What is Communication?

Defining Communication

communication, n. The imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium. The successful conveying or sharing of ideas and feelings.

Oxford English Dictionary

Communication is simply the act of transferring information from one place, person or group to another.

Every communication involves (at least) one sender, a message, and a recipient. The transmission of the message from sender to recipient can be affected by a huge range of things. These include our emotions, the cultural situation, the medium used to communicate, and even our location. The complexity is why good communication skills are considered so desirable by employers around the world: accurate, effective and unambiguous communication is actually extremely hard.

As this definition makes clear, communication is more than simply the transmission of information. The term requires an element of success in transmitting or imparting a message, whether information, ideas, or emotions. A communication has three parts: the sender, the message, and the recipient. The sender ‘encodes’ the message, usually in a mixture of words and non-verbal communication. This communication is transmitted in some way (for example, in speech or writing), and the recipient ‘decodes’ it.

Of course, there may be more than one recipient, and the complexity of communication means that each one may receive a slightly different message. Two people may read very different things into the choice of words and/or body language. It is also possible that neither of them will have quite the same understanding as the sender.

In face-to-face communication, the roles of the sender and recipient are not distinct. The two roles will pass back and forwards between two people talking. Both parties communicate with each other, even if in very subtle ways such as through eye-contact (or lack of) and general body language. In written communication, however, the sender and recipient are more distinct.

Categories of Communication

There are a wide range of ways in which we communicate and more than one may be occurring at any given time. The different categories of communication include:

Spoken or Verbal Communication, which includes face-to-face, telephone, radio or television and other media.
Non-Verbal Communication, covering body language, gestures, how we dress or act, where we stand, and even our scent. There are many subtle ways that we communicate (perhaps even unintentionally) with others. For example, the tone of voice can give clues to mood or emotional state, whilst hand signals or gestures can add to a spoken message.
Written Communication: which includes letters, e-mails, social media, books, magazines, the Internet and other media. Until recent times, a relatively small number of writers and publishers were very powerful when it came to communicating the written word. Today, we can all write and publish our ideas online, which has led to an explosion of information and communication possibilities.
Visualizations: graphs and charts, maps, logos and other visualizations can all communicate messages.

Image of two heads in Silhouette surrounded by empty cal-louts

The desired outcome or goal of any communication process is mutual understanding.

Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal communication is the process by which people exchange information, feelings, and meaning through verbal and non-verbal messages: it is face-to-face communication. Interpersonal communication is not just about what is actually said – the language used – but how it is said and the non-verbal messages sent through tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures and body language.

The process of interpersonal communication cannot be regarded as a phenomena which simply “happens”. Instead, it must be seen as a process that involves participants who negotiate their roles with each other, whether consciously or unconsciously. A message or communication is sent by the sender through a communication channel to one or more recipients. The sender must encode the message (the information being conveyed) into a form that is appropriate to the communication channel, and the recipient then decodes the message to understand its meaning and significance. Misunderstanding can occur at any stage of the communication process. Effective communication involves minimizing potential misunderstanding and overcoming any barriers to communication at each stage in the communication process.

An effective communicator understands their audience, chooses an appropriate communication channel, hones their message for this particular channel and encodes the message effectively to reduce misunderstanding by the recipient(s). They will also seek out feedback from the recipient(s) to ensure that the message is understood and attempt to correct any misunderstanding or confusion as soon as possible. Receivers can use techniques such as clarification and reflection as effective ways to ensure that the message sent has been understood correctly.

Clarification: Involves offering back to the speaker the essential meaning, as understood by the listener, of what they have just said. By doing so, the listener checks whether their understanding is correct. This process serves to resolve any areas of confusion or misunderstanding.
Reflection: The process of paraphrasing and restating both the feelings and words of the speaker. The purposes of reflecting are to allow the speaker to ‘hear’ their own thoughts and to focus on what they say and feel, to show the speaker that you are trying to perceive the world as they see it and that you are doing your best to understand their messages, and to encourage them to continue talking.

Feedback

The final part of a communication is feedback: the recipient lets the sender know that they have received and understood the message. Recipients of messages are likely to provide feedback on how they have understood the messages through both verbal and non-verbal reactions. Effective communicators pay close attention to this feedback as it is the only way to assess whether the message has been understood as intended, and it allows any confusion to be corrected.

Bear in mind that the extent and form of feedback will vary with the communication channel. Feedback during a face-to-face or telephone conversation will be immediate and direct, whilst feedback to messages conveyed via TV or radio will be indirect and may be delayed, or even conveyed through other media such as the Internet. Effective communicators pay close attention to this feedback as it is the only way to assess whether the message has been understood as intended, and it allows any confusion to be corrected.

You can always ask!

You may be unsure if a message has been successfully received and decoded, especially if you do not get much feedback from the recipient. If so, you can always ask!

A quick question is a good start, for example:
“Is that OK?” or “Are you clear about that?”
If you want more detailed feedback or to check that the recipient has really understood, you might say something like:
“So, let’s just run over that one more time. I think I am going to do x, and you are going to do y. Is that your understanding too?”