability to recognize multiple potential ways in which a situation or message could be understood or interpreted

Dialogue

A style of communication that respectfully encourages others to want to listen, while also listening in a way that encourages others to want to speak

Monologue

A style of communication where only one voice is respected (doesn’t mean only one voice is heard)

Assertiveness

The practice of clearly, calmly, and confidently making positions and ideas known to others

Debate

Parties listen to each other with the goal of defeating the opponent’s argument rather than understanding a perspective or finding common ground

Civility

The ability to treat others with respect, so we can have a lasting, peaceful, and positive interaction

Presentness

Giving your full attention to someone and avoid mental distractions, or noise, we are then practicing presentness

Unconditional positive regard

Accepting others with a positive attitude (keeping an open mind and seeing the potential good in others to create an environment where people feel comfortable expressing ideas and speaking about potentially controversial topics)

Deliberative

Speeches about future actions that might be taken

Forensic

Arguments about what had happened

Epideictic

Speeches that celebrate or commemorate events or people

General purpose

The broad intent of what your speech should accomplish (3 types: inform, persuade, and commemorate)

Brainstorm

The practice of creating a list of all the possible topics you can think of

Concept map

A visual representation of all the potential areas you could cover in your speech

Demographics

Categories of definable characteristics or groups of people

Informant

A contact person within the organization or group you can talk with to obtain information about the audience you will be speaking to

Likely scale questions

Survey questions that provide statements and then ask respondents to circle a number that measures their level of agreement with the statement

Semantic differential scale questions

Surgery questions that ask participants to choose their position on continuum between two polar opposites

Numbers

Raw quantitative data

Statistics

Quantitative reports that summarize and organize sets of numbers to make them easier to understand and visualize

Testimony

The words of other people used to support your point

Examples

Instances that we use to help define or clarify concepts

Expert testimony

Information that you can obtain from someone who has conducted extensive research not he topic

Peer testimony

Information that comes from someone who is in the same peer group as the audience (they aren’t necessarily an expert on the topic)

Denotative meaning

The literal definition of a word or phrase that you might find in a dictionary

Connotative meaning

The way a word or phrase is used in a particular context, potentially as slang or with an implied value judgement

Specific purpose statement

A narrower version of the general-purpose statement that identifies the topic you will address

Thesis statement

A 1 sentence summary of your speech that is written the way you will say it out loud to your audience

Preview of main points

Tells your audience how you will organize the information for that lesson or argument

Transition

A transition is a connecting statement that lets your audience know you are moving from one part of your speech to another

Internal summary

A statement that review or sums up what you just finished telling the audience

Signpost

A word that catches the audience’s attention and indicates where you are int he speech

Internal preview

A statement that previews what is coming up next and can even be an overview of the elements of the next main point

Full-sentence preparation outline

Everything you plan to say in your speech and is written somewhat like a manuscript in an outline format

Key word speaking outline

Outline you use during your speech, and it should include only key words to remind you of the main points, sub-points, source citations, statistics, and direct quotations you want to make sure are said in a particular way

Subordination

The process of creating a hierarchy of ideas in which the most general ideas appear first followed by more specific ideas

Coordination

The idea that all information not eh same level has the same degree of significance

Division

Being able to divide your main point into sub-points to explain it further

Vocal delivery

Everything that affects how your voice sounds when you speak

Pronunciation

What a word should sound like when it is spoken according to a rule or standard

Articulation

The process of physically shaping the sounds that make the word

Volume

How loud or soft the sound of your voice sounds when you speak

Pitch

How high or low your voice sounds when you speak

Rhythm

The cadence or pattern of movement in your voice

Rate

How fast or slow you speak

Tone

How variable your voice is and how

“Warm” your voice sounds

Vocalized pauses

Filer words that many speakers use when they feel I like that should be saying something but do not have anything to say

Physical delivery

All of the physical signals your body sends to your audience during your speech (there are several elements you should consider)

Physical appearance

Includes your apparel and grooming

Posture

The position of your body when you’re speaking

Facial expressions

The way the position and movement of your facial features convey emotion and engagement

Gestures

The movements of your hands and arms

Eye contact

Looking members of your audience in the eyes while speaking

Memorized speech

A speech the speaker commits to memory and delivers without the use of any notes

Manuscript speech

A speech the speaker writes out word for word in an essay format and delivers by reading from the manuscript

Extemporaneous speech

A practiced, polished speech that makes use of a limited speaking outline

Impromptu speech

A speech presented with little or no preparation

Communication apprehension

The fear or anxiety associated with real or anticipated communication with another or others

Trait CA

The amount of communication anxiety you were born with and naturally hav due to genetics

State CA

Anxiety that is related to the context in which you are communicating

Systematic desensitization

The process by witch a person is slowly introduced to something they fear so that each tie that overcome the fear the intensity decreased

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Convincing yourself that something is going to happen before it does, thus leading to the occurrence of what you originally expected

Presentation aids

Resources that engage one or more of the audience’s five senses to help the audience better understand the message

Objects

Physical items that you are discussing in your speech

Models

Scaled physical representations of things utilized as presentation aid

Demonstrations

Presentation aids that involves enacting the process you are trying to teach your audience

Charts

Visual presentation aid that shows numeric data in a series of rows and columns

Line graphs

Visual presentation aid that uses lines along two axes to show changes in values over time

Bar graphs

Visual presentation aids that have two axes and either horizontal or vertical bars that show the total number of items or levels of achievement in each category

Histogram

A type of frequency chart that shows the proportion of individuals that obtained a certain level of achievement along a continuum

Pie graph

A round graph that has slices that represent how large the proportion of that particular category is compared to the whole

Scatterplot

A graph that shows the relationship between two continuous variables

Arbitrary

Terms hat describes symbols themselves as having no direct connection with the things they represent

Semiotics

The study of the social production of meaning from sign systems like language

Signifier

The physical thing as we perceive it in the word around us

Signified

The associated with the signifier, the idea or mental construct of the signifier

Sign

An arbitrary symbol that represents the signifier and the signified

Ambiguous

Term that describes words as being without absolute meanings

Denotative meaning

The meaning prescribed to a sign without understanding its history of usage and application, its dictionary, or literal, definition

Connotative meaning

Meaning that comes from a set of associations a word brings to mind in a person

Abstract

The idea that language is not tangible or concrete

Negative

The idea that language separates things from their natural state, thus telling us not only what something is, but what it is not

Similes

Metaphoric language devices that compare two things through the use of “like” or “as”

Synecdoche

A metaphor that uses on part of something to refer to the whole thing

Metonym

A metaphor that is identified by its use of tangible objects to refer to intangible things

Archetypal

Metaphors that use common human experiences to help describe another object

Mixed metaphors

Phrases that make use of two different metaphors that do not logically fit; compare two things that have no internet connection with each other, creating incongruous comparisons

Dead metaphors

Metaphors that have lot the creative element from which they initially drew their power and now are just accepted as true terms, rather than the metaphors they are

Repetition

The practice of repeating words and phrases either immediately following the initial statement or in the same location in a message