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Speech 30 Public Speaking and Persuasion
Module 1: Fundamentals of Communication
INTRODUCTION
One of the most important changes in human consciousness in the last century has been the exponential
growth of the means and forms of communication. Technology has made communication across
geographical divides and time constraints possible –with digital means superseding many forms of face-
to-face interactions. We realize that with the expanding range of communication channels available
comes the need for a more critical view of what communication is and its role in human society and its
development.
This module is designed to reinforce your understanding of the communication process through a review
of fundamental concepts and principles. At the end of the discussion, you should be able to:
● Identify the elements and forms of communication.
● Describe the principles of communication through a survey of different communication models.
● Develop a comprehensive definition of communication
As we go through the concepts highlighted in this module, let us strive to answer this key question:
Why is it important to understand the basic principles of human communication as one aims to
study public speaking and persuasion?
It should take you around three (3) hours to complete all the sections. Feel free to go through the
resources and reading materials at your own pace.
ACTIVITIES FOR ENGAGEMENT
How many hours in a day do you spend communicating?
Get a piece of paper or open your Notes app. It is best to start accomplishing this activity as soon as you
wake up. Log all your communication-related activities today, starting from the moment you opened your
eyes and checked your phone for unread text/ social media messages. Don’t forget to include the time
you spend chatting with friends, commenting on social media posts, e-mailing your professors, and even
writing or recording for your personal blog/vlog. At the end of the day, right before you go to sleep,
compute the total number of hours you spent communicating.
Studies by Klemmer and Snyder (1972) and the McKinsey Global Institute (2012) confirm that we spend
50 to 80% of our productive time (work hours) communicating in a day– this includes face-to-face as well
computer-mediated interactions. While this is a huge percentage, keep in mind that communication takes
many forms and is divided among several channels.
Communication is an intricate process whose effective performance requires an in-depth understanding of
how it works. Since communication pervades our daily lives, it is only imperative that we learn its
fundamentals and so we may use it competently. After all, our ability to communicate will always affect
how we live our personal and professional lives -from how we build relationships to how we can cause
societal change.
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DISCUSSION
I. Elements of Communication
Discussion Question:
● The complexity inherent in communication is a result of the variety of factors that compose and
influence it (Alberts, Nakayama, & Martin, 2019). What are the elements of human
communication and how do these elements interact in the communication process?
More than sending and receiving messages, communication is also a complex process influenced by
individual and societal elements, like culture and context. These elements, present in all communication
acts, affect how information is transmitted, received, and interpreted. Understanding them is essential to
understanding the communication process completely.
Messages, the building blocks of communication, are sets of symbols and meanings produced and
transmitted in the communication process. Although you may customarily think of messages as being
verbal (oral or written), you also communicate nonverbally.
The messages we send and receive are symbolic. A symbol is something that represents something else
and conveys meaning. Creating meaning out of these symbols involves encoding –taking ideas and
converting them into messages and decoding –receiving a message and interpreting its meaning based on
previously agreed-on definitions.
All communication acts take place in a context –the setting, scene, and expectations of the individuals
involved.
● The physical context is the physical surroundings of a communication event, including the
location and environmental conditions.
● The social–psychological context focuses on the relationships among the participants and the
social roles they play, which usually determines friendliness, formality, and seriousness of the
situation.
● The temporal context involves the time of day, the time in history in which the communication
takes place, and how a message fits into the sequence of communication events.
● The cultural context considers your (and others’) culture: the beliefs, values, and ways of
behaving.
These context dimensions influence the content of the messages (what you say) as well as on the form
(how you say it).
The compound term source-receiver refers to all of the people in the interaction or speech setting. It is
used instead of sender and receiver separately because it emphasizes that each person involved in
communication is both a source (or speaker) and a receiver (or listener). When we speak, we observe
others’ nonverbal behavior to see if they understand us and we gauge their emotional state. The
information we gain from these observations is known as feedback –messages sent back to the speaker
reacting to what is said.
Source-receivers may encode information in the form of words, images, sounds, body language, and
more. Communication rarely takes place over only one channel, the medium through which the message
passes; we may use two, three, or four different channels simultaneously. In face-to-face communication,
the channel involves most, if not all of our senses, as we usually interpret messages based on what we see,
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hear, touch, smell and perhaps what we taste. When we’re communicating with someone online, the
channel is the computer, when texting the channel is the smartphones; and when watching a movie on
Netflix, the channel is the TV.
Noise refers to anything that interferes with message transmission or reception. These interferences
include poor audio quality or too much sound, poor image quality, closed-mindedness, technical jargons,
etc.
● Physical noise is the perceptible interference that is external to both speaker and listener (like
screeching of passing cars, illegible handwriting); it interferes with the physical transmission of
the signal or message.
● Physiological noise is created by barriers within the sender or receiver such as visual
impairments, hearing loss, articulation problems, and memory loss.
● Psychological noise is mental interference in the speaker or listener and includes preconceived
ideas, wandering thoughts, biases and prejudices, closed-mindedness, and extreme emotionalism.
● Lastly, semantic noise is created when the speaker and listener have different meaning systems; it
includes language or dialectical differences, the use of jargon or overly complex terms, and
ambiguous or overly abstract terms whose meanings can be easily misinterpreted.
For every communication act, there is always some consequence or effect (Devito, 2018).
● Cognitive effects are changes in your thinking, like when you acquire knowledge or a skill from
a class or an interaction
● Affective effects are changes in your attitudes, values, beliefs, and emotions
● Behavioral effects are changes in behaviors such as learning new dance movements, throwing a
curveball, or using different verbal and nonverbal behaviors.
In many cases, a single message has interacting effects –it may inform you, move you to feel differently,
and lead you to act more generously moving forward.
II. Forms of Communication
Discussion Questions:
● Aside from the number of participants involved, what other dimensions make each form of
communication distinct?
● Communication happens in innumerable ways among billions of people in unique contexts every
day that one may consider these classifications arbitrary. Why do you think is it still necessary to
understand communication forms?
Forms or levels of communication vary in terms of participants, channels used, and contexts. Over time,
these forms and their characteristics have evolved through the continuing progression of technology. Let
us briefly look at each of these forms.
Intrapersonal communication is communication with oneself, usually through reflective thinking. We
communicate with ourselves to plan our lives, rehearse scenarios before we act them out, and tell
ourselves what to do or not do. The way we communicate with ourselves greatly affects our self-esteem.
Increasing our self-awareness, mindfulness, and our ability to think critically about all types of messages
will aid us greatly in improving our own intrapersonal communication –which in turn also provides a
foundation for learning about the other forms of human communication.
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Communication between two persons or a small group of people whose lives mutually influence one
another is interpersonal communication. It is the form of communication that builds, maintains, and
ends our relationships –and is usually of a continuing personal (rather than temporary and impersonal)
nature. We spend more time engaged in interpersonal communication than the other forms of
communication.
Interviewing is communication that proceeds by question and answer. It is a form of communication
driven by a purpose (usually to derive information or provide counseling) and is directed towards its
object by the interviewer. Traditionally, interviewing involves a face-to-face meeting and discussion
between two or more people, but today, interviewing (especially initial interviews) takes place through e-
mail and (video) phone conferencing already.
Small group communication –interactions among three or more people who are connected through a
common purpose, mutual influence, and a shared identity– serves relationship needs such as those for
companionship, affection, or support, as well as task needs such as balancing the family budget, or
designing a new ad campaign. Through small group communication you interact with others, solve
problems, develop new ideas, and share knowledge and experiences.
Communication among interrelated individuals within a particular environment or setting to achieve
common goals is organizational communication. Interactions that take place in this level are highly
contextual and culturally dependent. Conferencing with colleagues, working in teams, talking with a
supervisor, or giving employees directions involve the organization’s members transmitting messages
through face-to face, written, and mediated channels.
Public speaking, public communication, or presentational speaking is communication between a speaker
and an audience. It is different from other forms of interaction in that it requires greater levels of planning
and preparation on the part of the speaker and involves less direct interaction. Audience members still
interact with the speaker via mostly nonverbal symbols, but there is a lesser degree of give and take than
there is in one-on-one conversations. Audiences range in size from several people to hundreds, thousands,
and even millions.
Computer mediated communication is an umbrella term that encompasses various forms of human
communication through networked computers and electronic devices. CMCs can be synchronous (the
exchanges of messages occur in real time) or asynchronous (communication does not occur in real time)
and involve one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many exchanges of text, audio, and/or video messages.
Mass communication is communication from one source to many receivers, who may be scattered
throughout the world. Mass communication takes place via at least the following media outlets:
newspapers, magazines, television, radio, film, and video. A certain amount of intentionality goes into
transmitting a mass communication message since it usually requires one or more extra steps to convey
the message. Mass communication is responsible for giving us views of events, issues and people from
cultures that differ from ours. It enables us to learn what is going on in distant places in the world and lets
us learn the viewpoints of people and cultures with whom we do not have direct contact.
III. Communication Models
Discussion Questions
● What makes each communication model unique? Describe the changes communication models
have undergone, beginning with the classic Aristotelian Model.
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● According to Bulan and De Leon (2002), why is it necessary to study models? Which
communication model do you think best represents the complex process of communication?
Now that we have revisited what constitutes communication (the elements and their relationships with
one another) as well as its forms, let us try to depict communication in models –visual representations of
processes that attempt to facilitate the understanding of its complexities. Some models explain
communication in more detail than others, but even the most complex model still doesn’t recreate what
we experience in even a moment of a communication encounter. Models still serve a valuable purpose for
understanding communication because they allow us to see specific concepts and steps within the process
of communication, define communication, and apply communication concepts. Let us take a look at
linear, interactive, and transactional communication models and highlight their heuristic value – the
unique concepts or processes they introduce.
1. The Aristotelian Model
Aristotle was the first to take an initiative and design the communication model. His was simple and
basic. It has three (3) main features, namely: speaker, message, audience. In ancient Greece, during
political meetings, the prospective leader delivers a speech to the audience urging for more votes from the
constituency. He tries to convince the crowd in the best possible way he can so that he emerges as a
winner –hence, the Aristotle’s communication model is a speaker centered model as the speaker has the
most important role in it and is the only one active. It is the speaker’s role to deliver a speech to the
audience. The role of the audience is passive, influenced by the speech. This makes the communication
process one way, from speaker to receiver.
2. The Lasswell Model
Harold Lasswell, an American social scientist, developed one of the earlier models of communication
depicting it as unidirectional process with five (5) elements: who (sender) is saying what (message),
which channel is used to convey the messages, who (receiver) the message is aimed, at and what effect
the message has.
The Lasswell Communication Model was primarily designed to analyze mass communication. When
Lasswell developed the model in 1948, it was meant to study media propaganda from countries and
businesses. In that time, only the rich and affluent could use mass media like television and radio.
Newspapers were not read by everyone, simply because subscriptions were too expensive. It was from
this perspective that Lasswell came up with the concept of effective mass communication; the relationship
between the presentation of the message and how this generates different effects. The effect of a message
can also be seen as feedback.
3. The Shannon-Weaver Model
A model originally designed to improve telephone communication, the Shannon-Weaver model identifies
five (5) basic components: an information source, a transmitter, a receiver, a destination and noise. It
is the first communication model to recognize physical disturbances that interferes with successful
message transmission.
The Shannon-Weaver model also depicts communication as a one-way or linear sequence of transmission
and reception. It also depicts noise as an element found only within the message and not throughout the
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communication process. And since it originally applied to telephone communication, its concepts of
transmitter, receiver and noise are mechanical.
4. Schramm’s Model
Wilbur Schramm conceptualized a number of models to explain the communication process. In each of
his models, he introduces and explains an essential component of the communication act. His second
communication, for example, model highlights the importance of an overlap of communicators’ fields.
Schramm’s second model recognizes the dual role of each communicator in that he is both sender and
receiver, and that both encoding and decoding entail personal interpretation.
His fourth model emphasizes the dynamism of human communication as it attempts to explain that
people interact in constant cyclical fashion whereas earlier models depict communication as a sequence.
5. Berlo’s SMCR Model
At first glance, the SMCR model seems to represent the process of communication in its simplest form,
only using the established elements Sender, Message, Channel, and Receiver. However, in creating the
model, Berlo acknowledged the complexity of the communication process as evidenced by the influence
of several factors on communication, to include an all-encompassing system – the communicator’s
sociocultural framework. Under each element, he elaborated the influences that may affect the message
transmission. The source and receiver are influenced by their: knowledge, attitudes and communication
skills, and their sociocultural system. Where the communicator’s message is concerned, three areas
matter: message content, communicator’s treatment, and coding of content. Channels of communication
or the means by which communication is shared consist of five senses, seeing, hearing, touching,
smelling, tasting.
6. White’s Model
Eugene White’s model is circular and continuous, illustrating the sequence of events that take place in
communication. His 1960 model is that of a cyclical process composed of eight stages:
1. Thinking – a desire, feeling, or an emotion provides a speaker a stimulus to communicate a need.
2. Symbolizing – before he can utter sounds, a speaker has to know the code of oral language with
which to represent his ideas and in order to make his selection.
3. Expressing – the speaker then uses his vocal mechanism to produce the sounds of language
accompanied by his facial expression, gestures, and body stance.
4. Transmitting – waves of sound spreading at 1,000 feet per second and waves of light traveling at
a speed of 186,000 miles per second carry the speaker’s message to his listeners.
5. Receiving – sound waves impinge upon the listener’s ears after which the resulting nerve
impulses reach the brain via the auditory nerve; light waves strike the listener’s eyes after which
the resultingnerve impulses reach the brain via the optic nerve.
6. Decoding – the listener interprets the language symbols he receives and thinks further.
7. Feedbacking – the listener may manifest overt behavior like a nod, smile, or yawn or he may not
show any behavior at all (covert behavior like fast heartbeat, a poker face, etc.)
8. Monitoring – while the speaker watches for signs of reception or understanding of his message
among his listeners, he is also attuned to what’s going on inside him; the speaker is receiving and
decoding messages about himself from his audience in order to adjust to the particular situation.
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7. Dance Model
The Helical Model of Communication, or Dance’s Helix Model, is a communication model that
represents the process of communication as one that progresses or moves forward in cyclical fashion —
moving forward but coming back upon itself. The model views communication as cyclical and dynamic,
influenced by time and experience, continuous, non-repetitive, and accumulative (getting increasingly
more complex and ‘knowledgeable’).
Dance’s model accommodates improvements in our communication by creating a time-based third
dimension. Now, instead of communication looking like a two-dimensional circle, it looks like a three
dimensional spring.
8. A Symbolic Interaction Model (Wood)
Julia Wood (1998) defined communication as a dynamic (powerful), systemic (parts form a whole)
process in which communicators discover personal meanings through their symbolic interactions. Her
Symbolic Interaction theory explains how humans develop a complex set of symbols that gives meaning
to the world in their perspective. The meanings are molded from the interactions with the society. And
these interactions are subjectively interpreted by them to suit the meaning in accordance with the existing
symbols.
The Symbolic Interaction Model recognizes that interactions may be either sequential or simultaneous
since there is no direction specified. A given interaction evolves out of earlier interactions and is
influenced by previous encounters as well as by the present situation. As communication progresses over
time (T1, T2, T3...), the shared world between communicators is enlarged. As people communicate, they
learn each other’s values, beliefs, attitudes, predispositions to situations, moods and interests. Over time
people also learn to use common symbols to designate ideas, concepts, perceptions, rituals, and
expectations. Shared experiences may lead to a greater understanding between communicators. It is
communication that enables people to build shared worlds.
In addition to the model’s dynamic feature, there is also the systemic quality of communication. Several
levels of systems are represented within the model. Both communicators live within a vast social system
or social world composed of all the social systems that make up a given society. Each communicator
belongs to a few not all of such systems and is represented by dotted lines. This is to indicate the
openness of these systems to forces outside of them. The dotted lines also mean that there is
interrelatedness between systems.
Furthermore, the model emphasizes the communicator’s personal construction of meanings through his
individual phenomenal world. This world consists of everything that makes up an individual — self-
concept, goals, emotions, thoughts, skills, attitudes, past experiences, beliefs, and values. This world is
the basis for interpreting communication. In the model Communicator B interprets A’s messages through
his phenomenal world, not through A’s. To the extent that these two worlds overlap, A and B will have a
clear, shared understanding of symbols. Their personally constructed meanings when found to be
common or similar will lead them to deeper communication.
Finally, the model presents a feature not highlighted by the other models: constraints. The series of lines
indicates the existence of constraints throughout the communication process. Constraints may come in the
form of conditions beyond our control (i.e., unstable economy) and they may also be found in the
communicators (i.e., biases, moods, dislikes).
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9. The Speech Communication Transaction Model (Gronbeck et al., 1997)
Premised on speechmaking, this model is comprised of essentially the following components: a speaker,
the primary communicator, gives a speech, a continuous, purposive oral message, to the listeners, who
provide feedback to the speaker. The exchange occurs in various channels in a particular situation and
cultural context.
ENRICHMENT
More than an arbitrary process of conveying symbols and meanings, O’Hair and Eadie (2009) regarded
communication as an active, transformative tool in human society. You may want to read on how they
discuss the role of communication in building community, identity, and citizenship in the recommended
article.
REFERENCES
Alberts, J., Nakayama, T., & Martin, J. (2012). Introduction to Human Communication. Human
communication in society, 3rd edition (pp.1-22). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
Bulan, C. & De Leon, I. (2002). Exploring the Nature of Communication: An Overview.
Practical speech fundamentals, experimental edition (pp. 5-25). Quezon City: University
of the Philippines Diliman Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts.
DeVito, J. (2015). Preliminaries to Human Communication. Human communication: The basic
course, 13th edition (pp. 1-26). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
O’Hair, D. (2009). In WF Eadie (Ed.), 21st century communication: A reference handbook (pp.
3–11).
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