Lecture 1 – Communication Theory

COMM201

Lesson #1 – Why Take a Public Speaking Class?

Introduction
In this course, you will have the opportunity to develop your communication skills
through public speaking. This skill is especially important in our continuously changing
world of social media and technology. There is a growing concern that social media is
limiting our ability to speak comfortably, concisely, and passionately. Interestingly, in a
recent survey by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, employers
rated the ability to effectively communicate orally as the most desired skill in a new
employee (Watson & McConnell, 2018).

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

A public speaking class will have a significant impact on your ability to communicate
verbally in the workplace, but, in addition, the process involved in preparing and
delivering a presentation also improves your ability to think critically, problem-solve,
and adapt to changing situations around you—all skills employers look for in
employees.

When you prepare for a presentation, critical thinking and problem-solving play vital
roles; in persuasive speech, you must critically evaluate your audience and the purpose
of your speech to ensure you are able to accomplish the given purpose.

As you move forward through the planning process, you must use your ability to
present your ideas effectively and with reliable support to make sure your audience
understands your main point. Remember to always be aware of your audience—what
shared ideas you have, but also what topics they disagree with you on. It would help if
you were prepared to present them with counterarguments to convince them your
position is more substantial, or at least something to consider.

This may also require you to take a deep dive into the research process, which means
you'll have to:
 locate the best sources to help prove your position
 evaluate those sources for reliability and credibility
 Seek alterative sources or research strategies when necessary to develop the most
effective presentation

Adaptability
Another skill highly sought after by employers is adaptability in their employees. The
ability to speak in small and large groups requires the ability to adapt to the audience
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based on your audience's reaction. When you begin speaking, you should have a plan
in mind; however, as you speak, you may notice your audience doesn’t react the way
you expected. This may be clear from their verbal responses, but it also may be
apparent from non-verbal cues—the shrug of a shoulder, downcast eyes, turning away.

These indications will require you to bring all your skills together: think critically about
what your audience needs, problem solve quickly about a better approach, and adapt
your plan and speech to meet your audience's adjusted needs. Wow!

As you move through the course, you will begin to develop all of these skills, and as
you begin to master them, you will notice how strongly they impact your everyday life.
You have the ability to improve our society with your speech; you could be a change
leader.

Lesson #1 Completed!
Thank you! You have completed this lesson. Please scroll down to complete a short,
ungraded Knowledge Check activity.

Check Your Knowledge #1

True or False:
1. Public speaking requires the presenter to use critical thinking skills, problem
adaptability, and problem-solving. True
2. When planning a speech, it is unnecessary to research information. False
3. Having a sense of who is in an audience isn’t required during a presentation.
False

Lesson #2 – Definition of Communication Terms

Introduction
Before exploring different theories of communication, it is necessary to understand the
language of communication theory. At its most basic level, communication is sending
and receiving messages to create shared meaning, but it is so much more.

Communication is how we exist in the world—how we control and manage our

surroundings, understand and persuade others, and even develop relationships. It is
how we create meaning. However, many factors play into that communication’s success
or failure.

Communication Terms
Let us understand communication theory; it is essential to understand the language
related to the theories.
 Sender: When you are talking, your role is the speaker. When someone
responds to you, the role changes to the receiver. When speaking publicly,
typically, you present uninterrupted, but it isn’t as simple as that. You have to
work hard to accomplish your task: you have to appear trustworthy, but you
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also want to make your words work for you—to persuade, inspire, and ignite
action. If you are not interested, then your audience will not listen.
 Receiver: This is the person or persons who receive the sender’s message. The
complication is that every listener has had different experiences that impact
them. We all have different backgrounds, understandings, and knowledge.
When speaking publicly, all receivers are grouped into the audience on whom
the sender should be focused. Because no one of these receivers has similar
experiences, this impacts how the sender sends the message and can easily lead
to miscommunication between the sender and the receiver. Consider this:
Because of this complication, a sender’s message can never be interpreted by the
receiver EXACTLY as the sender intended.
 Message: This is what the sender must communicate to the receiver. This
message could be the information provided. “I have a paper due, so I can’t meet
you for coffee.” However, how that sentence is delivered (nonverbal
communication) may change how the message is received: tone of voice, the way
you look, gestures and facial expressions, and eye contact.
 Encoding: This is the process the speaker goes through to translate information
that needs to be delivered into a message. This is influenced by the sender’s
knowledge, feelings, attitudes, and values.
 Channel: This is the way the message is communicated from the sender to the
receiver. Channels can take many forms: phone call, text message, email, face-to-
face conversation, social media post, video conference call, etc. As our
technology grows, the number of channels increases, and each channel requires
careful consideration of the best way to deliver a message.
 Decoding: This is the process the receiver goes through to understand what the
sender intended to say within a message. The receiver’s knowledge, feelings,
attitudes, and values influence this understanding of the message.
 Feedback: For the most part, communication is a two-way exchange. The sender
delivers a message, but the receiver is giving feedback to the sender. This
feedback allows the sender to interpret how the message is being received. Often
this feedback is non-verbal—crossed arms, lack of eye contact, leaning forward
in the chair. If the sender is paying attention to the feedback, they can adapt their
approach to meet the receiver’s needs.
 Interference: Interference is anything that gets in the way of the message being
sent. This can be interference from an outside source—people talking around the
sender and receiver, poor WiFi connection in a virtual meeting. However, there
can also be internal interference—if the receiver skipped breakfast, perhaps their
hunger prevents them from receiving the message correctly. Perhaps the
receiver was up all night with a sick child. These, too, create interference in
message delivery.

Below is a 3-minute video entitled “Communication Cycle” by David Harmon. The

video provides the above communication terms in a different and much more
interesting way! As you watch, pay attention to the following:
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 The difference between encoding and decoding.

 The impact of interference on message delivery and decoding.

“Communication Cycle”

This video provides a more visual explanation of the communication terms and
recognizes the impact of interference on the communication cycle. Some of your main
takeaways from this video should include:

 Encoding must be done to change the message that needs to be delivered into a
format the receiver can understand. The receiver then needs to decode the
message.
 Interference plays an important role in communication and miscommunication.
It is vital that the sender and receiver understand the true meaning within a
message, but there are so many ways that understanding can be negative.

A sender begins to deliver a message to a receiver, but many aspects of communication

need to be considered. There can be many forms of interference and feedback that
hinder the message's delivery or alter the message's intent altogether. A strong
communicator needs to be aware of the impact of interference and continually adjust
the communication based on the feedback.

All content from this point until Lesson 2 completed was extracted from:
Schreiber,L., & Hartranft, M. (2011). Introduction to public speaking. In The Public
Speaking Projects, Public speaking: The virtual text.
http://publicspeakingproject.org/introduction.html

Most people don’t give a lot of thought to the communication process. In the majority of
our interactions with others, we are operating on an automatic pilot. Although the
encoding and decoding process may appear to be fairly straightforward, it is actually
much more complicated than it seems. The reason for this is because we all have
different worldviews. Worldview is the overall framework through which an individual
sees, thinks about, and interprets the world and interacts with it. There are five core
components to our worldview.

1. Epistemology is the way that we acquire knowledge and what counts as

knowledge. Think about the process of conducting research. Thirty years ago, to
find a series of facts, one had to use a card catalog and scour the library stacks for
books. Now researchers can access thousands of pages of information via their
computers from the comfort of their own homes. Epistemology is linked to
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public speaking because it governs audience members’ preferred learning styles

and who they consider credible sources.
2. Ontology refers to our belief system, how we see the nature of reality, or what
we see as true or false. We may (or may not) believe in aliens from outer space,
that butter is bad for you, that the Steelers will win the Superbowl, or that
humans will be extinct in 200 years. Speechwriters should be careful not to
presume that audience members share the same beliefs. If a speaker claims that
illness can be aided with prayer, but several people in the audience are atheists,
at best, the speaker has lost credibility. At worst, these audience members could
be offended.
3. Axiology represents our value system, which we see as right or wrong, good or
bad, and fair or unfair. One of the ways that you can tell what people value is to
ask them what their goals are or ask them what qualities they look for in a life
partner. Our values represent the things that we hope for—they do not represent
reality. Values can impact multiple levels of the public speaking process, but in
particular, values impact speaker credibility and effectiveness in persuasion. For
instance, some cultures value modest dress in women, so a female speaker
wearing a sleeveless blouse while speaking could cause her to lose credibility
with some audience members. Or suppose audience members value the freedom
to bear arms over the benefits of government regulation. In that case, a speaker
will have a difficult time convincing these audience members to vote for stricter
gun control legislation.
4. Cosmology signifies the way that we see our relationship to the universe and
other people. Cosmology dictates our view of power relationships and may
involve our religious or spiritual beliefs. Controversial speech topics (like
universal health care and the death penalty) are often related to this aspect of
worldview. We must consider our responsibilities to other human beings and
our power to influence them. Interestingly, cosmology would also play a role in
such logistical points as who is allowed to speak, the order of speakers on a
schedule (e.g., from most to least important), the amount of time a speaker has to
speak, the seating arrangement on the dais, and who gets the front seats in the
audience.
5. Praxeology denotes our preferred method of completing everyday tasks or our
approach to solving problems. Some speechwriters may begin working on their
outlines as soon as they know they will need to give a speech, while others may
wait until a few days before their speech to begin preparing (we do not
recommend this approach). Praxeology may also have an impact on a speaker’s
preference of delivery style, methods of arranging main points, and choice of
slideware (i.e., PowerPoint versus Prezi).

It is important to understand worldview because it profoundly impacts the encoding

and decoding process and, consequently, our ability to be understood by others. Try
this simple experiment. Ask two or three people to silently imagine a dog while you
imagine a dog at the same time. “Dog” is a very concrete word (a word that describes a
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tangible object that can be perceived through the senses), and it is one of the first words
children in the United States learn in school. Wait a few seconds and then ask each
person what type of dog they were thinking of. Was it a Chihuahua? A greyhound?
Golden retriever? Rottweiler? Or some other dog? Most likely, each person you asked
had a different image in their mind than you had in yours. This is our worldview at
work.

Complicating matters is the fact that the more abstract the word becomes, the more
room there is for interpretation. Abstract words (words that refer to ideas or concepts
that are removed from material reality) like “peace,” “love,” “immoral,” “justice,”
“freedom,” “success,” and “honor” can have a number of different meanings; each of
which is predicated on one’s worldview. Communicators have their own unique
worldviews that shape both the encoding and decoding processes, which means that
another person can never completely understand them. People from the Midwest may
call carbonated beverages “pop,” while those from the east coast may say “soda,” and
those from Georgia may say “coke.” Even when simple terms are used like “oak tree”
or “fire hydrant,” each listener will form a different mental image when decoding the
message. Never take communication for granted, and never assume your listener will
understand you. It takes hard work to make yourself understood by an audience.

The last element of the communication process is in the context in which the speech or
interaction occurs. In the 1980s, the context was taught as the actual physical setting
where communication occurred, such as in a place of worship, an apartment, a
workplace, a noisy restaurant, or a grocery store. People communicate differently in
each one of these places as there are unwritten rules of communication (called norms)
that govern these settings. More recently, the concept of context has evolved and
expanded to include the type of relationships we have with others and the
communicative rules that govern those relationships. You do not speak the same way to
your best friend as you do to a small child, parent, boss, doctor, or police officer. You
may speak to your best friend differently in your apartment than you do in your
parents’ home, and your communication may also change when you are both out with
friends on the weekend. In sum, context refers to the norms that govern communication
in different situations and relationships.

Our capacity to communicate through language systems differentiates us from other

species but using that language to communicate effectively is actually more challenging
than anticipated, particularly in front of an audience.

Lesson #2 Completed!
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ungraded Knowledge Check activity.

Check Your Knowledge #2

True or False
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1. Communication is sending and receiving messages to create shared meanings.

True
2. Communication always happens face to face. False
Matching:
1. Channel a. The person who is doing the talking
2. Feedback b. What needs to be communicated.
3. Interference c. The way the communication is delivered.
4. Message d. The person who must make sense of what is
communicated
5. Receiver e. Verbal and non-verbal indications
6. Sender f. Anything that gets in the way of making sense of what is
communicated
7. Encoding g. Translating a message into meaningful words.
8. Decoding h. Interpreting the meaning of a message
1=c; 2=e; 3=f; 4=b; 5=d; 6=a; 7=g; 8=h

Lesson #3 – Communication Theory

Introduction
Communication theory, at its most basic, is the study of how we send and receive
communication. The three most well-known models of communication theory
exemplify how we visually understand communication: Linear, Interactive, and
Transactional Models of communication. While these appear simplistic to a degree and
allow us to understand what is happening while we communicate, the process of
communication is not simplistic at all.

The Linear Model

This model of communication defines communication as a linear, or one-way, process.
The linear model was first developed by Shannon and Weaver in 1949 and is focused on
how the sender delivers a message to the receiver. In this model, the sender and the
message are the most important component, and the message ends when the receiver
receives it. The sender sends a message through a channel to the receiver; the
communication ends there (Shannon & Weaver, 1949).
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This model does not take into consideration that the receiver may also be
communicating with the sender. It focuses on that one message sent. In the workplace,
this type of communication occurs when a business sends customer communications
(sales ads, marketing materials, etc.) in the mail. The sender puts the message in the
mail (the channel), but once the message is sent, the sender is left to assume the receiver
received the message.

Interference can play a role in the delivery of a message in this model. A television
news broadcast is delivered to the receiver (the news audience) in a linear way, but
what happens when the network audio fails, or the receiver’s streaming service slows?

The Interactive Model

Schramm developed the Interactive Model in 1954 to extend the Linear Model of
Communication because communication is typically a two-way process. The sender
and the receiver take both the roles of sender and receiver throughout the
communication. Communication moves back and forth. When receiving a message, the
receiver must interpret the meaning of the message, which is influenced by our
experiences, culture, and background. The receiver is also providing feedback to the
sender, an aspect that is overlooked in the Linear Model (Schramm, 1954).

The sender and receiver in this method need to interact and communicate with each
other. The sender can observe non-verbal feedback during the communication. The
communication model becomes linear if a sender sends a message to a receiver and
does not respond back.

This model acknowledges the impact of physical (environmental) and psychological

(stress, emotions, anxiety) disruptions that may interfere with the message and
understanding. The benefit of this model is that the interference can be overcome
because of the two-way communication.

Interactive communication takes place in the college classroom every day. The
instructor (sender) delivers a lecture to the students (receiver). The sender should be
paying attention to the receiver to ensure they are paying attention—falling asleep and
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looking at their phone. These non-verbal communications provide the sender with
feedback that allows the sender to adapt to the environment.

This interactive model can also take place in chat rooms, social media, and text.
However, it can slow that communication process down, leaving the sender waiting to
receive a message back.

Transactional Communication
The Transactional Model of Communication, established by Barnlund in 1970, uses the
Interactive Model of Communication as a basis (Barnlund, 1970). Still, it considers the
impact of social, relational, and cultural realities that impact both the sender and the
receiver. In this model, communication is more than just speaking to deliver the
message; communication makes connections and builds community. The sender and
receiver become communicators rather than message senders.

In the Interactive Model, the expectation is that communication is an independent act

by the sender. When the message has been sent, that “task” is completed, and it is the
receiver’s turn to take the role of sender and send a message back. While that is realistic
in social media and text messaging, it isn’t how communication works in person or
virtual meeting places, like Teams, Zoom, etc.

The Transactional Model is based on the idea that we are constantly communicating.
Even when we are speaking (or sending a message), we are communicating in other
ways aside from our words; this is true of the receiver as well. Think about it: when
you meet someone new, do you wait until they finish speaking and introducing
themselves (sending the message) before you begin to show some sort of
communication back—a smile, an open body position?
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While the Interactional Model does take into consideration physical and psychological
influences on communication, the Transactional Model takes it a step further. In
addition, this model focuses on the social, relational, and cultural context of
communication.
 Social context: is focused on the values or norms set by society. This can change
based on the society you are communicating with. When you are at a concert
with friends, social context is very different from the social context in the
workplace during a meeting with clients. That communication requires adapting
to that change in a social context.
 Relational context: focuses on the relationship previously established with the
receiver. Your approach to communication with someone you are familiar with
or have worked with before is very different from someone you are just meeting
or have limited knowledge of.
 Cultural context: is focused on race, gender, nationality, class, ethnicity, and
ability. Who we are influences how we communicate and how we make
meaning from the messages we receive. This becomes even more important in a
workplace doing business worldwide.

This model is much more detailed than the others, and its focus isn’t just on
communication but also on meaning making. It requires both sender and receiver to be
listening, interpreting, and adjusting to the needs of their audience. In the workplace,
transactional communication skills are extremely important.

Lesson #3 Completed!
Thank you! You have completed this lesson. Please scroll down to complete a short,
ungraded Knowledge Check activity.

Check Your Knowledge #3

Multiple Choice:
1. Which communication model moves in one direction?
a. Linear
b. Interactive
c. Transactional
2. Which of the following is an example of psychological disruption?
a. People talking rather than listening
b. The air conditioning is set extremely low.
c. Stress or anxiety impacting the receiver.
d. The message delivery.
Matching:
1. Cultural Context a. Race, gender, ethnicity, class.
2. Relational Context b. Norms and values.
3. Social Context c. Relationships between sender and receiver
1=a; 2=c; 3=b
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Lesson #4 – Communication in the Workplace

Introduction
In the workplace, strong communication skills are required for the business to grow
and thrive. That communication will involve many different channels (virtual
meetings, email, text, face to face, small group) and many different receivers
(supervisors, coworkers, clients, the media, the public in general). A “simple”
miscommunication can impact a business immensely. Any communication demands
that the sender adjust and adapt their message delivery to ensure understanding of
their message.

Read the following article by Boris Groysberg and Micheal Slind, published in the
Harvard Business Review. As you read the article, consider the following:
 
 What mistakes were made in these examples of communication within
businesses?
 What solutions does the article suggest to avoid these perilous errors in
communication?
 
Click the following link to read the article: The Silent Killer of Big Companies

The article suggests that these errors in communication severely impacted these well-
known companies. If it can happen to them, it can happen to any business.
 Businesses that are not open and clear in their communication internally and
externally place their ability to thrive in danger. This requires constant
adaptability and consideration of social, cultural, and relational context.
 Effective communication within a business begins with the leaders, but it needs
to function all the way down. Everyone must feel comfortable communicating
through multiple channels for the company to thrive.

Professional Communication
While you may not be pursuing a career where the ability to speak publicly will be used
every day (teachers, lawyers, etc.), public speaking skills provide the ability to deliver a
message clearly and concisely to large or small audiences.

This skill is often clearly exhibited during the hiring process before you even begin a
career. During the interview process, it is common to meet with a group of
interviewers. Your ability to effectively communicate during that interview, both
verbally and non-verbally, can make you stand out from the crowd of applicants.

Conversing vs. Public Speaking

You communicate and speak to people every day but speaking to a large or small group
requires more than just conversation. You already have many of the skills you need to
thrive in public speaking, even if you don’t feel confident yet. In a one-on-one
conversation, you should already be paying attention to the feedback you are receiving
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and adapting your message to that audience’s needs. The goal of a conversation is
typically to keep your listener interested, which requires you to deliver your message
interestingly. All of these are skills you already possess will be employed as you begin
presenting.

The difference, however, is that public speaking demands a higher level of organization
and planning, careful attention to professional words and powerful words, and lots and
lots of practice to master the presentation. As you practice, you will gain confidence and
improve your marketability to employers.

Lesson #4 Completed!
Thank you! You have completed this lesson. Please scroll down to complete a short,
ungraded Knowledge Check activity.

Check Your Knowledge #4

True or False:
1. Public speaking and typical daily conversation are activities that do not have
similar required skills. False
2. Weak communication skills can impact a business's ability to thrive. True
3. Typically, only upper management within a business needs to have strong
speaking and communication skills. False

Lecture Recap
As you finish this lecture, you have begun to explore the communication process and
the impact it has on the workplace. As you begin to develop your public speaking skills
throughout this course, you will find your ability to avoid these miscommunications
will increase. You will become more adept at adjusting your communication to meet the
needs of your audience or your co-workers.

As we move forward, you will apply what you have learned about the communication
cycle to explore the impact of the channels used in communication. Each of these
channels offers different opportunities to explore verbal and non-verbal feedback.

References
Barnlund, D. C. (2008). A transactional model of communication. In. C. D. Mortensen
(Eds.), Communication theory (2nd ed., p. 47-57). Transaction Press.

Groysberg, B., & Slind, M. (2012, October 25). The silent killer of big companies. Harvard
Business Review. https://hbr.org/2012/10/the-silent-killer-of-big-companies

Schramm, W. (1954). How communication works. In W. Schramm (Ed.), The process and
effects of communication (p. 3-26). University of Illinois Press.
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Schreiber, L., & Hartranft, M. (2011). Introduction to public speaking. In The Public
Speaking Projects, Public speaking: The virtual text.
http://publicspeakingproject.org/introduction.html

Shannon, C. E., & Weaver, W. (1949). The mathematical theory of communication.

University of Illinois Press.

Watson, C. E., & McConnell, K. D. (2018, Fall). What really matters for employment?
Association of American Colleges and Universities.
https://www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/2018/fall/watson_mcconnell

Why public speaking matters today. (2012). Saylor Academy.

https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_stand-up-speak-out-the-practice-and-ethics-
of-public-speaking/s04-why-public-speaking-matters-to.html