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BY RHODA GARZON CAMPILLAN
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Lesson on Communication Elements
IT IS IMPERATIVE for every AB Communication students to learn on the basic Communication elements.
These elements are the basic foundation in the communication process. The elements are source, message, channels, receiver and noise.
I have been teaching these for eight years already and sharing this information to my readers, especially to Communication students, is very helpful. It could improve the way they communicate and would ensure understanding.
The source or speaker’s job is to encode or translate the ideas and images in his or her mind into a system of symbols that will be recognized by an audience. The speaker may encode into words or gestures.
A source can be anyone. It can be you or me. As long as you are the originator of the message, then you are considered to be the speaker. For example, Johnny and Cara are talking one day. Johnny told Cara that they are moving to another province after Christmas. In this particular example, Johnny is the source because he was the one who initiated the conversation.
The speaker has a huge responsibility in the communication process. He needs to make sure that his message is clear and can be understood by the receiver. There will be a problem if the source conveys his message vaguely. Chaos and misunderstanding could result if this happens. Hence, the source, should examine his message first before he sends this out.
Message is the actual product of the source-encoder. This can be manifested in speech, writings, drawings and nonverbal cues. The content is the material in the message.
In the example above, the message is that Johnny is moving to a new province after Christmas. The message was manifested through speech.
Misunderstanding can also occur if the message is poorly constructed. If the content is confusing, the interpretation of the receiver is negative. Hence, when we construct our message, we must make sure that it is correctly constructed and we mean what we say.
Channel or medium is the means by which a message is transmitted. For oral face to face interaction, the medium is vibrations in the air set in motion by the human voice. For the written text, the channel is the written manuscript.
In our example earlier, the channel used by Johnny to communicate his message to Cara is through the vibrations in the air. According to David Berlo, the five senses – seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting – help a person encode or decode the message.
Receiver refers to the end-user of the message. The message is conveyed to whom? In our example, the receiver of the message is Cara.
According to Berlo, the person in the end process is influenced by the following factors: communication skills, knowledge, attitude, social system and culture. The way he interprets the message depends on the factors listed above. His reaction to the message could be negative or positive depending on how the source delivered his message.
Noise, on the other hand, refers to the interference in the communication of the message. There are two types of noise: internal or external.
Internal noise emanates from either physiological or psychological causes. It could be that day when Johnny told Cara about his plan, he has a stomachache. Stomachache is the noise in the communication process.
On the other hand, external noise refers to physical noise. In our example, it could be that Johnny and Cara are on the roadside. The loud honking of the cars can be heard everywhere in the background; hence loud honking of the cars is the physical noise.
In the communication process, it is important to take these elements into consideration to make sure that the message is correctly conveyed to avoid miscommunication and misunderstanding. As source, we must make sure that we mean what we say and as receiver we must not forget o ask questions if we cannot understand the message.
The world will be a better place if we know how to communicate properly./PN
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