Define communication: convey emotions and ideas, effort, language (symbols), body language, tone, 

• Process, components, ongoing, understanding, meaning. 

• Exchange/transaction of meaning.

Goal of communication: get the point across.

Why do we study an activity we've done before (EX: communication)?

• Proficiency

Why do we communicate?

• Physical needs

• Relational needs: cannot build and form new relationships without the use of communication behaviors (verbal/nonverbal)

• Identity needs: how do you know who you are (interactions with others, with yourself)

• Spiritual needs: values, morals, ethics, and what we value.

• Instrumental needs/practical needs: what I am doing the most on a day-to-day basis, ordering a drink, talking to the cashier at checkout, and asking for directions; roommate relationships. 

Nature of Comm as a process:

• Action model: one-way comm (darts, email: not simultaneous)

  • Source: formulates idea (encodes in brain idea into message, how to present self, what language to use)

  • The message is sent through channel (voice, lots of nonverbal) 10;1 nonverbal to verbal.

  • Received decodes the message (interpretation, attached meaning)

  • Interpretation is affected by noise: anything that gets in the way of interpreting a message the way it was intended (physical: cannot hear; psych: biases, etc; Physiol: sickness; semantics: word choices you don't understand or that makes you feel a certain way

• Interaction model: ping pong: back and forth, sender, receiver, feedback. Roles are specifically placed.

  • Receivers provide feedback through verbal and nonverbal behavior

  • The context of communication affects its meaning: physiological and psychological

• Transaction model: everybody plays sender and receiver: multiway process. 

  • Both parties in conversation are simultaneously senders and receivers

  • Communication flows in both directions.

Communication has many characteristics:

• It relies on multiple channels: words, eye contact, appearance, space you take up

• Passes through perceptual filters: biases, current relationships, culture, age, gender, job

• People give communication its meaning. It is a receiver-based process, so people cannot think only about themselves: sensitivity and humor.

• Has literal meanings and relational implications: content (the literal thing being said) and relational (what it reflects relationship: trust, comfort, friend, co-worker) dimension.

• Sends messages, intentional and unintentional

• Governed by rules

  • Explicit: written down, told to you, STOP sign 

  • Implicit: unsaid, we know or learn through trial and error. EX: elevator, airplanes.

Communicating Interpersonally: 

Def: Communicate in that occurs between two people within the context of their relationship and that, as it evolves, helps them negotiate and define their relationship 

• Other types exist, like intrapersonal communication, small group dynamics, mass (public) communication

Ranges from highly impersonal (ex: scheduling app, answering phone survey) to highly Interpersonal (ex: marriage proposal, asking for forgiveness).

Interpersonal Communication: 

• is pervasive (everywhere)

• can improve our relationships (need it to solve problems, etc)

• can improve our health (healthier supportive relationships → positive attitude and mindset). 

Building your communication competence:

Competent communicators are effective and appropriate

• Effectiveness describes how well your communication achieves its goals

• Appropriateness describes how well your communication complies with the rules and expectations of the social situation 

Competency is situational, and competency can be built.

Characteristics of Competent Communicators

• Self-monitoring: levers of self-awareness, how do I impact people, spectrum. High: put people first in social situations, cons: is it authentic?

• Adaptability: use tools and skills for each person, 

• Empathy: be other-oriented, perspective-taking, detrimental to being too empathetic (emotionally draining to always be an empath)communication is receiver-oriented!!

• Cognitive complexity: helps you to avoid jumping to conclusions about events, how else can I interpret this?

• Ethics: moral compass (everyone is different because it is culturally bound)