Foundations of Communication

Chapter: 1
 Oral Presentation Skills
Outline
Planning
Preparation
Practice
Performance
Questions
 Oral Presentation Skills
“Almost anyone can become an excellent speaker”

For a success at speaking, following “3Ps” is a must:

1. Prepare carefully
2. Practice often
3. Perform with enthusiasm
 Communication is the process of creating or sharing
meaning in informal conversation, group interaction, or
public speaking.
 Mimi and Marcus finished talking with the fifth car salesperson.
“From what I could understand, most of the basic features we need are about the same,” said
Mimi. “So, for me, it comes down to who we feel most comfortable with.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much the way I see it. And from that standpoint, I’d pick Carrie,” Marcus
responded.
“She really seemed nice, didn’t she?” asked Mimi. “She seemed friendly and— unlike Paul —
she talked to both of us, not just you.”
Marcus replied, “She talked about features, price, and financing options that were tailored to
our specific needs—unlike Dempsey, who spent most of his time talking about luxury
features that cost more than we can afford.”
Mimi added, “Yeah, and Gloria was so disorganized . . . ”
“And she was so focused on getting through her presentation that she didn’t even notice when
you tried to ask a question!” Marcus interjected.
“I sort of liked Steve,” Mimi continued, “but when we suggested that the price range he was
quoting was out of our budget, he wasn’t much help. Once he got off his ‘script,’ he
seemed lost.”
“Well,” Marcus replied, “not only did Carrie offer a car with features we can use and a fi
nancing plan we can afford, she also led me to believe that we could call her with questions
later about when and where to service our vehicle.”
“OK,” Mimi said as she nodded. “So we agree; we’re buying our car from Carrie!”

Why was Carrie successful?

Was it the car she was promoting or her specialized expertise in the
automobile business? Not necessarily.
From this conversation, it appears that Carrie’s success was due to her ability
to communicate with Mimi and Marcus. Carrie’s success is not unusual.
 Communication
• Communication: the process through which we express,
interpret, and coordinate messages with others
• Messages : the verbal utterances, visual images, and nonverbal
behaviors used to convey thoughts and feelings
• Encoding: the process of putting our thoughts and feelings into
words and nonverbal behaviors decoding the process of
interpreting another’s message
• Feedback :responses to messages
• Canned plan a “mental library” of scripts each of us draws
from to create messages based on what worked in the past
• Script :an actual text of what to say and do in a specific
situation
Communication context: the physical, social, historical,
psychological, and cultural situations that surround a
communication event
• Physical situation: location, environmental conditions
(temperature, lighting, noise level), distance between
communicators, seating arrangements, and time of day
• Social situation: the nature of the relationship that exists
between participants
• historical situation: the background provided by previous
communication between the participants
• psychological situation : the moods and feelings each person
brings to a conversation
• cultural situation: the beliefs, values, orientations, underlying
assumptions, and rituals that belong to a specific culture
 Communication Settings
Communication settings: differ based on the number of participants
and the level of formality in the interactions.

– Intrapersonal Communication
– Interpersonal Communication
– Small-group Communication
– Public Communication
– Mass communication

✓ Number of participants
✓ Level of formality
BASIC COMMUNICATION PROCESS (P.8)
Participants: are the individuals who assume the roles of senders and receivers
during an interaction.

Messages: are the verbal utterances, visual images, and nonverbal behaviors to
which meaning is attributed during communication.
• Meaning – shared
• Symbols – verbal symbols (words), nonverbal cues (behaviors), and visual
images that represent specific ideas and feelings
• Encoding – the process of putting our thoughts and feelings into words and
nonverbal cues
• Decoding – the process of interpreting another’s message
• Form – organization of the message
Context: is the situation in which a communication occurs.
• Physical - location, environmental conditions (temperature, lighting, and noise
level), the distance between communicators, and the time of day.
• Social – nature of the relationship between the participants
• Historical – the background provided by previous communication episodes
between the participants/ it influences understanding in the current encounter
• Psychological – the moods and feelings each person brings to the interpersonal
encounter.
• Cultural - the values, beliefs, and rituals prevalent among people in a society

Channels: are both the route traveled by the message and the means of
transportation: Sensory channels/ Face-to-face communication and
technologically mediated communication (nonverbal/emoticons,
acronyms)
Interference (noise): is any stimulus that hinders the process of sharing
meaning.
• physical - stimuli in the environment that draw people’s attention away
from intended meaning (sights and sounds)
• psychological - internal distractions based on thoughts or feelings
➢ Internal noise refers to the thoughts and feelings that compete for
attention and interfere with the communication process.
➢ Semantic noise refers to the distractions aroused by certain
symbols that take our attention away from the main message.
Whenever we react emotionally to a word or a behavior, we are
experiencing semantic noise.

Feedback: is the reactions and responses to a message that indicate to the

sender whether and how that message was heard, seen, and interpreted -
verbally through words or nonverbally through body language.
 Communication Ethics
Ethics: are moral principles held by a society,
group, or individual that differentiate right
from wrong.

Ethical Communicators:
• 1. are honest.
• 2. act with integrity.
• 3. behave fairly.
• 4. demonstrate respect.
• 5. are responsible.
How effectively you communicate with others is important
not only to your career, but also to your personal
relationships. Your ability:
• to make and keep friends,
• to be a good family member,
• to have satisfying intimate relationships,
• to participate in or lead groups, and
• to prepare and present speeches

…depends on your communication skills.

1. Intrapersonal communication
While we may occasionally think out loud, we usually don’t verbalize our internal dialog.
• Sitting in class and thinking about what you’ll do later that day
• Sending yourself a reminder note as an e-mail or text message
2. Interpersonal communication
• Talking to a friend between classes
• Talking on the phone with your mother
• Texting or chatting online with your brother
• Comforting someone who has suffered a loss
3. Small Group communication
There are many kinds of small groups:
• a family, a group of friends, a group of classmates working on a project
• a management team in the workplace
Small group communication can occur in face-to-face settings, as well as online through
electronic mailing lists, discussion boards, and blogs.
4. Public communication
President Barack Obama delivered his farewell address some people were there, others
watched on TV or the Internet at the time he spoke, and still others have experienced
his speech after Inaugural Day by viewing it in the form of televised snippets or via a
Web site such as YouTube.

Communication Settings
COMMUNICATION PRINCIPLES
1: Communication has purpose
– 5 purposes:
• Develop/maintain sense of self
• Meet social needs
• Develop/maintain relationships
• Exchange information
• Influence others
2: Communication is continuous

3: Communication messages vary in conscious thought

– Occur spontaneously (without much thought)
– Based on a learned “script”
– Constructed based on understanding of a situation
COMMUNICATION PRINCIPLES
4: Communication is relational
– Reflect two aspects:
• Immediacy: Degree of liking or attractiveness in
relationship
• Control: Degree one participant is perceived to be
dominant/powerful
5: Communication is guided by culture
– Culture: System of knowledge shared by a relatively large
group of people. Shared beliefs, values, symbols, and
behaviors.
“a number of cultural components... [1].perception, [2] patterns of
cognition, [3] veral behaviors, [4] nonverbal behaviors, and [5] the
influence of context.” (Samovar, 2007)
COMMUNICATION PRINCIPLES
6: Communication has ethical implications
– 5 ethical standards (moral principles):
• Truthfulness and honesty mean refraining from lying,
cheating, stealing, and deception
• Integrity means maintaining a consistency of belief and
action
• Fairness means achieving the right balance of interest
without regard to one’s own feelings and without showing
favor to any side in a conflict
• Respect means showing regard or consideration for others
and their ideas, even if we don’t agree with them
• Responsibility means being accountable for one’s actions
and what one says

7: Communication is learned
Task 2: Identifying Elements of the Communication Process

For the following interaction, identify the contexts, participants,

channels, message, interference (noise), and feedback:
Maria and Damien are meandering through the park, talking and drinking
bottled water. Damien finishes his bottle, replaces the lid, and tosses the bottle
into the bushes at the side of the path. Maria, who has been listening to
Damien talk, comes to a stop, puts her hands on her hips, stares at Damien, and
says angrily, “I can’t believe what you just did!”
Damien blushes, averts his gaze, and mumbles, “Sorry, I’ll get it—I just wasn’t
thinking.” As the tension drains from Maria’s face, she gives her head a playful
toss, smiles, and says, “Well, just see that it doesn’t happen again.”
Identifying Elements of the Communication Process

a. Physical______________________________
b. Social________________________________
c. Historical_____________________________
d. Psychological__________________________
2. Participants_______________________________
3. Channels_________________________________
4. Message__________________________________
5. Interference (Noise)________________________
6. Feedback_________________________________