Basic Communication

Concepts
From Speech Communication to
Communication Studies
 Defining Communication
 The process of creating (yes!) or
sharing meaning in informal
conversation, group interaction, or
public speaking. [By definition, our
academic discipline focuses on
messages.]
 The Linear (Berlo) Model

Message
Source Receiver
Channel
 The Interactive Model

Message
Source Receiver
Channel

Feedback
The Transactional Model
 Communication Principles
 Communication Has Purpose
 Communication is Continuous (?)
 Communication messages vary in
conscious thought
 Communication is relational
 Communication is guided by culture
 All com. has ethical implications
 Communication Functions
 To meet social needs
 To enhance and maintain ourselves
 To develop relationships
 To exchange information
 To influence others
 Communication is symbolic
 The difference between signs and
symbols
 Language as a symbolic system
 Is there such a thing as “body
language?”
 More later on the topics of verbal and
nonverbal communication
 Communication is
multidimensional

Cultural
Social
Psychological
Ye Olde Primordial Slime
Talk
 Ye Olde Primordial Slime
Talk
 Who were the earliest speech
teachers?
 Ye Olde Primordial Slime
Talk
 Who were the earliest speech
teachers?
 Who was the most influential speech
teacher? What did he write?
 Ye Olde Primordial Slime
Talk
 Who were the earliest speech
teachers?
 Who was the most influential speech
teacher? What did he write?
 What about the guy with the rocks?
 Ye Olde Primordial Slime
Talk
 Who were the earliest speech
teachers?
 Who was the most influential speech
teacher? What did he write?
 What about the guy with the rocks?
 Could anyone (even a scoundrel) be a
great speaker?
 Speaking of Aristotle…
 His divisions of ethos, logos & pathos

 Credibility is composed of
Trustworthiness, or character
Authoritativeness, or competence
Charisma, or dynamism
 The “canons” of rhetoric
 Invention
 Disposition
 Style
 Delivery
 Memory
 Kenneth Burke
 The “dramatistic pentad” (forget this
one)

 The concept of Identification

(remember this one…)
Speaker with audience
Audience with topic