Communication - Is a process by which people send messages or exchange ideas or thoughts with one another in a

verbal or non-verbal manner.

- Originates from the Latin term, communicare (to share, to unite, to join, or to have things in common)

ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION

SOURCE / SENDER/ ENCODER/ COMMUNICATOR - The person who intends to convey the message with the intention of
passing information and ideas to others.

ENCODING - The conversion of subject matter into symbols like words, actions and pictures.

MESSAGE - The information you want to communicate.

DECODING- The person who receives the message or symbol from the communicator tries to convert the same in such a
way so that he may extract its meaning to his complete understanding.

RECEIVER/ DECODER - The person who receives the message or for whom the message is meant for. It is the receiver
who tries to understand the message in the best possible manner in achieving the desired objectives.

FEEDBACK - The process of ensuring that the receiver has received the message and understood in the same sense as
sender meant it.

NOISE - Anything that gets in the way of the message being accurately received, interpreted and responded to. It can be
internal or external.

Characteristics of Communication:

1. Communication is schemata-driven.
2. Communication is an interpretative act.
3. Communication is symbolic.
4. Communication is contextual.
5. Communication is influenced by media and technology.

Types of Communication According to Mode:

1. Verbal
2. Non Verbal
3. Visual
Verbal – refers to words. It can either be spoken/ oral or written.

Nonverbal communication (NVC) is a communication behavior that is expressed in any other means besides “words”.

Aspects of Nonverbal Communication:

1. Body Language (kinesics)

2. Posture
3. Voice ( paralanguage)
4. Space & Distance (proxemics and environment)
5. Color
6. Clothing & Appearance
7. Touch (haptics)

1. Body Language - Is a movement that includes eye contact, facial expression, gestures, and postures
a. Eye Contact - Occurs when two people look at each other's eyes; at the same time eye contact is a form
of nonverbal communication and is thought to have a large influence on social behavior.

How to use your eyes effectively?

1. Know your material.

2. Establish a visual bond.
3. Monitor visual feedback.
4. Distribute eye contact smoothly in different areas of the room.
5. Avoid eye- surfing.
6. Avoid gazing above or below audience’s eye level.

b. Facial expression is a tool to communicate the message and feelings through the eyes, eyebrows, mouth,
facial wrinkling, cheeks , neck, nose, and teeth.

c. Gestures - are movements, not from one place to another, but of the limbs, body, and head.

Types of Gestures:

 Descriptive – used to describe, clarify, or enhance the message; using the hands to describe size, height and the
like.

Ex: making a circular gesture for round shapes

 Emphatic – used to underscore or suggest strong emotions on what is being said.

Ex : pounding gesture

 Suggestive- used to concretize ideas and emotions

Ex. Shrugging of the shoulders for ignorance .

 Prompting – used to evoke a desirable response.

Ex. initiating applause by doing first yourself.

 How to Gesture Effectively:

1. Control your distracting mannerism.

2. Do not make a scripted gesture. Move naturally.
3. Match your gesture with your message.
4. Do not overdo gesturing (e.g. singing).
5. Make your gestures well timed.
6. Avoid mannerism.
7. Use an open and positive body position.
8. In small venue, the hand movement must be from elbows to the tip of your fingers. In big venue, hand
movements may be from the shoulders to the tip of the fingers.

Gestures Interpretation

Gesture of Openness - warm smile, unfolded arms, uncrossed legs, leaning forward, open palm

Gesture of Aggressiveness -clenched fist, furrowed brow, leg over arm of chair, squinting, finger- pointing, akimbo, arms
spread with hands gripped, stare

Gesture of Dominance - feet on desk, palms down, physical elevation, strident loud voice, crunching handshake

Gesture of Boredom - blank stare, drooping eyes, no blinking, head in hands, little eye contact, crossed legs, doodling,
repetitive finger and foot-tapping

Gesture of Frustration -staring into space, running fingers through hair, kicking at ground, short in and out of breaths,
wringing hands, tightly closed lips, rubbing back of neck, tightly clenched hands

Gesture of Confidence- stretched legs, physically elevating, good stance, continuous eye contact, leaning back hands
behind neck, head up, chin forward

2. Posture - it is the arrangement of the body and its limbs. Good posture conveys confidence, improves breathing,
creates a favorable impression in general and helps to project voice effectively.

Types of Posture:
The Erect Posture. A vertical line through the ear would pass through the hip bone, knee, and ankle bone.
The Lordosis Type. A person with lordosis has deep curve in the back near the waistline.
The Fatigued Type. A person with this posture will have a flattened back line.

How To Improve Posture:

 Strengthen your abdominal muscles through pilates-based exercises. Having strong abdominal muscles supports
your spine and allows you to stand up taller and with less pain.
 Check your posture regularly in the mirror: Are your ears centered over your shoulders, chin parallel to the floor,
chest lifted, shoulders over your hips, and abdominal muscles drawn in with a slight curve in the lower back.
 When sitting, pull your bottom right up against the back of the chair. Then stack the rest of the spine straight up
so that your shoulders are right over the hips, ears over the shoulder, and your chin parallel to the floor.
 Do arm-wave exercise.
 Do the walking with books on your head.
 Do not use thick pillow , you may place the pillow between your shoulder and neck.
 Sit or stand with your back on the wall.
 Think as if a rope attached to your head is pulling you upward.

3. Clothing and appearance are the largest factors in judgement. Appearance can make or break your image and
credibility.
4. Voice/Paralinguistic cues. Paralinguistic cues are the vocal cues which include volume , rate , tone , and pitch.
Rate refers to speed at which we speak; Volume refers to loudness and softness of voice; pitch refers to
highness and lowness of voice; and tone refers to quality of your voice.

How to Improve Paralinguistic Cues:

 Voice should come from the diaphragm.
 Breathe low and slow. This helps you to have enough air when speaking.
 Check the speed limit, not too slow not too fast.
 Modulate your voice.
 Pause to punctuate a point.
 Speak from your heart.
 Change the beat.
 Develop your vocal uniqueness.
 Take good care of your voice.
 Pronounce and enunciate correctly.

5. Space and distance or proxemics refers to the space between the speaker and the listener. It may be classified
into intimate, personal, social, and public distance.

 Intimate distance ranges from 0 to 18 inches.

 Personal distance ranges from 18 inches to 4 feet.
 Social distance ranges from 4 to 12 feet
 Public distance ranges from 12 feet to limit of sight.

How Use Distance Effectively:

 When doing a speech, do not walk too close to participants or move beyond the first row of participants.
 You may move forward if you want to emphasize a point and backward if you want to de-emphasize a point.
 Stand close to the person you are talking to if you want to get his or her attention.
 Do not invade the personal space of other people unless you are too close.

6. Color refers to visual attribute of things that result from the light they emit or transmit. Color affects people
emotionally and psychologically, for example, when people see pure red, their BP also increase, when people
see green they become more relaxed.

7. Touch refers to physical contact via tactile sense. It is partially a cultural issue and gender-related. Touch can
also sexual or non sexual depending on the relationship of people involved and the context.

How to Use Touch Effectively:

 Be careful in touching other person because you might be invading her/ his personal space unless allowed by
two consenting adults.
 Touching in the workplace must be done with caution.
  Do hugging and beso-beso with extra caution as they may be misinterpreted.

Visual Communication, on the other hand, is the type of communication that uses visuals to convey information and/or
messages. Some examples are signs, symbols, imagery, maps, graphs, charts, diagrams, pictograms, photos, drawings or
illustrations, and even various forms of electronic communication.

Some examples of electronic communication symbols or images are the emojis, emoticons, and animation among others
to convey the writer’s emotions or clarify the intent of the message sender. These are achieved through digital mode or
text.

Nonverbal communication can be equally important or even more important than verbal communication. Make sure
that both verbal and nonverbal cues complement each other.

Purposive Communication (Prelim Period)

Instructor: Prof. Divine Grace V. Garsuta