CHAPTER ONE:

THE ESSENCE OF
COMMUNICATION
The Ethics of Communication
Successful communication requires certain ethical rules for a communicator to
follow. Andrew button (https:/ /biz. fluent. com. /info, retrieved February 20, 2018)
suggests for basic rules to observe:
1. Honesty;
2. Openness to other views;
3. Commitment, and
4. Consensus building.
1. Honesty. This quality is very important for successful communication. Webster
described honesty as being true behavior, quality or state. Perhaps there may be
occasions where an individual might be compelled to lie, such as misleading an
adversary in a war that demands crucial details about where friendly forces are
located. Button takes the view that integrity is more than just not lying, it's
transparent and it gives whatever knowledge you have, even if it puts your own
short-term interests at stake.
When a foreign television newscaster commented on the shortage of government
services in a city ravaged by a typhoon, he put his safety at risk and was personally
ostracized for his report. Communication integrity is important, since it is tied to
trust. And in an environment of authenticity will confidence in communication
flourish.
2. Openness to Other Views. One key factor for good communication is your
ability to be open to viewpoints that vary or even go against your ideas. An
environment where people are not free to express their ideas is not an ethical environment,
particularly if these may be unpopular. The free flow of information is
vital for organizational and country welfare and growth in this matter.

3. Commitment. Webster provides a fascinating concept of loyalty, i.e., being

bound emotionally / intellectually committed to a course of action or to someone
else. Commitment is a pledge or agreement to do something. It is often a condition
of being committed or engaged. In communication one is bound by a variety of
obligations or promises: to be honest or truthful, to be sincere in what you say or
write. False news, instead, is a major NO in communication.
4. Build Consensus. Consensus is a general agreement among the members of
a given group or community, each of which exercises some discretion in decision-making.
The story of the buffaloes and the tiger, gives us a clear example of the benefit of
consensus. When the buffaloes were united against the tiger, which attack them
frequently, the tiger was no match to the strong team of buffaloes, thus did not
succeed in eating them.
But one day, the buffaloes fought against each other and became dis-united, thus
they were easily defeated by the tiger, and was eaten one after the other.
Ethical communication should lead to consensus. Communication should promote
unity. Hence it is the responsibility or must be the commitment of the sender of the
communication to ensure that his message would promote agreement
(consensus), harmony and unity.
Principles of Communication
To be effective, a communicator should be able to use some fundamental
assumptions or rules. This assumptions or rules are called principles. At least five
basic principles could be utilized to make communication successful, they are the
following:
1. Relevance. An important consideration in sending your message is the value of
relevance of your message to your receiver. Thus, foremost, a speaker of a writer
should ask him/herself the following questions: What is the value of my message
to my receiver? Will my message appeal to the interest of my receiver? Will my
message add value to my receiver or to the company of my receiver?

2. Be Positive. Formulate you message with an open and positive attitude. It is an

accepted rule in physics that an action requires an equal amount of reaction. It is
believed that if a speaker or a writer has a positive attitude then his message would
be received positively by the audience/reader.
3. Choose the Best Medium. An equally important principle in communication is
the medium, the means that a speaker or a writer use, as channel of communication. It is
advisable that the speaker or the writer utilize effective
communication systems to drive through the message. Nowadays, it is said that
the attention span of people is shorter, thus the need to maximize their attention
as longer as you can to drive through the message.
Gone are the days when the longer you speech or your letter, the more impressive
they are. Because of the short attention span of people, the speaker or the writer
has to make use of tools, which could catch their attention. So a speaker or writer
must be able to maximize to use audio-visual presentations, charts and graphs.
4. Study your Audience. It is must that a speaker or writer knows the audience
or reader. Thus, the speaker or writer should study the socio-economic profile, the
interests, and the inspirations of his/her audience/reader; more importantly, what
appeals to them. If your audience/reader is politically inclined, then talk of
something related to current political issues.
• Finding Common Ground by Taking Perspective
• You want to analyze your audience prior to your speech so that during the speech you can create a link between you,
the speaker, and the audience. You want to be able to figuratively step inside the minds of audience members to
understand the world from their perspectives. Through this process, you can find common ground with your
audience, which allows you to align your message with what the audience already knows or believes.
5. Be Enthusiastic. Enthusiasm is a very important quality of a speaker or writer.
It is defined as divine inspiration or frenzy. Simply said enthusiasm is the intensity
of feeling, excitement interest or eagerness.
6. Maintain an Intense Focus. To be effective, a speaker or writer should be fired
with intense feeling or be passionate. Webster believes that the sender of the
communication should be given to a strong feeling, sometimes even romantic
and/or sexual.
Thank you!