Oral Communications study guide

communication

the process of human beings responding to the symbolic behaviors of others

types of communication

intrapersonal
interpersonal
small group
public
mass

intrapersonal communication

communication with oneself

interpersonal communication

-also known as a dyadic communication
- interacting with one other person

small group communication

when every person can participate actively with the other members.
ex) your family is a small group, an athletic team

Public communication

when a group becomes too large for all members to contribute

Mass communication

consists of messages that are transmitted to large, widespread audiences via electronic and print media

Needs

physical
identity
social
practical

physical needs

an absence of satisfying communication can jeopardize your life

identity needs

we decide who we are based on how others react to us

social needs

pleasure
affection
inclusion
escape
relaxation
control

practical needs

to be able to tell and show who we are and what we need

communication competence

effective communication involves achieving one's goal's in a manner that, ideally, maintains or enhance the relationship in which it occurs.

Myths about communication

- communication is a cure all
- communication is just common sense
-communication quantity equals quality
- communication is always a good thing

Linear model/ Transactional model

Linear:
information source (sender) goes through the medium to the receiver and the receiver decodes the message.
Transactional:
when you send a message and the other person receives it, then they send a message back and the other person receives it. And

attribution

the process of attaching meaning to behavior
-effects how we see others
-effects how we see ourselves

self- serving bias

we tend to judge ourselves in the most generous terms possible

3 factors that cause us to notice some messages and ignore others

intensity: how well you notice something
repitition: flip flops
contrasts: someone that stands out

Impression management

the communication strategies people use to influence how others view them

face

presenting self

face work

the verb and nonverbal ways we act to maintain our own presenting image and the images of others

Empathy

the ability to re-create another person's perspective, to experience the world from the other's point of view

Sympathy

you feel compassion for another person's predicament

self-fulfilling prophecy

when a person's expectation of an outcome, and subsequent behavior, makes the outcome more likely to occur than would otherwise have been true.

perception checking

1. a description of the behavior you notice
2. at least 2 possible interpretations of the behavior
3. a request for clarification bout how to interpret the behavior

Reflected Appraisal

the fact that we develop an image of ourselves format he way we think others view us

significant other

people whose opinions we especially value

Ogden and Richards Semantic Triangle

There is an indirect relationship between a word and the thing it cams to represent

Rules of language

Phonological
syntactic
semantic
pragmatic

phonological rules

govern how words sound when pronounced

syntactic

govern the structure of language

semantic

the meaning of specific words

pragmatic rules

govern how people use language in everyday interaction, which communication theorist have characterized as a series of speech acts.

Power of language:
language shapes attitude

naming
credibility
status

convergence

when your friends or lover develop special terms that serve as a way of signifying their relationship

divergence

communicators that want to separate themselves apart from others

hedges, tag-questions, disclaimers

a powerless language

equivocal language

a word that has more than one meaning

relative words

words that gain their meaning by comparison

slang

language used by a group of people whose members belong to a similar co-culture or other group

Jargon

the specialized vocabulary that functions as a kind of shorthand for people with common backgrounds and experience

Abstract language

speech that refers to events or objects only vaguely

Euphemisms

pleasant term substituted for a potentially less pleasant one

Equivocation

a deliberately vague statement that can be interpreted in more than one way

Gender differences with language

content
goals of communication
conversational styles

low-context

to express thoughts, feelings, and ideas as clearly and logically as possible

high context

value language as a way to maintain social harmony

Whorf- Sapir Hypthesis

the structure of language effects the world view of its users

residual message

what we remember is a small fraction

pseudolistening

an imitation of the real thing

selective listening

respond only to the parts of a speakers remarks that interest them

defensive listeners

take innocent comments as personal attacks

ambushers

listen closely but only because they are collecting information to attack whet you have to say

insulated listeners

the opposite of their selective listening cousins. they avoid certain topics

insensitive listeners

people who don't receive another persons message clearly

stage hogs

try to turn the topic of conversations to themselves instead of showing interest in the speaker

content- oriented listeners

most interested int eh quality of messages they hear

people- oriented listeners

concerned with creating and maintaining positive relationships

action-oriented listeners

try to figure out what sort of response is required by a message

time-oriented listeners

the view tie as a scarce and valuable commodity

informational listening

the approach to take when you want to understand another person

critical listening

to judge the quality of a message in order to elide whether to accept or reject it

emblems

nonverbal behaviors that have precise meanings known to everyone within a cultural group

illustrators

nonverbal behaviors that accompany and support spoken words

manipulators

movements i which one part of the body grooms, massages, rubs, holds, fidgets, etc

proxemics

the study of thew ay people an animals use space

chronemics

the study of how human beings use and structure time