when does communication happen essay

Essays About Communication: Top 5 Examples and Prompts

Are you writing essays about communication? Check out our top essay examples and writing prompts to help you get started.

Communication is power and is critical to building a well-connected society. Communicating well is vital in working with people and shedding light on problems and solutions. Practical communication skills can help build relationships. 

If you’re writing an essay on communication and are having a hard time choosing a topic to focus on, here is our round-up of the best essay examples to get you started:  

1. The Benefits of Communication and Teamwork by Karenina Loayza

2. it’s time to tune in: why listening is the real key to communication by kate murphy, 3. a love language spoken with hands by ross showalter, 4. the role of body language in communication by ashley tulio, 5. the power of storytelling in marketing by dylan jacob, 1. how-to develop communication skills, 2. how-to write an inspiring speech, 3. should all leaders be good communicators, 4. theories of mass communication, 5. how are schools developing children’s communication skills, 6. communicating face-to-face vs. online , 7. marketing communications: what are they, 8. is communicating on social media effective, 9. is it possible to communicate effectively on virtual workplace platforms, 10. how-to communicate in the workplace.

“In one task, we were blindfolded and had to describe a set of irregular pieces. With varying degrees of English and different experiences of the world, it was like explaining an elephant to an alien.” 

Loayza narrates an exercise in class where they have to describe surrounding objects as accurately as possible to keep others from stumbling on them. The writer said the exercise demonstrated effectively the need for good communication skills for teams to succeed.

“Schools and universities have courses in debate, rhetoric and elocution, but rarely classes that teach listening. You can get a doctorate in speech communication and join Toastmasters International to perfect your speaking skills, but who strives for excellence in listening?”

Murphy muses on a world that glorifies the speakers but leaves no room for the listeners like her. She points out how social media has created a generation that prefers interacting behind the screen and filtering out opinions that do not resonate with theirs. Instead, Murphy emphasizes listening as a foundation for better human relations and offers solutions for how others can develop their listening for successful communication. 

“Will showed me that not everyone makes promises they don’t intend to fulfil. I don’t have to invest in someone who promises an action they’ll never do. Relationships only move forward once the work of communication begins.”

Showalter, a deaf man, laments how non-deaf ex-lovers have promised to learn sign language to better communicate with him – only to see these promises broken. Then, one morning, a remarkable man in his life sends a video message reviving hopes for Showalter and redefines his standard in relationships for the better. 

“Non-verbal communication can affect our words as it can reiterate our message, contradict our words, reinforce our statement, substitute the meaning of what we are trying to say, and complement what we are trying to say. Body language is something that is usually natural and is often done instinctively rather than consciously.”

Tulio, a communications specialist, stresses the importance of using body language for expression. She provides tips on maximizing gestures and body movement to convey emotions in person and through videoconferencing. 

“In marketing, storytelling provides an avenue to connect to consumers unlike any other. Brands are empowered to share and sell their values and personality in a form that feels less like advertising and more like a concerted effort to strengthen relationships with customers.

The author cites the viewpoints of a business school professor who explains how storytelling can shape the world’s perception of a brand. Finally, the author outlines the vital elements that make an exciting story capable of connecting with an audience and effecting action among consumers.

10 Writing Prompts On essays about communication

To further expand your horizon on the subject, you can work around our list of prompts that are interesting and relevant to date:

You can narrow down this essay to target employees, students, aspiring leaders, or those who want to improve their conversation skills. First, list down recommendations such as expanding their vocabulary and listening. Then, explain how they can incorporate this into their daily routine. 

Writing a speech that strikes a chord requires extra work in developing empathy and understanding the audience. Next, you can focus on providing recommendations for your essay, such as putting in a personal touch and linking this story to the broader subject. Make sure you also offer simple writing tips such as using the active voice as much as possible, keeping sentences short, and keeping the tone conversational. 

Cite research studies that detail why effective communication is a critical skill that makes a leader. Then, write about the organizational pitfalls of poor communication. Later, leaders who can speak engagingly and listen attentively to their team members can address these pitfalls. 

Communication theory is the study of processes in sending and receiving information. Discuss the four main theories of mass communication: the Authoritarian Theory, the Libertarian Theory, the Soviet-Communist Theory, and the Social-Responsibility Theory. Explain each one. Explain how each remains relevant in understanding modern communication processes. 

Interview schools within your community and learn about their language curriculum and other efforts to empower children to communicate well. You can also interview child development experts. Find out the biggest challenges in helping children improve how they express their thoughts and ideas. Then, find out what schools and parents are doing to address them. 

While you’d hear many people expressing a preference for face-to-face meetings, there are undoubtedly benefits to online meetings, which some usually dismiss. Weigh in on the pros and cons of in-person and online meetings, especially in the current scenario of an ongoing pandemic. 

What are the new marketing channels marketers are leveraging to reach their audience? Several surveys and studies show where most marketing campaigns allocate their budgets. One example is video content. 

An interesting angle would also involve looking at epic brand fails. Cite two or more cases, find a communication mishap common between them and provide what lessons can today’s brands learn from these epic fails. 

From interacting with loved ones and finding someone to date and love, social media has dramatically changed our ways of communication. It might be great to interview the elders who have experienced communicating through snail mail. Dive into their nostalgia and discover how they compare the experience of letter writing against instant chatting through mobile apps. 

Several apps today aim to transform workplaces to be more connected for interaction and communication. First, list down the top apps most used in the corporate world and discuss why these communication forms are preferred over email. Then, delve into the drawbacks and aspects of the apps that need improvements according to what business users say. 

Recent studies show that employees quit their jobs when they feel unable to talk about their needs in the workplace. Research the communication culture in the top companies in a specific field. How are they engaging with their employees? How are they driving conversations toward critical concerns?

TIP: You don’t have to write an extended essay. Here is a guide to writing a concise and organized five-paragraph essay.

For more help with writing, check out our best essay writing tips for a stress-free writing process. 

Yna Lim is a communications specialist currently focused on policy advocacy. In her eight years of writing, she has been exposed to a variety of topics, including cryptocurrency, web hosting, agriculture, marketing, intellectual property, data privacy and international trade. A former journalist in one of the top business papers in the Philippines, Yna is currently pursuing her master's degree in economics and business.

View all posts

Essay on Importance of Communication for Students and Children

500+ words essay on importance of communication:.

Communication is one of the important tools that aid us to connect with people. Either you are a student or a working professional, good communication is something that will connect you far ahead. Proper communication can help you to solve a number of issues and resolve problems. This is the reason that one must know how to communicate well. The skills of communication essential to be developed so that you are able to interact with people. And able to share your thoughts and reach out to them. All this needs the correct guidance and self-analysis as well.

Meaning of Communication

The word communication is basically a process of interaction with the people and their environment . Through such type of interactions, two or more individuals influence the ideas, beliefs, and attitudes of each other.

Such interactions happen through the exchange of information through words, gestures, signs, symbols, and expressions. In organizations, communication is an endless process of giving and receiving information and to build social relationships.

Importance of Communication

Communication is not merely essential but the need of the hour. It allows you to get the trust of the people and at the same time carry better opportunities before you. Some important points are as follows –

Help to Build Relationships 

No matter either you are studying or working, communication can aid you to build a relationship with the people. If you are studying you communicate with classmates and teachers to build a relationship with them. Likewise in offices and organizations too, you make relationships with the staff, your boss and other people around.

Improve the Working Environment 

There are a number of issues which can be handled through the right and effective communication. Even planning needs communication both written as well as verbal. Hence it is essential to be good in them so as to fill in the communication gap.

Foster strong team

Communication helps to build a strong team environment in the office and other places. Any work which requires to be done in a team. It is only possible if the head communicates everything well and in the right direction.

Find the right solutions

Through communication, anyone can find solutions to even serious problems. When we talk, we get ideas from people that aid us to solve the issues. This is where communication comes into play. Powerful communication is the strength of any organization and can help it in many ways.

Earns more respect

If your communication skills are admirable, people will love and give you respect. If there is any problem, you will be the first person to be contacted. Thus it will increase your importance. Hence you can say that communications skills can make a big change to your reputation in society.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Don’t Go Overboard With Your Point

The conversation is about to express your thoughts. And to let the other person know what you feel. It is not mean to prove that your point is correct and the other person is wrong. Don’t Overboard other With Your Point.

Watch Your Words

Before you say something to Watch Your Words. At times, out of anger or anxiousness, we say somethings that we must not say. Whenever you are in a professional meeting or in some formal place, where there is a necessity of communicating about your product or work then it is advised to practice the same beforehand

Communication is the greatest importance. It is important to sharing out one’s thoughts and feelings to live a fuller and happier life. The more we communicate the less we suffer and the better we feel about everything around. However, it is all the more necessary to learn the art of effective communication to put across ones point well.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

• Travelling Essay
• Picnic Essay
• Our Country Essay
• My Parents Essay
• Essay on Favourite Personality
• Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
• Essay on Knowledge is Power
• Essay on Gurpurab
• Essay on My Favourite Season
• Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

What Is Communication?

The Art of Communicating and How to Use It Effectively

ThoughtCo / Ran Zheng

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages through verbal or nonverbal means, including speech , or oral communication; writing  and graphical representations (such as infographics, maps, and charts); and  signs , signals, and behavior. More simply, communication is said to be "the creation and exchange of meaning ." 

Media critic and theorist James Carey defined communication as "a symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired and transformed" in his 1992 book "Communication as Culture," positing that we define our reality via sharing our experience with others.

All creatures on earth have developed means in which to convey their emotions and thoughts to one another. However, it's the ability of humans to use words and language to transfer specific meanings that sets them apart from the animal kingdom.

Components of Communication

To break it down, in any communication there is a sender and a receiver, a message, and interpretations of meaning on both ends. The receiver gives feedback to the sender of the message, both during the message's conveyance and afterward. Feedback signals can be verbal or nonverbal, such as nodding in agreement or looking away and sighing or other myriad gestures.

There's also the context of the message, the environment it's given in, and potential for interference during its sending or receipt. 

If the receiver can see the sender, he or she can obtain not only the message's contents but also nonverbal communication that the sender is giving off, from confidence to nervousness, professionalism to flippancy. If the receiver can hear the sender, he or she can also pick up cues from the sender's tone of voice, such as emphasis and emotion. 

Rhetorical Communication—The Written Form

Another thing that sets humans apart from their animal cohabiters is our use of writing as a means of communication, which has been a part of the human experience for more than 5,000 years. In fact, the first essay — coincidentally about speaking effectively — is estimated to be from around the year 3,000 B.C., originating in Egypt, though it wasn't until much later that the general population was considered literate .

Still, James C. McCroskey notes in "An Introduction to Rhetorical Communication" that texts like these "are significant because they establish the historical fact that interest in rhetorical communication is nearly 5,000 years old." In fact, McCroskey posits that most ancient texts were written as instructions for communicating effectively, further emphasizing early civilizations' value of furthering the practice.

Through time this reliance has only grown, especially in the Internet age. Now, written or rhetorical communication is one of the favored and primary means of talking to one another — be it an instant message or a text, a Facebook post or a tweet.

As Daniel Boorstin observed in "Democracy and Its Discontents," the most important single change "in human consciousness in the last century, and especially in the American consciousness, has been the multiplying of the means and forms of what we call 'communication.'" This is especially true in modern times with the advent of texting, e-mail, and social media as forms of communicating with others around the world. With more means of communication, there are also now even more ways to be misunderstood than ever.

If a message contains just the written word (such as a text or email), the sender needs to be confident in its clarity, that it cannot be misinterpreted. Emails can often come off cold or clipped without that being the intention of the sender, for example, yet it's not considered professional to have emoticons in formal communication to help convey the proper meaning and context.  

Before You Open Your Mouth or Hit 'Send'

Before preparing your message, whether it's going to be in person one-on-one, in front of an audience, over the phone, or done in writing, consider the audience who'll be receiving your information, the context, and your means to convey it. What way will be the most effective? What will you have to do to ensure it's conveyed properly? What do you want to make sure that you don't convey?

If it's important and going to be relayed in a professional context, maybe you'll practice beforehand, prepare slides and graphics, and pick out professional attire so that your appearance or mannerisms don't distract from your message. If it's a written message you're preparing, you'll likely want to proofread , make sure the recipient's name is spelled correctly and read it aloud to find dropped words or clunky phrasing before sending it.  

• Definition and Examples of Senders in Communication
• Noise and Interference in Various Types of Communication
• Science Says You Should Leave the Period Out of Text Messages
• The Power of Indirectness in Speaking and Writing
• Communicate With Special Education Parents
• What Is Wei Xin?
• What Is a Message in Communication?
• History of Pagers and Beepers
• Body Language in the Communication Process
• Email Message
• How to Write a Professional Email
• Basic Parts of the Brain and Their Responsibilities
• Texting (Text Messaging)
• A Receiver's Role in Clear, Effective Communication Is an Important One
• Nonverbal Communication Activities
• Best Practices for Business Writing

How Does Communication Work?

Part 1: the role of non-verbal cues..

Posted January 17, 2020 | Reviewed by Devon Frye

First impressions matter. When we meet someone new, we seldom remain neutral: good or bad, we form an immediate opinion of them—too brash, too boring , engaging, drab, shy , and so on. This is, in large part, based on non-verbal cues—their appearance, body language, and mannerisms—rather than what they say. We use these cues to form an emotional response that informs the way we view the other person. And we do all this in just a tenth of a second!

In some contexts, first impressions are of the utmost importance, as when chatting with a prospective date—who might, eventually, become your life partner (or not, as the case may be). As for the dreaded job interview, sage advice invariably counsels that we come across well from the outset, that hiring decisions are often decided within the first few minutes.

This is more than mere folk wisdom : it’s backed up by scientific research. In one leading study, researchers examined hiring decisions based on a survey of 600 thirty-minute interviews. They found that around 5 percent of decisions, whether to hire or not, were made in the first minute; around a quarter of decisions in the first five minutes; and a whopping 60 percent within the first fifteen minutes. Before an interview is even halfway through, and before you’ve managed to get to grips with those butterflies in your stomach, your fate may already be sealed.

In our everyday encounters, how we respond to others is, in large part, determined by how we respond to them emotionally. We give up our seat on the bus or the train because we recognise and empathise with the greater need of others—the elderly, disabled, or the clearly exhausted mother-to-be. We respond positively, in a humdrum service encounter, to the employee with the winning smile and polite turn of phrase, and negatively to the ill-mannered youth who bumps past us in the street.

Communicating Empathy

Empathy is a key factor in understanding others, and a central ingredient in deriving meaning from social interactions. And this appears to arise, in large measure, from the non-verbal cues that abound in our everyday social encounters.

While empathy, in its most rudimentary form, is often understood as an awareness of the feelings and emotions of others, it involves more than this. According to a leading expert on emotional intelligence , empathy is an "awareness of others’ feelings, needs, and concerns," and requires "sensing others’ feelings and perspectives, and taking an active interest in their concerns." Oxford Dictionaries defines empathy as: "The ability to understand and share the feelings of another."

So how do we form our experiences of others? How do we actually "experience" the experiences of others, in order to demonstrate a sensitivity to and, indeed, an active interest in their concerns? How do we get to stand in their shoes, so to speak, to get to grips with what they are about, and more importantly, what they mean, in everyday communication?

Verbal cues—the words we string together in spoken utterances—are only part of the story. Of course, it stands to reason that in certain contexts, what others say, using language, is the key ingredient in meaning-making: in a public lecture, for instance, the message is largely conveyed by the words. Sure, we can gain a lot of information from the speaker’s body language; but the content, the message, is right there in the words they’ve chosen for their talk. Yet, in our daily face-to-face interactions with strangers, family members, work colleagues and friends, we respond to a far greater degree to non-verbal information.

Verbal vs. Non-Verbal in Social Dimensions of Communication

On one estimate, only 30 to 35 percent of the social dimensions of meaning—such as our emotional expression, our personality and how we relate to others—come from language; in our daily interactions with others, up to a staggering 70 percent may derive from non-verbal cues. This includes the visual cues such as the other person’s body language, facial expression, and gestures, as well as how close they stand to us—we’ve all experienced the discomfort of the individual who occupies too much of our personal space ; our emotional response is likely to be negative.

We also respond to their physical appearance, their dress, as well as the environment in which we encounter them, which provides information about their occupation or mode of living. We also draw information from touch—I once knew a successful businessman who claimed to be able to tell how reliable a potential partner or client was from how they shook his hand. But is there any truth to this anecdote?

According to research, there really is: the strength of our handshake gives away tell-tale signs about our personality. In one of the first studies of its kind, researchers investigated the relationship between handshake strength and personality. In the study, 112 subjects shook hands with four trained coders—twice with each coder—in order to assess grip strength of the handshake. The subjects also completed assessments of personality traits.

The research found that a strong handshake, across both sexes, correlates with being an extrovert and emotionally expressive. In contrast, a weak handshake tends to correlate with introversion and being less emotionally expressive.

We derive further information from observing self-touch: someone touching their hair might be bored, or perhaps even signaling romantic interest. We also glean information from how others manage the ongoing, smooth flow of conversation (time between turns in an exchange), as well as eye contact, pupil dilation (especially in assessing the likelihood of a potential romantic encounter) and even blink rate.

Kinesics: The Science of Body Language

All these dimensions of non-verbal communication were studied by the late American anthropologist Ray Birdwhistell, a pioneering figure in this area of research. He founded the field of kinesics, as he dubbed it, which involved the study of the role of "facial expression, gestures, posture and gait, and visible arm and body movements" in conveying social meaning.

Viewed through this lens, it is perhaps no accident that digital forms of communication, such as Emoji, with its bewildering array of yellow faces, ranging from the assorted permutations on a smile through to the various confused, unamused, sad and angry faces, is so apt for visual communication in textspeak.

Paralinguistics: The Science of Tone of Voice The other dimension of non-verbal communication involves paralinguistic features of speech, first studied by the American linguist Alfred Trager. Paralinguistics is the study of the features that accompany spoken language, as a consequence of its medium of production, and which can influence and even alter the meaning of the words we utter.

Paralinguistic features range from vocal signals, such as laughter , to speech prosody, which includes rhythm, relative volume, pitch, intonation, and the pitch range the voice operates in—higher for women, on average, than men. Prosody derives from the ancient Greek meaning "song sung to music." Spoken language has a musical quality associated with it. And this derives from the way it is produced via the articulators, such as the tongue, mouth, lips, and the vibrating folds in our voice box, as well as the musculature that we use to control the articulators.

While the prosody of our own language can seem like music to our weary ears—especially after a prolonged absence abroad, struggling, disadvantaged and ill at ease with a foreign tongue you might mangle (at best)—the absence of prosody can lead to the perception of someone’s speech being monotonous, perhaps even sinister. This is famously evidenced by the morally and emotionally ambiguous Professor Snape, played by the late, great Alan Rickman, in the Harry Potter movies.

For some, animating their spoken language seems a challenge—as a young student, I once had the misfortune to be taught by an otherwise erudite and knowledgeable professor who seemingly possessed the ability to send his students to sleep; watching paint dry would have been more entertaining. But in fact, there is a clinical condition that afflicts some people who are unable to correctly modulate their speech. This is known as aprosodia; it results in an impairment in properly varying pitch, loudness, rhythm and intonation—such as the rise and fall of speech contours—during speech. Sufferers not only sound flat and monotonous when they speak, they are also unable to convey emotion in spoken language or infer the emotions of others as conveyed during spoken interaction.

Aprosodia is sometimes evident in people afflicted with Asperger ’s syndrome. This reveals just how essential prosody is to communication: it’s one of the key ways in which we convey information that helps our addressee to empathise with us in spoken interaction. It provides a direct means of signaling our emotional stance and our attitude, as well as placing focus on specific parts of words, entire words, and phrases.

The Face As the Barometer of Our Emotional Selves In the American TV crime drama Lie to Me , the British actor Tim Roth plays Dr. Cal Lightman, a world-leading authority on facial expressions. Lightman and his team accept assignments from federal and local law enforcement agencies that require their expertise; Lightman and his associates are second-to-none in detecting whether a suspect is lying during interrogation, by studying their facial expressions and body language and what these reveal about their emotions.

The TV series is based on a branch of applied psychology, made famous by the American forensic psychologist Professor Paul Ekman, dubbed the "best human lie detector in the world." Ekman pioneered the study of emotional expression by developing a technique for studying micro-expressions—fleeting facial features. There are over 10,000 of them, produced by up to forty-three facial muscles when we experience joy, anger , sadness, guilt , and disgust.

Ekman developed a facial coding system that allows videotaped interviews to be analysed by sophisticated software systems. The system uses the geometrical features of a subject’s face in order to help detect whether they are telling the truth or not. This expertise led to Ekman becoming one of the twentieth century’s most widely cited psychologists. His prowess also ensured that those with a vested interest in deciphering emotions from facial expression beat a path to his door—Ekman has worked as a consultant to police departments, anti-terrorism agencies, as well as the Lie to Me production team.

If the eyes are the window to the soul, then the face is a barometer of our emotional selves. Nowhere is this clearer, perhaps, than with the forty-fifth President of the United States, Donald Trump , whose facial expressions often reveal how he feels on a given subject. In an analysis commissioned by The Guardian , psychologist Peter Collett examined the seven signature facial expressions of Donald Trump , providing insight into the president’s emotional self. From the alpha face, to the chin-jut, to the zipped smile, Trump’s face broadcasts how he feels, and what he wants us to think and feel along with him.

Vyvyan Evans, Ph.D. , is a language and communication consultant. He received his Ph.D. from Georgetown University.

• Find a Therapist
• Find a Treatment Center
• Find a Support Group
• International
• New Zealand
• South Africa
• Switzerland
• Asperger's
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Eating Disorders
• Passive Aggression
• Personality
• Goal Setting
• Positive Psychology
• Stopping Smoking
• Low Sexual Desire
• Relationships
• Child Development
• Therapy Center NEW
• Diagnosis Dictionary
• Types of Therapy

Understanding what emotional intelligence looks like and the steps needed to improve it could light a path to a more emotionally adept world.

• Coronavirus Disease 2019
• Affective Forecasting
• Neuroscience

Nonverbal Communication and Body Language

Improving emotional intelligence (eq), conflict resolution skills.

• Empathy: How to Feel and Respond to the Emotions of Others

Anger Management

Managing conflict with humor.

• Gaslighting: Turning Off the Gas on Your Gaslighter

Setting Healthy Boundaries in Relationships

• Online Therapy: Is it Right for You?
• Mental Health
• Health & Wellness
• Children & Family
• Relationships

Are you or someone you know in crisis?

• Bipolar Disorder
• Eating Disorders
• Grief & Loss
• Personality Disorders
• PTSD & Trauma
• Schizophrenia
• Therapy & Medication
• Exercise & Fitness
• Healthy Eating
• Well-being & Happiness
• Weight Loss
• Work & Career
• Illness & Disability
• Heart Health
• Childhood Issues
• Learning Disabilities
• Family Caregiving
• Teen Issues
• Communication
• Emotional Intelligence
• Love & Friendship
• Domestic Abuse
• Healthy Aging
• Aging Issues
• Alzheimer’s Disease & Dementia
• Senior Housing
• End of Life
• Meet Our Team

What is effective communication?

Effective communication skill 1: become an engaged listener, skill 2: pay attention to nonverbal signals, skill 3: keep stress in check, skill 4: assert yourself, effective communication.

Want to communicate better? These tips will help you avoid misunderstandings, grasp the real meaning of what’s being communicated, and greatly improve your work and personal relationships.

Effective communication is about more than just exchanging information. It’s about understanding the emotion and intentions behind the information. As well as being able to clearly convey a message, you need to also listen in a way that gains the full meaning of what’s being said and makes the other person feel heard and understood.

Effective communication sounds like it should be instinctive. But all too often, when we try to communicate with others something goes astray. We say one thing, the other person hears something else, and misunderstandings, frustration, and conflicts ensue. This can cause problems in your home, school, and work relationships.

For many of us, communicating more clearly and effectively requires learning some important skills. Whether you’re trying to improve communication with your spouse, kids, boss, or coworkers, learning these skills can deepen your connections to others, build greater trust and respect, and improve teamwork, problem solving, and your overall social and emotional health.

What’s stopping you from communicating effectively?

Common barriers to effective communication include:

Stress and out-of-control emotion.  When you’re stressed or emotionally overwhelmed, you’re more likely to misread other people, send confusing or off-putting nonverbal signals, and lapse into unhealthy knee-jerk patterns of behavior. To avoid conflict and misunderstandings, you can learn how to quickly calm down before continuing a conversation.

Lack of focus.  You can’t communicate effectively when you’re multitasking. If you’re checking your phone , planning what you’re going to say next, or daydreaming, you’re almost certain to miss nonverbal cues in the conversation. To communicate effectively, you need to avoid distractions and stay focused.

Inconsistent body language.  Nonverbal communication should reinforce what is being said, not contradict it. If you say one thing, but your body language says something else, your listener will likely feel that you’re being dishonest. For example, you can’t say “yes” while shaking your head no.

[Read: Nonverbal Communication and Body Language]

Negative body language.  If you disagree with or dislike what’s being said, you might use negative body language to rebuff the other person’s message, such as crossing your arms, avoiding eye contact, or tapping your feet. You don’t have to agree with, or even like what’s being said, but to communicate effectively and not put the other person on the defensive, it’s important to avoid sending negative signals.

When communicating with others, we often focus on what we should say. However, effective communication is less about talking and more about listening. Listening well means not just understanding the words or the information being communicated, but also understanding the emotions the speaker is trying to convey.

There’s a big difference between engaged listening and simply hearing. When you really listen—when you’re engaged with what’s being said—you’ll hear the subtle intonations in someone’s voice that tell you how that person is feeling and the emotions they’re trying to communicate. When you’re an engaged listener, not only will you better understand the other person, you’ll also make that person feel heard and understood, which can help build a stronger, deeper connection between you.

By communicating in this way, you’ll also experience a process that  lowers stress and supports physical and emotional well-being. If the person you’re talking to is calm, for example, listening in an engaged way will help to calm you, too. Similarly, if the person is agitated, you can help calm them by listening in an attentive way and making the person feel understood.

If your goal is to fully understand and connect with the other person, listening in an engaged way will often come naturally. If it doesn’t, try the following tips. The more you practice them, the more satisfying and rewarding your interactions with others will become.

Tips for becoming an engaged listener

Focus fully on the speaker.  You can’t listen in an engaged way if you’re  constantly checking your phone or thinking about something else. You need to stay focused on the moment-to-moment experience in order to pick up the subtle nuances and important nonverbal cues in a conversation. If you find it hard to concentrate on some speakers, try repeating their words over in your head—it’ll reinforce their message and help you stay focused.

Favor your right ear.  As strange as it sounds, the left side of the brain contains the primary processing centers for both speech comprehension and emotions. Since the left side of the brain is connected to the right side of the body, favoring your right ear can help you better detect the emotional nuances of what someone is saying.

Avoid interrupting or trying to redirect the conversation to your concerns.  By saying something like, “If you think that’s bad, let me tell you what happened to me.” Listening is not the same as waiting for your turn to talk. You can’t concentrate on what someone’s saying if you’re forming what you’re going to say next. Often, the speaker can read your facial expressions and know that your mind’s elsewhere.

Show your interest in what’s being said.  Nod occasionally, smile at the person, and make sure your posture is open and inviting. Encourage the speaker to continue with small verbal comments like “yes” or “uh huh.”

Try to set aside judgment.  In order to communicate effectively with someone, you don’t have to like them or agree with their ideas, values, or opinions. However, you do need to set aside your judgment and withhold blame and criticism in order to fully understand them. The most difficult communication, when successfully executed, can often lead to an unlikely connection with someone.

[Read: Improving Emotional Intelligence (EQ)]

Provide feedback. If there seems to be a disconnect, reflect what has been said by paraphrasing. “What I’m hearing is,” or “Sounds like you are saying,” are great ways to reflect back. Don’t simply repeat what the speaker has said verbatim, though—you’ll sound insincere or unintelligent. Instead, express what the speaker’s words mean to you. Ask questions to clarify certain points: “What do you mean when you say…” or “Is this what you mean?”

Hear the emotion behind the words . It’s the higher frequencies of human speech that impart emotion. You can become more attuned to these frequencies—and thus better able to understand what others are really saying—by exercising the tiny muscles of your middle ear (the smallest in the body). You can do this by singing, playing a wind instrument, or listening to certain types of high-frequency music (a Mozart symphony or violin concerto, for example, rather than low-frequency rock, pop, or hip-hop).

The way you look, listen, move, and react to another person tells them more about how you’re feeling than words alone ever can. Nonverbal communication, or body language, includes facial expressions, body movement and gestures, eye contact, posture, the tone of your voice, and even your muscle tension and breathing.

Developing the ability to understand and use nonverbal communication can help you connect with others, express what you really mean, navigate challenging situations, and build better relationships at home and work.

• You can enhance effective communication by using open body language—arms uncrossed, standing with an open stance or sitting on the edge of your seat, and maintaining eye contact with the person you’re talking to.
• You can also use body language to emphasize or enhance your verbal message—patting a friend on the back while complimenting him on his success, for example, or pounding your fists to underline your message.

Improve how you  read nonverbal communication

Be aware of individual differences. People from different countries and cultures tend to use different nonverbal communication gestures, so it’s important to take age, culture, religion, gender, and emotional state into account when reading body language signals. An American teen, a grieving widow, and an Asian businessman, for example, are likely to use nonverbal signals differently.

Look at nonverbal communication signals as a group. Don’t read too much into a single gesture or nonverbal cue. Consider all of the nonverbal signals you receive, from eye contact to tone of voice to body language. Anyone can slip up occasionally and let eye contact go, for example, or briefly cross their arms without meaning to. Consider the signals as a whole to get a better “read” on a person.

Improve how you  deliver nonverbal communication

Use nonverbal signals that match up with your words rather than contradict them. If you say one thing, but your body language says something else, your listener will feel confused or suspect that you’re being dishonest. For example, sitting with your arms crossed and shaking your head doesn’t match words telling the other person that you agree with what they’re saying.

Adjust your nonverbal signals according to the context. The tone of your voice, for example, should be different when you’re addressing a child than when you’re addressing a group of adults. Similarly, take into account the emotional state and cultural background of the person you’re interacting with.

Avoid negative body language. Instead, use body language to convey positive feelings, even when you’re not actually experiencing them. If you’re nervous about a situation—a job interview, important presentation, or first date, for example—you can use positive body language to signal confidence, even though you’re not feeling it. Instead of tentatively entering a room with your head down, eyes averted, and sliding into a chair, try standing tall with your shoulders back, smiling and maintaining eye contact, and delivering a firm handshake. It will make you feel more self-confident and help to put the other person at ease.

How many times have you felt stressed during a disagreement with your spouse, kids, boss, friends, or coworkers and then said or done something you later regretted? If you can quickly relieve stress and return to a calm state, you’ll not only avoid such regrets, but in many cases you’ll also help to calm the other person as well. It’s only when you’re in a calm, relaxed state that you’ll be able to know whether the situation requires a response, or whether the other person’s signals indicate it would be better to remain silent.

In situations such as a job interview, business presentation, high-pressure meeting, or introduction to a loved one’s family, for example, it’s important to manage your emotions, think on your feet, and effectively communicate under pressure.

Communicate effectively by staying calm under pressure

Use stalling tactics to give yourself time to think. Ask for a question to be repeated or for clarification of a statement before you respond.

Pause to collect your thoughts. Silence isn’t necessarily a bad thing—pausing can make you seem more in control than rushing your response.

Make one point and provide an example or supporting piece of information. If your response is too long or you waffle about a number of points, you risk losing the listener’s interest. Follow one point with an example and then gauge the listener’s reaction to tell if you should make a second point.

Deliver your words clearly. In many cases, how you say something can be as important as what you say. Speak clearly, maintain an even tone, and make eye contact. Keep your body language relaxed and open.

Wrap up with a summary and then stop. Summarize your response and then stop talking, even if it leaves a silence in the room. You don’t have to fill the silence by continuing to talk.

Quick stress relief for effective communication

When a conversation starts to get heated, you need something quick and immediate to bring down the emotional intensity. By learning to quickly reduce stress in the moment, you can safely take stock of any strong emotions you’re experiencing, regulate your feelings, and behave appropriately.

Recognize when you’re becoming stressed. Your body will let you know if you’re stressed as you communicate. Are your muscles or stomach tight? Are your hands clenched? Is your breath shallow? Are you “forgetting” to breathe?

Take a moment to calm down before deciding to continue a conversation or postpone it.

Bring your senses to the rescue. The best way to rapidly and reliably relieve stress is through the senses—sight, sound, touch, taste, smell—or movement. For example, you could pop a peppermint in your mouth, squeeze a stress ball in your pocket, take a few deep breaths, clench and relax your muscles, or simply recall a soothing, sensory-rich image. Each person responds differently to sensory input, so you need to find a coping mechanism that is soothing to you.

[Read: Quick Stress Relief]

Look for humor in the situation. When used appropriately, humor is a great way to relieve stress when communicating . When you or those around you start taking things too seriously, find a way to lighten the mood by sharing a joke or an amusing story.

Be willing to compromise. Sometimes, if you can both bend a little, you’ll be able to find a happy middle ground that reduces the stress levels for everyone concerned. If you realize that the other person cares much more about an issue than you do, compromise may be easier for you and a good investment for the future of the relationship.

Agree to disagree, if necessary, and take time away from the situation so everyone can calm down. Go for a stroll outside if possible, or spend a few minutes meditating. Physical movement or finding a quiet place to regain your balance can quickly reduce stress.

Find your space for healing and growth

Regain is an online couples counseling service. Whether you’re facing problems with communication, intimacy, or trust, Regain’s licensed, accredited therapists can help you improve your relationship.

Direct, assertive expression makes for clear communication and can help boost your self-esteem and decision-making skills. Being assertive means expressing your thoughts, feelings, and needs in an open and honest way, while standing up for yourself and respecting others. It does NOT mean being hostile, aggressive, or demanding. Effective communication is always about understanding the other person, not about winning an argument or forcing your opinions on others.

To improve your assertiveness

Value yourself and your options. They are as important as anyone else’s.

Know your needs and wants. Learn to express them without infringing on the rights of others.

Express negative thoughts in a positive way. It’s  okay to be angry , but you must remain respectful as well.

Receive feedback positively. Accept compliments graciously, learn from your mistakes, ask for help when needed.

Learn to say “no.” Know your limits and don’t let others take advantage of you. Look for alternatives so everyone feels good about the outcome.

Developing assertive communication techniques

Empathetic assertion conveys sensitivity to the other person. First, recognize the other person’s situation or feelings, then state your needs or opinion. “I know you’ve been very busy at work, but I want you to make time for us as well.”

Escalating assertion can be employed when your first attempts are not successful. You become increasingly firm as time progresses, which may include outlining consequences if your needs are not met. For example, “If you don’t abide by the contract, I’ll be forced to pursue legal action.”

Practice assertiveness in lower risk situations to help build up your confidence. Or ask friends or family if you can practice assertiveness techniques on them first.

More Information

• Effective Communication: Improving Your Social Skills - Communicate more effectively, improve your conversation skills, and become more assertive. (AnxietyCanada)
• Core Listening Skills - How to be a better listener. (SucceedSocially.com)
• Effective Communication - How to communicate in groups using nonverbal communication and active listening techniques. (University of Maine)
• Some Common Communication Mistakes - And how to avoid them. (SucceedSocially.com)
• 3aPPa3 – When cognitive demand increases, does the right ear have an advantage? – Danielle Sacchinell | Acoustics.org . (n.d.). Retrieved May 22, 2022, from Link
• How to Behave More Assertively . (n.d.). 10. Weger, H., Castle Bell, G., Minei, E. M., & Robinson, M. C. (2014). The Relative Effectiveness of Active Listening in Initial Interactions.  International Journal of Listening , 28(1), 13–31. Link

More in Communication

How to read body language to build better relationships at home and work

Boost your emotional intelligence to help you be happy and successful

Tips for handling conflicts, arguments, and disagreements

How to feel and respond to the emotions of others

Tips and techniques for getting anger under control

Using laughter and play to resolve disagreements

Turning Off the Gas on Your Gaslighter

5 ways to deal with gaslighting

Strengthen your connections and improve your self-esteem

Professional therapy, done online

BetterHelp makes starting therapy easy. Take the assessment and get matched with a professional, licensed therapist.

Help us help others

Millions of readers rely on HelpGuide.org for free, evidence-based resources to understand and navigate mental health challenges. Please donate today to help us save, support, and change lives.

Essay on Communication: Meaning, Process and Objectives

After reading this essay you will learn about:- 1. Meaning of Communication 2. Definition of Communication 3. Process 4. Objectives 5. Modes 6. The Organisational Context 7. Directions 8. Channels 9. Patterns 10. Barriers 11. Organisation-Level Improvements.

Essay on the Meaning of Communication:

The word communication has been derived from the Latin word communis which means common, besides commonality, communication involves the concept of transfer, meaning and information transfer. Thus communication means sharing ideas in common to one or many.

It means a verbal or written message, an change of information, a system of communicating, and a process by which meanings are exchanged between individuals/groups of individuals through a common system of symbols. It also means technique for expressing ideas effectively and quickly.

Essay on the Definition of Communication:

Communication is the process of transferring information, meaning and understanding from sender to receiver and vice versa. And carrying out that process convincingly, meaningfully and proficiently is an absolute essential for a manager to exercise leadership efficiently.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

In fact, it is hard to conceive of successful leadership in the absence of excellent communication skills. The first step for a manager to become an outstanding leader, therefore, is to become an outstanding communicator or perhaps best communicator.

Communication is defined as “the process of passing information in oral or written form and understanding from one person to another in oral or written form.” It means transmitting and sharing of ideas, opinions, facts, figures and information in a manner that is perceived and understood by the receiver of the communication.

F.E.X. Dance defined communication as “the process by which people seek to share meaning via the transmission of symbolic messages.”

Essay on the Process of Communication:

The communications involves four actions and five components. The four actions are encoding, sending, receiving, and decoding. The five components are sender, message, medium, noise and receiver. The actions and components combine to transfer meaning from the sender who sends the message to the receiver. The sender who sends message originates the message by encoding it, that is, by constructing the message.

The message is the content of the communication. The sender then transmits the message through a medium. A medium is the mode or form of transmission of message, not the message itself. Examples of media are spoken words, gestures and fiscal expressions video.

Telephones, written memos, faxes and e-mail messages. The receiver acquires, or receives, the message by hearing it, reading it, or having it appear on a fax or computer through e-mail or voice mail.

The receiver then begins decoding the message, that is, interpreting it using various tools. Sometimes distractions interfere with the message; these interferences are called noise which leads to misunderstanding, noise contributes to misinterpretations of the original message, and it is only through feedback, or verification of the original message, that communication problems may be located, corrected and understood properly.

The basic model of communication is called as fundamental and universal model. That is, it occurs whenever communication takes place regardless of the culture or organisation and location.

However, while the basic acts and components of the communication process are the same everywhere, how the acts are carried out and the nature of the components are deeply influenced by cultural, organisational, and even personal contexts through this type of communication.

Who can send messages to whom, what kinds and what volumes of messages are sent, by what medium are messages transmitted what sort of interference or noise is likely to occur, and what cues are available for decoding are just some of the many examples of the types of communication issues that can vary from manager to manager, from organisation to organisation, from media to media and from country to country.

Essay on the Objectives of Communication:

Modern Organisation cannot exist without communication. If there is no communication, employees can’t know what their co-workers are doing, management can’t receive information inputs, and supervisors and team leaders cannot dive instructions and therefore communication is needed for effective management of the organisation.

Thus the followings are the objectives/importance of communication in the present context:

1. To develop information and understanding among all workers in the organisation.

2. To foster any attitude which is necessary for motivation and cooperation in the organization.

3. To encourage better performance and job satisfaction in the organization.

4. To prepare workers in the organization for a change in methods or environment by giving them the necessary information in advance.

5. To discourage misinformation, ambiguity and rumours in the organisation.

6. To encourage subordinates in the organisation to supply ideas and suggestions for improving upon the product or work environment, and taking these suggestions seriously.

7. To improve labour-management relations in the organization.

8. To encourage social relations among workers in the organisation by encouraging into communication.

9. To accomplish all the basic management functions— Planning, Organizing, Leading/directing and controlling in the organization.

10. To achieve their goals and meet challenges in the organization.

Essay on the Modes of Communication:

Communication can occur in the organization either a verbal mode or a non-verbal mode as given below. Each mode has particular characteristics in the organisation and issues that an effective manager must understand.

1. Verbal Communication:

Spoken words, which are called as verbal communication, mean both oral and written communication in the organization.

(i) Oral Communication:

The spoken word has the potential advantages of being vivid, stimulating and commanding attention in the organisation. In most organizational situations, it is difficult for receivers—the listeners—to ignore the words spoken or the person speaking to them in oral type of communication.

Just think about the last time someone spoke to you directly. Even if you weren’t interested in what the person had to say, wouldn’t it have been difficult to simply ignore the person, turn and walk away? Certainly not possible, hence, here it is mandatory to listen the person.

Also, oral communication is exceptionally flexible for both the sender and receiver in the organization. While you are speaking with another person, you may try to make a point a certain way but along the way change your words in order for the listener to understand you in a better way.

Because oral communication is generally interactive in the organisation, it can be quite responsive and adaptive to circumstances. However, this mode of communication in the organisation has the major disadvantages of being transistor and subject to considerable misinterpretation of messages.

Even when individuals use the same language in the oral communication, the subtle nuances of the spoken word may be missed or incorrect meaning attached to them. Oral communication between those whose First language differ in the organisation, as in many management situations today, simply multiplies the chances of intended meaning going away.

Advantages of Oral Communication in the Organisation:

1. It is direct, simple, timesaving and least expensive for any organisation.

2. It helps in avoiding delays, red tape and other formalities in the organization.

3. Feedback and spontaneous thinking are available in this type of communication which benefits organisation growth.

4. We can clear any misunderstanding between speakers.

5. It develops a sense of belonging because of personalized contacts in the organization.

Disadvantages of Oral Communication:

1. There is no any formal record for transaction in the organization.

2. Lengthy and distant communications cannot be effectively conveyed verbally in the organization.

3. The receiver may receive the message in his own perception and thus misunderstand the intent of the message in the organization.

4. The spirit of authority cannot be transmitted effectively in verbal transaction unless trust between speakers.

5. Different meaning may occur by manner of speaking, tune of voice and facial expressions in the organization.

(ii) Written Communication in Organisation:

Written communication is one when messages are put in writing, as in letters, memos, electronic mail, and the like, the opportunity for misunderstanding the words of the sender are decreased. The receiver of the message sent may still misinterpret the intended message, of course, but there is no uncertainty about exactly what words the sender has used.

In that sense, written communication has precision. However, not everyone writes well, and so greater precision does not necessarily lead to greater understanding in the organisation.

This is further complicated when the words need translation from one language to another for better understanding. The writer/sender does not know immediately how well or poorly the message is getting across, written communication has the disadvantage of not being very flexible in the organization.

In addition, it is often not as vivid or compelling as oral communication. Although you might find it difficult to ignore someone speaking to you, it would probably be much easier to ignore a letter you received in your organisation.

Advantages of Written Communication in the Organization:

1. It can easily verify and more precisely defined in the organization.

2. It is likely to be a permanent record and uses for future references in the organization.

3. It reduces the possibility of misunderstanding and misinterpretation in the organization.

4. It is reliable for transmitting lengthy statistical data in the organization.

5. The time can be saved when many persons should be contacted in the organization at the same time.

Disadvantages of Written Communication in the Organization:

1. It is very slow and causes delay in the organization.

2. Written material may leak out before time, causing disruption in its effectiveness in many organization.

3. More dependence of written communication can lead to too much of paper-work in the organization.

4. It leads to excessive formality in personal relations in the organization.

2. Nonverbal Communication in the Organization:

In direct interpersonal communication, nonverbal actions and behaviors often constitute significant messages in the organization. A whole range of actions, or lack of them, has the potential for communicating in the organization.

The way you dress, speak words, use gestures, handle utensils, exhibit facial expressions, and set the physical distance to the receiver are just some of the many forms of nonverbal communication in the organization.

Electronic Communication:

Now a day, electronic mail, or e-mail, has emerged as one of the fastest-growing forms of communication in the organisation. In the recent nationwide survey, 79 per cent of the responding executives indicated that e-mail was their number-one choice for business communication in their organisation.

With e-mail or faxes, you can send a message simultaneously to dozens or even hundreds of people throughout the world. Recently, Videoconferences have also emerged as a business communication too.

Essay # The Organisational Context of Communication:

Managers in the organization do not deal with communication in the abstract. Rather they deal with it within an organizational context. The structure of organisations and the process of organisations powerfully shape the nature and effectiveness of communication that takes place within and between them.

In the present setup Organizations, whether business, hospitals or government agencies, have a set of defining characteristics, all of which affect communication in one way or another.

Thus, organizations:

a) Are composed of individuals and groups.

b) Are oriented towards goals

c) Have differentiated functions.

d) Has intended coordination.

e) Have continuity through time.

Organizations of any size, regardless of country, are not simply a random set of individuals who by chance come together for a brief period with no purpose. The fact that they have goal orientations, structures, and coordination greatly influences the nature and amount of communication that takes place in the organization.

This influence can be analyzed in terms of directions, channels and patterns of communication in the organization.

Essay # Directions of Communication within Organizations:

Because organizations of any degree of complexity have both differentiated functions and more than one level in the organisation, the directions of communication within them can be classified according to the level for which they are intended.

Downward communication is sent from higher organizational levels to lower levels in the organisation; for example, from the organization’s top executives like to its employees, or from supervisors to subordinates.

Upward Communication is sent from lower organizational levels to higher levels; for example, from non-management employees like workers to their supervisors, or from a manager to her CEOs.

Lateral Communication is sent across essentially equivalent levels of an organization; for example, from one clerical to another, from the manager of product X to the manager of product Y, or from the marketing department to the engineering design department in the organisation.

The topics covered in organizational communication vary according to their direction. Downward communication typically involves such matters as goals, objectives, directions, decisions, and feedback in the organisation.

Upward communication usually focuses on information, suggestions, questions, problems and requests for clarification in the organisation. Lateral communication typically involves changes of information-both formal and informal-that assist or affect coordination and joint problem solving in the organization.

While the subject matter of communication in particular direction tends to be fairly similar in most medium to large organizations, the culture of the organization can affect the process. For example, in an organization where authority and hierarchy are stressed, upward communication might be more formal than in an organization with more egalitarian culture.

As a simple illustration, in the hierarchical organization, a conversion might start with the subordinate addressing a superior several levels above as Mr. Or Ms. James.

In many countries, for example in Korea, the conversion might start by addressing the superior by his or her title, such as Director Park. In organizations with less emphasis on hierarchy, the conversation might start by addressing the superior by his or her first name.

Likewise, organizational or country culture can influence the frequency and flavor of upward communications. For example, in organizations with strong hierarchical values, upward communication tends to be less frequent.

In summary, organizational communications flow upward, laterally, and downward in every organization. The direction of the communication has a significant impact on the type of communication that is likely to take place frequently.

However, the culture of the organization and the region or country in which the organization is located can further determine the exact from that communication will have and even the frequency of each direction of communication will take place in organization.

Essay # Channels of Communication within Organizations:

Organizational channels, or routes of communication, consist of two fundamental types namely formal and informal. Both types are essential for organizational functioning, and neither types can easily substitute for the other.

Formal Communication channels are those that are authorized planned and regulated by the organization and that are directly connected to its official structure. Thus, the organization’s designated structure indicates the normal paths for downward, upward and lateral formal communication. Formal communication channels are like highlighted roads on road map.

They specify organizational members who are responsible for tasks and communicating information to levels above and below them and back and forth to adjacent units. Also, formal channels indicate the persons or positions to whom work-related messages should be sent in the organization. Formal channels can be modified, and thus they have some flexibility, but they can seldom be disregarded in the organization.

The wheel or star network refers to an administrator and four subordinates with whom he interacts in the organisation. There is no interaction among the subordinates in the organization.

In ‘y’ network; there are two subordinates reporting to the superior.

The “chain” in the network, denotes a five-level hierarchy in which communication can take place only upward and downward, and across organizational lines in modern organizations.

The circle network denotes a three level hierarchy in which there is communication between superiors and subordinates, with cross communication at the operative level.

Informal communication channels are communication routes that are not prescribed by the organization but that develop through typical interpersonal activities of people at work in the organisation. Channels can come into existence and change or disappear rapidly, depending on circumstances in the organization.

However, they may also endure in many work situations, especially where individuals have been working together over a period of time in the organization. If a specific pattern becomes well established, it would ordinarily be called a ‘network’ in the organisation.

There are four major type of informal communication in the organisation.

They are as follows:

(1) Single strand.

(2) Gossip.

(3) Probability.

(4) Cluster.

In the single stranded network, the individual communicates through intervening persons in the organisation. In the gossip network, the individual communicates or spreads like anything without a choice in the organisation. In probability network, the individual spreads the communication at random in the organisation.

But in the cluster network, the individual communicates with only those individuals whom he trusts in the organisation. Among these types of communication network, the cluster is most popular network in many organisation.

Essay # Formal and Informal Channels of Communication in Organization:

In a Plastic Bottle manufacturing company the CEO has got two immediate managers one is GM-marketing who markets plastic bottle and another one is GM-production who manufactures Plastic Bottle. The GM-marketing has got two subordinates one is advertising manager and the second one is promotions manager.

Likewise the GM-Production has got two immediate subordinates, one is supervisor design and another one is supervisor testing. If CEO communicates to GM-Marketing or GM-Production it is called as formal channels of communication. However, if CEO contacts Advertising manager or supervisor testing it is called INFORMAL channels of communication.

Formal Communication Channels:

a) Authorized, Planned and regulated by the organization.

b) Reflect the organization’s formal structure.

c) Define who has responsibility for information dissemination and indicate the proper recipients of work-related information in organization.

d) Maybe modified by the organization in future.

e) Minor to severe consequences for ignoring them unknowingly.

Informal Communication Channels:

a) Develop through interpersonal activities of organisation members

b) Hot specified by the organization

c) Man is short-lived or long lasting.

d) Are more often lateral than vertical in organization.

e) Information flow can be very fast in organization.

f) Used for both work-related and non-work information.

Some more informal communication Channels in the organization are as follows:

a) Informal Communication Channels tend to operate more often in the lateral than in the vertical direction compared to formal channels because they are not designated by the organization and its top officials.

b) Second, information flowing through informal channels in the organization often moves extremely fast, principally because senders are highly motivated to pass information on. The so-called grapevine is a classic example of rapid transmission of messages through informal channels.

c) A third feature is that informal channels carry work- related as well as non-work information in the organisation. Just because channels are informal does not mean that only gossip and other messages unrelated to jobs and tasks are carried by them. In fact, crucial work-related information is frequently communicated in this way.

Of course, some of the messages passed through the informal channels in the organisation may contain inaccuracies or be negative, and thus seen by some managers as a source of problems. However, few organizations could exist for long if they had to rely only on formal communication channels in the organisation.

Essay # Patterns of Organizational Communication in the Organisation:

Identifiable patterns of communication that occur with some regularity within and between organizations, whether using formal or informal channels, are typically called communication networks in any organisation. Put another way, communication networks are stable systems of interconnections in any organisation.

Thus, networks involve consistent linkages between particular sets of senders and receivers in the organisation. For example, a middle-level divisional marketing manager in New Delhi might have a particular network that involves her boss in Kolkata, three key managers in other departments in the Kolkata headquarters, her seven subordinates located in major Western cities, and two outside vendors of market research data.

Another network for the same manager might involve two lower-level managers in other units in the New Delhi office and their former colleague and old friend who is now a sales supervisor in Chennai and who has access to inside information on how well new marketing approaches are working in that region.

An example of a larger, more organization wide network could be the Coca Cola Company’s worldwide pattern of communication relationships between its headquarters in Atlanta and its bottlers and distributors throughout world. Of course, networks can also be formed across organizations as well as within the organisation.

The importance of communication networks to managers in any organisation is that they can provide significant and regular sources of information, both of the formal and informal type, that might otherwise take a much longer time to obtain if the various links had to set up from scratch each time some new topic or problem came up.

Also, when managers are members of established networks, it can make it easier for them to influence the other people or groups involved in the networks. Consequently, for both of these reasons, managers need to pay particular attention to what networks they can, and want to, be a part of and to the composition of those networks in the organisation.

It is no accident that the term networking has come to signify a process that has the potential for gaining advantages for a manger (or anyone for that matter) by having one or more sets of individuals in the organisation or groups with which one can interact easily and regularly, and with whom one can communicate a sense of confidence and trust in the organisation.

In traditional western organizations, it has always been relatively easy for males in management positions to establish various network with other males (thus providing the basis for the phase “old boys network” ) in their organisation. However, at least until very recently, it has been much harder for women and members of underrepresented ethnic groups to establish similar helpful networks in their organisations

Recent research suggests, in fact, that organizational networks involving individuals from these groups are different in terms of both composition and relationships from the traditional networks composed primarily of white males in the organisation.

It does not make such networks any less important or useful to managers from these groups, but docs serve to emphasize that network patterns to communication in organisations can vary based on a number of different situational circumstance, including the age, gender, and ethnicity of individuals in the organisation.

Essay # Barriers to Communication in the Organisation:

Although the organisational context provides numerous opportunities for managers to engage in effective and productive communication to assist in leadership efforts, there are likewise many barriers related to that context that can interfere with the communication process in the present organisation.

Such barriers can arise from several different sources, including interpersonal, organisational, organizational, and cultural in the organization.

Obstacles to interpersonal communication in the organisation can occur with either the sender or the receiver. The burden is simultaneously on both the sender and the receiver in any organisation to ensure accurate communication.

It is, however, the sender’s obligation to choose the language and words—to encode the message—carefully to carry the greatest precision of meaning. Precision in the organisation is especially important if the sender is trying to persuade the receiver to do something in a language or communication style different from what the receiver prefers.

For example, if you are talking with your boss style and choice of words, your boss may not be receptive if he or she prefers a more formal approach in the organisation. You will probably need to adjust your style for the communication to be effective in the organisation.

The receiver, of course, is often the source of communication breakdowns in the organisation. For example, the receiver might have a selective perception problem in the organisation. That is, the receiver may unintentionally screen out some parts of the intended message because they contradict his beliefs or desires in the organisation.

For example, you might stress the increased productivity in the organisation from a proposed project, but your boss is focusing on the estimated cost of the project. Although selective perception is a natural human tendency, it hinders accurate communication, especially when sensitive or highly important topics are being discussed in the organisation.

Another way to state this point is that individuals tend to adopt frames of reference, or quick ways of interpreting messages in the organisation that help them make sense of complex communications, but these shortcuts may prevent the intended message from being received.

Essay # Organisational Barriers:

Just as interpersonal barriers can limit communication, so can organisational barriers limit communication? Such barriers in the organisation can interfere with communication between individuals or groups within the same organisation, between individuals or groups from two different organisations, or between entire organizations.

The basis of these organisational barriers lies within the hierarchical structure of organizations.

All organisations of any complexity have specialized functions and more than one level of authority in the organisation. This specialization creates a situation that is ripe for communication difficulties in the organisation.

For example one person might come from marketing and the other form Production. The person in marketing might think nothing of exaggerating while the person from Production always understates her points.

Consequently, the marketer might see the Production Manager as unimaginative and boring, while the Production Manager might view the marketer as superficial and careless. In addition, the two parties might come from different levels in the organisation.

The differences between responsibility and level of authority could cause a senior executive to expect an explanation of the broad impacts on the entire organization of a proposed project and a junior technical expert to focus on the detailed schedule of the project in any organisation.

Essay # Cultural Burriers in Organization:

Communication and culture are tightly intervened in the organisation. Culture cannot exist without communication and human communication only within a cultural context in the organisation. Since the act of communicating is so closely connected to the surrounding environment, culture can ease or hinder it in the organisation.

Thus, similarity in culture between senders and receivers facilitates successful communication-the intended meaning has a higher probability of getting transferred in the organisation.

Differences in culture hinder the process of-any organisation. The greater the cultural differences between sender and receiver, the greater the expected difficulty in communicating within or outside the organisation. Therefore, other things being equal, it should be easier, for example, for an Indian manager to communicate with a Singapore subordinate than with a Malaysian subordinate.

Probably the greatest single cultural barrier that can affect communication across different departmental, organisational, regional, or national cultures is ethnocentrism in the organisation.

Ethnocentrism is the belief in the superiority of one’s own groups and the related tendency to view others in terms of the values of one’s own group in the organisation. Ethnocentrism leads individuals to divide their interpersonal worlds into in-groups and out-groups in the organisation.

A third major cultural barrier to communication I can be labeled cultural distance in the organisation. This concept refers to the overall difference between two cultures basic characteristics such as language, level of economic development, and entrenched traditions and customs in the organisation.

Cultural distance was illustrated by a study that gathered 21 senior executives from major corporations in Japan, the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom and India for a five-week period of cultural explorations regarding communication.

The executives attended lecturers and seminars, built rafts and climbed riffs together, and even travelled in fact-finding teams to the countries represented to improve communication, nevertheless, observers reported that communication remained a problem the entire five weeks among them.

The various barriers that were discussed in the preceding section can interfere with effective communication, but there are ways of dealing with, or overcoming, them in the organisation. That is the subject of this section – approaches that will help to improve your communication in the organisation as a manager.

Essay # Organisation-Level Improvements in Communication:

Organisations can take steps to change their policies and methods for how and when managers should communicate in the organisation. Unfortunately, guidelines for this more structural approach are not as well developed as those for individual managers in the organisation.

A recent study of research and development laboratories within 14 large multinational firms, however, did provide some suggestions. The study produced strong evidence for the importance of gatekeepers, or so-called “boundary-spanning” individuals who are at the communication interface between separate organizations or between units within an organisation.

Large companies especially need to be able to structure the activities of gatekeepers to maximize their usefulness to the communication process and to make sure that the most critical information is both sent and received.

Finding from the study indicated that communication could be improved by implementing rules and procedures that increased formal communication, replacing some face-to-face communication with electronic communication, developing particular communication networks, and even creating a centralized office to manage communication activities in the organization.

Related Articles:

• Essay on Communication: Top Essays | Directing | Functions | Management
• Notes, Effectiveness of the Communication Process: 15 Factors
• Elements and Importance of Communication Process | Business Management
• Communication: Types of Communication | Process | Directing | Management

We use cookies

Privacy overview.

Impact of Technology on Communication Essay

Introduction, advancement of technology in communication, media technology and online communication, the impacts of mobile phone on communication, reference list.

The realm of technology is ever-changing. New advances in applied science have forever transformed the way people interact. Exploring the impact of technology on communication and debating whether people connect with others differently seems to be the topic of the day.

Technology has allowed people to keep in touch no matter the distance. One is able to communicate 24 hours around the clock, seven days a week, 365 days on an interpersonal level.

What are the real impacts of technology on communication? How do electronics mediate and change the ways in which humans interact? How has the emergence of the Internet, mobile phones, and social networks affected society and businesses?

In order to reveal the importance of technology in communication, the essay tries to find answers to these questions. It explores how everything has changed over the years and discusses the connection between technology and communication.

To begin this examination and find answers to these questions, we begin by defining media and communication and outlining the stages of technological advancement from old age to the present day in the field of communication. The paper will highlight the use of the Internet, newspapers, radio, and other media, but it mostly dwells on the use of mobile telephony.

Communication is “the imparting or exchange of information by speaking, writing or using some other medium” (Daniel & Rod, 2011). On the other hand, media is defined as “the main means of mass communication (television, radio, and newspapers) regarded collectively.”

Technology has changed everything in the modern society. The way we communicate has been revolutionized by the advancement of new innovations in the telecommunication sector. Connecting with other people with ease is more feasible in today’s world, and this is due to speed.

Several centuries ago, books and newspapers reigned as the only choice of communication. Then later, innovators brought the radio and television before innovation was taken a notch higher with the coming of the personal computer (Johnson, 1997, p.3).

With every new innovation, the reliance on books and newspapers as the mass medium of communication continued to reduce. With time, human culture has come to understand the power and the mechanisms involved in technology and invention. In today’s world, information has permeated the cycles of change and development.

The world today, past and present, can be studied at ease with the growing information technology. Technology has advanced with sheer velocity allowing different media to shape our thinking and habits. The people who were born during the television era thought that it was the climax of innovation, but they suddenly found themselves acclimating to a new medium, the World Wide Web.

Every time a new medium rolls out, the perceptions towards the previous media you were used to change (Johnson, 1997 p5). Technology proved to be powerful in the sense that no human being can predict what will change and what won’t with certainty.

The irony of it all is the fact that the influence of technology extends beyond generations to come. It is with no doubt that technology has changed the lives of human beings; information and entertainment are being received in a more convenient way.

The innovation of having a conversation using a device called the telephone changed everything in communication. This became magical, and one couldn’t believe such innovation would exist (Tofts, 1997, p.40).

With the emergence of new media technologies, consumers have been empowered to ‘filter’ the information they want to receive. This allows them to have a choice of which news to watch or what information to listen to (Palmer, 2003, p.161).

Media consumption has been made an engaging experience with marketers studying the preferences of the consumers in order to reflect broader social changes in society. In today’s world, the computer is seen as a multi-purpose machine with work and leisure functions, therefore, creating more value.

The rise of the Internet has also made it possible to have virtual offices where the user can work from home or any convenient location. The flow of information from different media has greatly changed the social structures of society at different levels (Barry, 1999).

Digital media has enabled news and event to be channeled in real-time. The combination of the Internet and commerce has given birth to e-commerce sites providing huge potential for marketers to reach out to virtual communities.

In the world today, there are numerous media screens within our surroundings. This ranges from the television sets in our houses, computer monitors at the office, mobile phones and MP3 players in our pockets and handbag.

Even when shopping or waiting to board a plane, you’re most probably staring at screens with entertainment media (Soukup, 2008, p.5). Heavy marketing has been adopted by producers of mobile technologies targeting consumers who possess mobile phones with picture and video capacity (Goggin, 2006, p.170).

Media texts producers have termed mobile media as a “third screen,” a device that consumers carry around with much ease. Unlike television screens, broader communication networks have been integrated into personal computers and mobile phones (Goggin, 2006, p.9).

Train, buses, and airplanes have been dominated by mobile screens providing passengers with entertainment as well as other media content, especially advertisements (Caron & Carona, 2007, p.17). With a lot of commercial media content, the preferences of people change in their everyday lives.

The world of popular media has become chaotic, with hundreds of television channels to choose from, thousands of songs ready for download, and not forgetting millions of web pages to surf.

The emergence of social media like Facebook and Twitter has enabled people to manage interactions and relationships with many friends. Technologies have impacted interpersonal communication enabling people to interact more often than before.

In addition to reducing the distance between people, online communication with tools like Facebook and Twitter enables people to keep track of their contacts with friends and are more aware of the last time they interacted with them. Online communication now incorporates more than one mode of contact, including text, voice, and body language.

A mobile phone is a device that has always been seen as connecting people who are far apart, thus overcoming the geographical distance between them. The number of mobile phone users has continued to increase substantially. The mobile phone has been integrated as part of people’s lives in the sense that it’s available and easy to use, keeping us connected to our families, friends, and business people (Ling, 2004, p.21-24).

The how and when the way we use our mobile phones impacts our communication not only with those we’re communicating with but also with the people within our proximity. At this point, it is paramount to note the changes that have taken place and that have allowed the adoption of mobile phones. The tremendous proliferation of this device has drastically changed the traditional communication model.

Who are the users of mobile phones, and for what purposes do they use them? Has there been any change in the way mobile phone facilitates communication? How has the face to face interaction been affected by mobile calls? Has mobile communication enhanced relationships?

These are some of the questions that arise when we try to fathom the way communication has affected our personal and professional lives. There are sentiments that mobile phones have reduced humans to emotionless beings.

There is no doubt that the revolution brought about the use of mobile phones in the way we communicate. There have been different perceptions among individuals and social levels in society in regard to mobile usage.

When we had fixed telephone lines that were put in a booth, telephones were seen as business tools only and were placed in a fixed, quiet environment. There was restriction when it came to teenagers using these phones (Agar, 2003). The ‘birth’ of mobile phones brought changes, and phone calls became a habit to many irrespective of age or location.

Today, people can use mobile phones wherever they are in private or in public. People have been addicted to their mobile phones more than any other gadget known to man, with the device remaining on throughout. Its portability enables people to carry it wherever they go (Castells, 1996).

A personal virtual network has been created whereby users can be available at all times to communicate with friends, family, and colleagues. The geographical barrier has been destroyed, making people feel close to one another, and the face to face communication has been rendered rather less important with this mediated communication (Richard, 2004, p.22).

Meetings and briefings have become obsolete, with communication being mediated by a computer or a phone. Mobile SMS (short messaging service) service and the Internet has become the preferable communication channels for most teenagers and young people all over the world (Plant, 2000, p.23).

There are places where mobile phones have become taboo devices, places like churches and crucial corporate meetings. At such places, the mobile ring is seen as a nuisance. In other scenarios, it is seen as a destructive device by acting as a third party and especially for dating couples who want to have a private conversation.

Any phone ring is seen as an ‘intruder,’ and this harms the relationship between the partners (Plant, 2000, p.29). In his research, Plant observes that there are those people who use mobile as ’a means of managing privacy where calls are carefully selected’. He categorizes this group of people as ‘hedgehogs.’

The other category is those people who use mobile phones as the key central part of their life. They become so attached to the device and cannot do without it. Plant referred to this group as ‘fox.’ They are regular users who need to feel connected with their families and friend. Their life will be dreadful if they lack the device (2000, p.32).

Telephones have promoted the use of text messaging and modernization since it’s allowing people to communicate more both verbally and by texting in a more convenient and efficient way. SMS has made communication to be more immediate, and users can customize the message at ease with the various applications installed on their mobiles (Richard, 2004, p. 100).

The advanced phones have email support as well as multimedia messages making chatting become a lifestyle for many who conduct business and those initiating intimate communication. It has emerged that SMS has made people become more united.

Users have developed abbreviated messages, which are now universally accepted as an appropriate language. The initial purpose of the phone to make calls has even lost taste with many people, especially the young generation.

According to Reid &Reid, more than 85% of teenagers prefer texting to talking on their mobile usage (Reid & Reid, 2004, p.1). There is ease of communication when it comes to texting in the sense that some formalities are eliminated, making communication more personal.

Texting has helped introverts who may lack the skills to have phone conversations allowing them to express their true self to other people leading to greater understanding and stronger relationships (Reid & Reid, 2004, p.8).

The use of mobile technology has affected the personalities of people to a great extent. Today, more people are hiding their feelings and whereabouts behind mobile phones, and this has raised suspicions among families, friends, and couples.

People go through text messages of others just to find out more about the individual who might even have no clue about what is happening. Contrary to this, most people believe that mobile is so crucial in enhancing the relationship between people no matter the distance and that it bonds us together more than it separates us (Plant, 2000, p.58).

The usage of mobile phones by children and teenagers has changed the way parents bring up their kids. Parenting has really changed as parents try to increase their surveillance and monitor their children’s mobile usage.

Their concern is to know who communicates with their kind and the kind of conversations they normally have. They are worried about the kind of social network the children create in their contact lists.

With the emergence of virtual communities, the influence of mobile phones has spilled over and affects parenting in general. Nonetheless, the primary purpose of mobile phones to facilitate communication has not changed.

There is no doubt that technology has changed the way humans communicate. Great impacts can be seen in the way communication has changed the social structures of our society at all levels. Even in years to come, technology remains the driving force of the way people interact.

The advancement of technology ensures that communication is quicker and that more people remain connected. There has been an evolution in interpersonal skills with the advancement of technology, and users should always be keen on adapting to new ways of communication.

Technology has continually brought new methods of communication leading to the expansion of mediated communication. The reality of having one message shared across a huge audience (mass communication) is now with us. A situation where neither time nor geography can limit the accessibility of information.

We have seen the merging together of newspapers and books with computer technology so that the frequency and ease of reporting information and advertisements can be increased. The exposure of both individuals and society to mediated communication has therefore affected our daily lives, particularly in our culture and the way we communicate.

Agar, J., 2003. Constant Touch: A Global History of the Mobile Phone . Cambridge: Icon Books.

Barry, W., 1999. Networks in the Global Village . Boulder Colo: Westview Press.

Caron, A, & Caronia, L., 2007. Moving cultures: mobile communication in everyday life. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Castells, M., 1996. The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, Volume 1. The Rise of the Network Society . Oxford: Blackwell.

Daniel, C., & Rod, M., 2011.The Dictionary of Media and Communications . Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Goggin, G., 2006. Cell phone culture mobile technology in everyday life. New York: Routledge.

Palmer, D., 2003. The Paradox of User Control’. 5 th Annual Digital Arts and Culture Conference (Proceedings), pp.160-164.

Plant, S., 2000. On the Mobile: the effects of mobile telephones on social and individual life . Web.

Postman, N., 1992. Technopoly: The surrender of culture to technology . New York: Vintage Books.

Reid, D. J. & Reid F. J. M., 2004. Insights into the Social and Psychological Effects of SMS Text Messaging . Web.

Richard, L., 2004. The Mobile Connection: The Cell Phone’s Impact on Society . San Francisco Morgan: Kaufmann.

Soukup, C., 2008. ‘Magic Screens: Everyday Life in an Era of Ubiquitous and Mobile Media Screens’, presented at 94 th annual Convention . San Diego .

Stephen, J., 1997. Interface Culture: How New Technology Transforms the Way We Create and Communicate . San Francisco: Basic Books.

Tofts, D., 1997. ‘ The technology within’ in memory trade: A Prehistory of Cyberculture, North Ryde: 21C Books.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, October 28). Impact of Technology on Communication Essay. https://ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-technology-on-communication/

"Impact of Technology on Communication Essay." IvyPanda , 28 Oct. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-technology-on-communication/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Impact of Technology on Communication Essay'. 28 October.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Impact of Technology on Communication Essay." October 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-technology-on-communication/.

1. IvyPanda . "Impact of Technology on Communication Essay." October 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-technology-on-communication/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Impact of Technology on Communication Essay." October 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-technology-on-communication/.

• Texting's Importance for the Society
• Texting as a Valuable Way of Communication
• Drunk Driving vs. Texting While Driving
• Dangers of Texting while Driving
• The South Dakota Legislature on Texting and Driving
• Texting in Modern Society
• Banning Texting while Driving Saves Lives
• LG Mobile Teen Texting Campaign
• Texting While Driving Should Be Illegal
• Tougher Punishment for Texting While Driving
• Electronic Communication
• The Role of Communication in Society
• Public Relations and Ethical Decisions
• Social Network Communication
• Modern Day Communication

• About the Field
• Generalist MCM
• Marketing Communication
• Strategic and Organizational Communication
• Market Research and Analytics
• Admissions Overview
• Student Experience
• Career Overview

MASTER OF COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT ONLINE

How Communication Changes the World

November 15, 2023

View all blog posts under Articles

In 1965, after technological advancements including communication changes made collaboration and work more efficient than ever before, a Senate subcommittee predicted that by 2000, Americans would work just 14 hours per week. They foresaw technological advancements upending the landscape of work — how, when and where we do it, and which skills would be most important to executing it.

Today, while frontline workers do essential, location-based work, “knowledge workers” — people for whom physical work space is less important — function very differently than they did in the past. Remote and hybrid work options and a cultural shift toward better work/life balance have altered the landscape of work.

Amid this shift, which skill is more essential than ever for productivity, efficiency, collaboration and personal success? Communication.

Here are three types of communication:

• Everyday, operational communication for productivity
• Connecting with others interpersonally
• Communication for change — big, aspirational, strategic communication to progress ideals and make an impact

These three types of communication rely on overlapping foundational skills, but each has its nuances in methods and communication tools .

For people looking to communicate for change — to make the world a better place by reaching others and making an impact — an online Master of Communication Management can be a launchpad to a fulfilling career.

Communication Methods

While we may think of communicating for change as the sweeping, influential speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. in the pulpit, Winston Churchill behind the podium or Malala Yousafzai with a microphone in hand, inspiring change is usually steady, detailed work. Behind the scenes, communications professionals follow time-tested methods to make progress.

Here are six essential communication methods.

Verbal Communication

Today, professionals communicate fluidly throughout their workday, and that includes spoken language. Tasks have become more nuanced, so the communication around performing them relies on focused conversations. In person, on a phone call or via Zoom meeting or another online space, verbal communication skills are key to productivity.

Written Communication

Equally essential today is the ability to convey information and ideas through the written word, as work often happens over email and chat services such as:

• Microsoft Teams
• Google Chat

The purpose of any type of communication is to be understood, and when vague or confusing writing is shared over chat, its meaning may be lost. Today, work so often happens through writing, making clarity in written language a key to professional success. Similarly, when trying to reach an audience on social media, brevity is king.

Nonverbal Communication

Some may think that the prevalence of online work has decreased the value of nonverbal communication — communicating through body language and other non-spoken cues — but perhaps the opposite is true. Whether in person or online, the signs of active listening can make it obvious who’s engaged and who’s not, such as:

• Eye contact or a gaze that’s focused on the speaker or presentation
• A calm body — hands, shoulders and face are still (outside of focused note-taking)
• Head nods to show understanding
• Sensible questions and responses
• Group clarity on action items

Modern work’s emphasis on collaboration has made every aspect of communication, including nonverbal cues, an important professional skill. It’s not possible to communicate for change without it.

Visual Communication

Visual storytelling and data visualization can be achieved through:

• Infographics
• Charts and graphs
• Any type of art, such as illustration

Media can deliver powerful, clear messages to an audience. In a crowded online space, visual communication’s ability to grab attention makes it an essential part of communicating.

Presentation Skills

Communication changes have made it possible to hold a discussion while projecting or sharing supporting materials, such as:

• Slide decks
• Spreadsheets
• Project management tools

These assets ground conversations in a given project, and being able to fluidly share the important points of the material with a group is a key communication skill.

Public Speaking

An individual may give a speech to inform, persuade, inspire — or a combination of all three.

Foundational communication skills that support all other day-to-day, operational and relationship-building communication come into play during public speaking, such as:

• Understanding of audience and purpose
• Confident use of supporting assets or visuals (if any)
• Nonverbal communication

Leaders of movements and organizations bring these skills to the stage when giving a speech, and studies in communication management layer understanding and practice of these skills to launch a career in communication that has impact.

5 Ways Communication Changes the World

Methodology is crucial to quality communication. Here are five ways using communication methods to reach people can truly change the world.

1. Creates Institutional Change

Communication changes have brought increased transparency and fairness to workplaces in ways such as:

• More open communication from leadership
• Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to make underrepresented voices heard
• Prioritization of ethics in the workplace

These grow from a brave few’s abilities to communicate effectively at scale and push through for impact.

2. Uncovers Needs and Builds Trust

In both one-on-one relationships and large-scale movements, quality communication can uncover needs and build trust. When people lack the tools, methods and power to have their voices heard, their needs can be — either purposefully or through unintended negligence — ignored. Successful communication can reveal undiscovered needs that help move an organization or movement forward and let stakeholders know that their voices are heard.

3. Spurs Large-Scale Cultural Shifts

Our society is a work in progress. Over time, large-scale cultural movements have successfully shifted how groups of people live. Although there’s plenty of work left to be done, many groups and organizations have become more equitable because forward-thinking groups have used communication skills and tactics to change the world.

4. Educates and Inspires Others

Information sharing moves faster today than ever before. The internet has created communication changes in the way we work and live, so speaking, listening, writing and producing graphics are powerful tools that have the potential to educate and inspire more people than ever before.

Why Communication for Change Is Important

Throughout history, different modes of action have been the most effective at promoting progress in the world. Today, communication is that mode. Communicating for change is rich with possibility, as information and ideas spread quickly through modern channels. Methods such as verbal, written, nonverbal and visual communication can captivate an audience. Developing expertise in those layered skills can create influence and impact from one person or a small group of people through institutional change, uncovering needs, building trust, spurring cultural shifts and educating and inspiring others.

Explore a Master of Communication Management Degree

For anyone ready to communicate for change, advanced education in communication can be the key that unlocks a career of impact. USC’s online Master of Communication Management program prepares students for diligent, detailed work that can make large-scale impact through modern communication methods, tools and tactics.

Instead of searching for a platform for your voice — create one.

Recommended Readings

Master of Communication Management Salary and Job Outlook

High Level of Communication: Connecting with the C-Suite

Is a Master of Communication Management Worth the Cost?

Grammarly, “Clarity: Sharpen Vague Sentences and Paragraphs”

Indeed, “Top 10 Communications Skills for Career Success”

ProofHub, “17 Best Team Chat Apps (To Use in 2023): Who’s Here to Stay?”

The Atlantic, “Where the Five-Day Workweek Came From”

The Balance, “Communication Skills for Workplace Success”

Get Program Details

• Essay On Importance Of Communication

Importance of Communication Essay

500+ words importance of communication essay.

For every human being, communication is one of the essential parts of our lives. People build relationships in their personal and professional lives based on communication. Effective communication works as a foundation for respect and trust to grow. It helps in better understanding a person and the context of the conversation. People always believe that their way of communication is better than others. To communicate effectively, individuals should understand the motion behind the said information. We know that communication is effortless, but miscommunication between two or more individuals sometimes leads to conflicts and distress. Building relationships at home, work, and social affairs will be easier if you know the right way to communicate effectively. It is required to have better communication skills such as non-verbal communication, listening and managing stress can improve the relationship between individuals.

Meaning of Communication

Communication is essential for all of us, whether humans or animals. Communication is a part of written and spoken language, and altogether it completes the communication process. Both use different languages to communicate because it’s hard to survive in this world without communication.

Good communication skills are all about exchanging ideas and thoughts to convey information. It is a two-way conversation that includes vocalisation as well as a gesture. One of the crucial purposes of communication is to express ideas, needs or thoughts, and one’s beliefs with clarity for a mutually accepted solution.

Communication skills cannot be underestimated. Before languages were invented, people communicated with their hand gestures, body language, etc. We all require better communication skills at every step of our life. Personal and professional life will get hampered if you lack practical communication.

Importance of Effective Communication

People understand the importance of communication, but sometimes they cannot communicate through communication. It happens due to a lack of better communication skills. Below, we have discussed a few ways to communicate effectively.

• Interruption: It becomes very annoying when someone disrupts you while talking. It looks pretty unethical to disrupt someone while talking constantly, and the conversation can take a different turn. So, while talking, let the other person complete their talk before you start talking.
• Listen patiently: Listen patiently when someone tries to make a healthy conversation. It is one of the ways to do effective communication, as it gives a clear understanding of what the person is trying to say.
• View your body language: Body language speaks about your personality. Some people make uncomfortable gestures through their body language. So, you should keep your body language friendly and warm rather than keeping it arrogant.
• Do not go over your point: Communication is all about expressing thoughts so that the other person can understand. It is not that you are trying to prove something correct and the other person incorrect. Some people try to win the conservation, which leads to struggles and arguments.
• Watch your words: Before telling someone something, make sure you know what you are saying. We often say things that we should not do out of anger or anxiety. Remember, once spoken, words can not be withdrawn. Thus, it is suggested that you do not say something that you can regret later.
• Practice: If there is a professional meeting where you need to communicate about your product or work, it is recommended to practise already. Practise in front of the mirror or with a friend only. Choose how your conversation will begin, all the points you cover, and how you will end it.

As many people may feel comfortable communicating, communication is an art developed through practice and evaluation; every good communicator passes through a process to learn communication and practice skills, review themselves, and decrease where they can be.

Communication is essential to share our thoughts and feelings to live a happy life. Better communication makes us feel better about everything surrounding us and makes us suffer less. So, it is necessary to learn the art of communication to put across one point well.

Therefore, communication is a vital aspect of our existence. Effective communication can be achieved by being mindful of different elements of communication. Using appropriate communication in appropriate settings is essential for effective communication.

From our BYJU’S website, students can also access CBSE Essays related to different topics. It will help students to get good marks in their exams.

Frequently asked Questions on the Importance of communication Essay

How important is communication.

Communication of ideas, and thoughts is an important skill to be acquired. Conveying things in an effective manner is necessary for both our personal and professional lives.

What are types of communication?

There are 4 main types of communication are verbal, non verbal, visual and written forms of communication.

What are the factors that act as a barrier for communication?

Language is obviously the biggest barrier for communication between peoples of the world. Then comes the physical barrier. Geographical separation hinders communication. There are other factors like the gender barrier, cultural differences that prevail in the society. Last but not the least, emotional barriers too hinder proper understanding between persons involved in communication.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your Mobile number and Email id will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Request OTP on Voice Call

Post My Comment

• Share Share

Register with BYJU'S & Download Free PDFs

Register with byju's & watch live videos.

Counselling

• Top Courses
• Online Degrees
• Find your New Career
• Join for Free

Why Is Workplace Communication Important? And How to Improve It

The ability to exchange information and ideas at work is an essential skill in many roles. Learn more about what makes workplace communication so important and how to improve your communication skills.

Workplace communication is the exchange of information between employees in a work environment. This includes face-to-face conversations, emails, chat messages, videoconferencing, phone calls, and other methods used to convey information in the workplace. Nonverbal communication like eye contact, body language, and tone of voice are also important aspects of workplace communication.

Why is communication important in the workplace?

Good communication in the workplace ensures employees have the information they need to perform well, builds a positive work environment, and eliminates inefficiencies. Effective communication should accurately convey information while maintaining or improving human relationships.

Miscommunication has real consequences for a business. A survey conducted by Expert Market found that 28 percent of employees listed poor communication as the reason why they weren’t able to finish projects on time [ 1 ]. Miscommunication costs businesses with at least 100 employees approximately $450,000 or more a year on average [ 2 ].

How has COVID-19 changed what workplace communication looks like?

COVID-19 has made many jobs remote-friendly and accelerated the digitization of communication channels in the workplace. This means there’s more interaction on video conferencing tools like Zoom and messaging channels like Slack or WhatsApp. 

In some cases, this has also meant a shift in communication culture. Some organizations have started to move away from traditional top-down approaches to more lateral communication styles where employees are encouraged to participate in cross-company conversations. 

How to improve communication in the workplace

Workplace communication starts at the individual but doesn’t stop there. Work culture, technology, and protocols can all play into how effective communication is in your workplace.

Here are some ways you can improve workplace communication:

1. Work on individual communication skills.

Communicating effectively with coworkers is key to having a positive experience at work. If you’re trying to bolster your communication skills as an individual, here are a few things to keep in mind as you interact with coworkers:

Pay attention to nonverbal cues. Tone and body language can convey a lot that words don’t. As you’re speaking with somebody, pay attention to your tone and body language and your partner’s. Tone can be harder to discern in text-based communications. If you struggle to understand somebody’s email or chat communication, suggest an alternative method such as video conferencing or meeting in person.

Listen. Communication goes both ways. Practice active listening by internalizing what you hear and paying attention to the intent and emotion behind what you’re being told. 

Provide constructive feedback. Being a part of a team means everybody’s work should be respected. If you’re providing feedback, keep a balance between what’s working and what can be improved.

Participate in meetings. Come to meetings prepared by reviewing the agenda or previous notes to understand what’s being discussed, and start thinking about how you can contribute. Pay attention to what’s being said, take notes if you need to, and ask relevant questions.

If you’re a manager, you might consider a communication skills workshop for your team.

Build job-ready skills with a Coursera Plus subscription

• Get access to 7,000+ learning programs from world-class universities and companies, including Google, Yale, Salesforce, and more
• Try different courses and find your best fit at no additional cost
• Earn certificates for learning programs you complete
• A subscription price of $59/month, cancel anytime

2. Understand which method to use.

Not every issue deserves its own meeting. When you have something to communicate, consider its importance, urgency, and complexity, and pick the right channel accordingly. Have a simple team reminder? A quick group message or email can get the point across. Need to learn or teach somebody how to use a tool? A face-to-face meeting might be the better method. It can be a good idea to establish team-wide practices about when to use which channel of communication.

If your workplace needs some technological updates, consider approaching your manager to see if the organization is willing to invest in some. Plenty of chat platforms, email providers, and video conferencing tools can significantly improve communication flow.

3. Make meetings efficient.

Research indicates that only 50 percent of time spent in meetings is considered a good use of time by attendees [ 3 ]. The good news? There are probably several ways to improve how meetings are run in your organization.

Here are some best practices to make meetings efficient and effective:

Set an agenda and goals for each meeting. Try to avoid recycling agendas.

Send out the agenda and other materials that will be discussed, such as presentations, to the team ahead of time, so people have the chance to review them.

Only invite people who need to be invited.

Consider if a meeting is the best way to communicate something in the first place.

Cancel a meeting if it doesn’t need to happen.

Make sure technical equipment is functioning ahead of time.

Start and end meetings on time.

Share out meeting notes afterward.

4. Create an open culture.

Creating a trusting environment is key to good communication in a workplace. People should feel comfortable voicing concerns, asking questions, and contributing their ideas. 

Set up bi-weekly or monthly lunch meetings or activities like happy hours or off-sites to give employees a chance to relax and get to know each other as humans. This can help build trust and create a more supportive work environment. 

Offer different ways of participating. Communication styles can differ from person to person. While some aren’t shy about participating in large meetings, others might prefer to ask questions in text-based forums. Mix up how you receive feedback and ideas to make sure you hear from as many voices as possible.

Involve remote workers. Though remote working has become increasingly common, people still need and want personal human interaction. Chat platforms like Slack can allow informal conversations that connect in-person and remote workers. You can also consider starting remote-friendly office activities, such as a book club.

You don't have to be in a leadership position to create changes in work culture. Start by seeking out these opportunities yourself. Suggest grabbing lunch with coworkers, joining a work club—or starting your own.

5. Schedule regular one-to-one and team meetings.

Recurring meetings can give space for employees to bring up concerns they otherwise wouldn’t know when to bring up. If they aren’t already, suggest setting up one-to-one meetings consistently with your direct supervisor (or direct reports). Consistent team meetings can also allow team members to share concerns more widely and solicit input from others.

Though it’s okay to cancel a meeting if there's no agenda, try to refrain from canceling too often. This might erode trust among employees and take away valuable time for employees to surface questions.

Improving communication skills

Communication skills are called skills for a reason—they can be learned and require practice to master. If you’re trying to bring your communication skills to the next level, consider enrolling in a course like Improving Communication Skills from the University of Pennsylvania or Teamwork Skills: Communicating Effectively in Groups from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Article sources

Expert Market. “The Importance of Effective Workplace Communication- Statistics for 2022,  https://www.expertmarket.com/phone-systems/workplace-communication-statistics." Accessed May 23, 2022.

Debra Hamilton.  “ Top 10 Email Blunders That Cost Companies Money,     https://fliphtml5.com/eadm/btcd/basic.” Accessed May 23, 2022.

Forbes. “Half Of All Meetings Are a Waste of Time-Here’s How To Improve Them ,   https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterhigh/2019/11/25/half-of-all-meetings-are-a-waste-of-timeheres-how-to-improve-them/?sh=1f2844ef2ea9." Accessed May 23, 2022.

Keep reading

Coursera staff.

Editorial Team

Coursera’s editorial team is comprised of highly experienced professional editors, writers, and fact...

This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

Want a daily email of lesson plans that span all subjects and age groups?

How miscommunication happens (and how to avoid it) - katherine hampsten.

2,464,904 Views

94,943 Questions Answered

Let’s Begin…

Have you ever talked with a friend about a problem, only to realize that he just doesn’t seem to grasp why the issue is so important to you? Have you ever presented an idea to a group, and it’s met with utter confusion? What’s going on here? Katherine Hampsten describes why miscommunication occurs so frequently, and how we can minimize frustration while expressing ourselves better.

About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

• Educator Katherine Hampsten
• Script Editor Amy Adkins
• Director Andrew Foerster
• Animator Andrew Foerster
• Artist Andrew Foerster
• Sound Designer Weston Fonger
• Narrator Addison Anderson

More from Playing with Language

Why was the Rosetta Stone so important?

Lesson duration 05:17

293,452 Views

A brief history of Spanish

Lesson duration 05:22

381,425 Views

What makes a language... a language?

Lesson duration 04:57

745,185 Views

Who decides what’s in the dictionary?

Lesson duration 05:23

416,396 Views

What does research say about how to effectively communicate about science?

Director, Risk Innovation Lab, Arizona State University

Professor of Life Sciences Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Disclosure statement

Andrew Maynard is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on The Science of Science Communication, and is a co-author on the report "Communicating Science Effectively: A Research Agenda."

Dietram Scheufele is vice-chair of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine's Committee on The Science of Science Communication, and is a co-author on the report "Communicating Science Effectively: A Research Agenda."

Arizona State University and University of Wisconsin–Madison provide funding as members of The Conversation US.

View all partners

Truth seems to be an increasingly flexible concept in politics. At least that’s the impression the Oxford English Dictionary gave recently, as it declared “post-truth” the 2016 Word of the Year . What happens when decisions are based on misleading or blatantly wrong information? The answer is quite simple – our airplanes would be less safe, our medical treatments less effective, our economy less competitive globally, and on and on.

Many scientists and science communicators have grappled with disregard for, or inappropriate use of, scientific evidence for years – especially around contentious issues like the causes of global warming, or the benefits of vaccinating children. A long debunked study on links between vaccinations and autism, for instance, cost the researcher his medical license but continues to keep vaccination rates lower than they should be.

Only recently, however, have people begun to think systematically about what actually works to promote better public discourse and decision-making around what is sometimes controversial science. Of course scientists would like to rely on evidence, generated by research, to gain insights into how to most effectively convey to others what they know and do.

As it turns out, the science on how to best communicate science across different issues, social settings and audiences has not led to easy-to-follow, concrete recommendations.

About a year ago, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine brought together a diverse group of experts and practitioners to address this gap between research and practice. The goal was to apply scientific thinking to the process of how we go about communicating science effectively. Both of us were a part of this group (with Dietram as the vice chair).

The public draft of the group’s findings – “ Communicating Science Effectively: A Research Agenda ” – has just been published. In it, we take a hard look at what effective science communication means and why it’s important; what makes it so challenging – especially where the science is uncertain or contested; and how researchers and science communicators can increase our knowledge of what works, and under what conditions.

Evidence for effective approaches

As we discovered, effective science communication – including listening to and engaging with audiences – is particularly complex, and far from simple to study. It’s highly dependent on what is being communicated, its relevance to who’s participating in the conversation and the social and media dynamic around the issues being addressed (especially if those issues or their policy implications are contentious). But it also depends on what people feel and believe is right and the societal or political contexts within which communication and engagement occur. And this makes getting it right and deriving lessons that can be applied across issues and contexts particularly challenging.

Because of this complexity, the practice of science communication (and there are many great practitioners) is currently more of an art than a science. Good communicators – whether reporters, bloggers, scientists or people active on social media and platforms like YouTube – typically learn from others, or through professional training, and often through trial and error. Unfortunately, the social sciences haven’t provided science communicators with concrete, evidence-based guidance on how to communicate more effectively.

Two earlier NAS meetings identified how diverse the areas of expertise are when it comes to research on science communication. Research spans behavioral economics and sociology along with media and communication studies. They also began to map out what we do and don’t know about what works.

For instance, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the “deficit model” of science communication – the assumption that if we just “fill people up” with science knowledge and understanding, they’ll become increasingly rational decision-makers – simply does not work . This is not because people are irrational; rather, we all have our own built-in psychologies of how we make sense of information, and how we weigh different factors when making decisions.

We also know all of us are predisposed to accept, reject or interpret information based on a plethora of mental shortcuts, including a tendency to take on face value information that seems to confirm our worldview .

And we know how information is presented, or framed, can have a profound impact on how it is interpreted and used. The power of the “ Frankenfood ” frame, for example, used with genetically modified foods, has nothing to do with providing new information. Instead, the term subconsciously connects genetically modified organisms to mental concepts we all share – worrisome ideas about scientists creating unnatural organisms with unintended consequences – and raises moral questions about science going too far.

Decisions factor in more than facts

Science communication may involve communicating scientific consensus about, for instance, the benefits and risks of vaccines to patients. Or it may encompass much broader societal debates about the ethical, moral or political questions raised by science.

For example, our ability to edit the genetic code of organisms is developing at breakneck speed. Over the next decade, CRISPR and similar technologies will have a profound impact on our lives, from how we modify plants and animals and control disease, to how we produce our food, and even how we change our own genetic code as human beings.

But it will also present all of us with questions that cannot be answered with science alone. What does it mean to be human, for instance? Is it ethical to edit the genome of unborn embryos? If people involved in those decisions don’t have the opportunity to grasp the evidence-informed implications of the technology and make informed choices about its development and use, the future becomes little more than a lottery.

For those communicating the science, then, the endeavor comes with some degree of responsibility. Even deciding what information to share, and how to share it, involves personal values, beliefs and perspectives, and can potentially have far-reaching consequences.

There’s an especially high level of ethical responsibility associated with communication designed to influence opinions, behavior and actions. Scientists are well equipped to document the public health risks of lowered vaccination rates , for example. The question of whether we should mandate vaccinations or remove belief-based exemptions , however, is an inherently political one that scientists alone cannot answer.

Mapping out a better way

At some level, all science communication has embedded values. Information always comes wrapped in a complex skein of purpose and intent – even when presented as impartial scientific facts. Despite, or maybe because of, this complexity, there remains a need to develop a stronger empirical foundation for effective communication of and about science.

Addressing this, the National Academies draft report makes an extensive number of recommendations. A few in particular stand out:

• Use a systems approach to guide science communication. In other words, recognize that science communication is part of a larger network of information and influences that affect what people and organizations think and do.
• Assess the effectiveness of science communication. Yes, researchers try, but often we still engage in communication first and evaluate later. Better to design the best approach to communication based on empirical insights about both audiences and contexts. Very often, the technical risk that scientists think must be communicated have nothing to do with the hopes or concerns public audiences have.
• Get better at meaningful engagement between scientists and others to enable that “ honest, bidirectional dialogue ” about the promises and pitfalls of science that our committee chair Alan Leshner and others have called for.
• Consider social media’s impact – positive and negative.
• Work toward better understanding when and how to communicate science around issues that are contentious, or potentially so.

Addressing these and other areas is going to take focused research efforts that draw on expertise across many different areas. It’s going to need strategic and serious investment in the “science” of science communication. It will also demand much greater engagement and collaboration between those who study science communication and those who actually do it. And it’ll require serious thinking about why we communicate science, and how we can work respectfully with audiences to ensure that the science we do communicate about is of value to society.

This will not be easy. But the alternative – slipping further into a post-truth world where disdain for evidence creates risks that could be avoided – gives us little option but to dig deeper into the science of science communication, so that science and evidence are more effectively incorporated into the decisions people make.

• Science communication
• Science journalism
• Scientific understanding
• US National Academy of Sciences
• Science literacy
• Communication skills
• Social science research
• Evidence-based policy

Biocloud Project Manager - Australian Biocommons

Director, Defence and Security

Opportunities with the new CIEHF

School of Social Sciences – Public Policy and International Relations opportunities

Deputy Editor - Technology

Chapter 6: 21st-century media and issues

6.12.3 Importance of communication: Streamer to viewer and viewer to streamer (prospectus)

English 102, march 2021.

In my final essay I will be discussing how and why communication happens between streamers and viewers. This topic is relevant to my experience because I am new to the streaming world. Being new to streaming and trying different platforms   to gain and reach audiences in the last month I have gained 50 followers. Hearing how other streamers started and how fast they reached their growth inspires me to keep streaming. You must stream gameplay at least 40 hours a week. For instance, there is a streamer who started out the same time I did he now has 14,000 followers, the only difference between me and his stream success is he did 24-hour streams, 48-hour streams. The followers came easy for him after 3 or 4 weeks of streaming. Communicating with the viewers is a big reason they will keep coming back to view your stream. Also, the level   of gameplay   on how good you are at the game is a deciding factor for viewership.   Im   not trying to get rich from streaming but by doing the research essay I will gain knowledge on how and why viewers watch a stream. My Thesis statement will be how   communication leads   to   viewers and why they stay in the stream.   

Streaming is all about communication from viewer to streamer, streamer to viewer and talking throughout the stream with teammates. Communication is a major key to a streamer’s success. I did not realize how much communication is being used while streaming Until I started researching the topic. In my experience I would communicate to viewers but there is more   communication that is required to be successful in streaming. Any one can communicate but to communicate effectively is a different story. Having an intelligent engaging interaction with someone through a camera lens, viewers talking to you through commenting in a chat box, reading the viewers comments and acknowledging them is hard to do all while playing a game. With going back to school and learning to communicate in a more effective way will help   with streaming. Communication is simple enough, the literacy is difficult, from reading comments, engaging with the audiences, answering as   much   questions and playing well all determines the how and why viewers watch.   

Some of the research questions I will be answering are why does a viewer watch a live   stream? How communication helps the stream? Does communication help with other interpersonal skills?   Do viewers watch stream to gain gratification from streamer acknowledgment? Why is communication in streaming important? What kind of literacies are used within streaming?   I will also include my experience with watching and communicating with streamers I watch and my experience when I am streaming.  

The academic fields that are related to my topic of communication from streamer to viewer and viewer to streamer are linked to one another. These academic fields are communication technology, behavioral psychology, Computer sciences, computer technology, developmental psychology, and social psychology. These academic fields   investigate   how and why communication from streamer to viewers and viewers to streamer happen. Streaming is up and coming   there are studies happening to gather data on recent years since there are more platforms for streaming in recent years.   

I will start my research essay with an introduction paragraph. Within this introduction paragraph I will discuss how communication reading and writing plays a role on the streaming   platforms in a brief condensed paragraph. In a couple sentences I will discuss how streamers interact with there audiences, how viewers interact with the streamer, why they interact with one another, and show the importance of communication from my own experiences. These questions will lead to other questions on how and why interactions happen within a stream. I will end my intro with a thesis to my essay which is why and how   communication happens within a stream.  

 In my next paragraph, I will discuss how communication happens within a stream. I will go over some streaming terms and how the viewers to streamer communication happens. In this section I will be putting info I find from a scholarly article with the data they find on how communication works within a stream. I will have a few articles to help break down how communication happens in a stream.   In this paragraph I will discuss the research topic of how communication works within a stream.   

Next, I will start discussing why the communication is happening. I will explain why from a viewer’s point of view and I will explain from a streamer point of view.   In this section I will use a scholarly article data on why communication happens within a stream from both views of viewers and streamers. In the paragraph I will discuss the research topic of why   communication   is important   during a   stream.  

Next, I will discuss if   communication   within streaming helps other interpersonal skills. I will use the data in a scholarly article to determine whether other interpersonal skill   are   developing.   I will also show how communication works by a stream setup video. This will show what kinds of equipment is used to broadcast a live stream. By showing how communication starts from the equipment to streamer engaging with the audience. This will bring in another research question of how and why a viewer communicates to the streamer.   

I will use live streams from primetime gaming on Facebook. He is a great example and shows how he communicates to his community. He has 45,000 followers 3,000 supporters, and at least 200 people watching his stream at once. He reads almost every comment that is being asked to him. He engages with the audience and the audience is intrigued to stay around. Primetime is a great example because he talks for hours and barely plays the game anymore. To just sit talk and have 200 viewers is impressive. This also shows the gratification that happens through the interactions happening during the stream. Which will help answer the research question of why communication happens.   

Another streamer   I will show is hitman gaming, why people watch his live stream is because it is very entertaining. The worst gamer but he keeps viewers coming back to watch. He has over 200,000 followers and a minimum of 1,000 people watching him live and had 4.5 thousand viewers watching him live at once. He demonstrates how and why communication is important during the stream. The way he interacts with his community is in a vulgar, rude, sexual way but it is very entertaining.  

To wrap things up I will take my personal experience of how and why I watch some streamers. Some streamers I watch because they do read off my comments and I feel important. Other streamer I watch because of the high level of gameplay and try to re enact their gameplay in my own. Other streamers I watch is because I play with them and I am part of the community. The streamers I will use for these examples are king Kaplow live gaming,   stylez   qp   gang, and   phree   gaming.   I will also show from my experience how I communicate and interact while I am live and streaming.   This is how I will write my final research paper   for English   102  

Annotated Bibliography 

Diwanji, Vaibhav, et al.   “Don’t Just Watch,   Join   in: Exploring Information Behavior and Copresence on Twitch.” Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 105, 2020, p. 106221.,   doi:10.1016/j.chb.2019.106221.  

In   this   article, “Don’t just watch join in” by   Diwanii   Vaibhav,   et al. explains how experiences of live streaming helps create the interaction between viewer and streamer on streaming platforms. The interactions happen in various ways such as production information, reception information, reaction information and reward information. By observing how streamers on twitch,   dooleynotedgaming   and   gotholion, over a period they gained enough valid information to on go the research question. These research questions gathered by observing and monitoring the live stream helps obtain the data needed. The data collected what favorite to least way of interactions were taking place and how they were taking place.  

Wohn,   Donghee   Yvette, et al. “Understanding Digital Patronage.” Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, 2019, doi:10.1145/3311350.3347160.  

In the second   article,“Understanding   Digital Patronage: Why Do People Subscribe to Streamers on Twitch?” by   Donghee   Yvette   Wohn   Peter   Eskander   et   al.links   how a community is created around a particular streamer. The interaction of subscribing to a streamer is key to create a digital patronage. Why do people subscribe to a streamer which involves paying a monthly sub fee when anyone can view a streamer free of charge. Interviews were performed on 16 different subscribers. From the interviews conducted the question why subscribe was answered by the subscribers saying the quality content was key selling point.   

  Sjöblom, Max, and Juho   Hamari. “Why Do People Watch Others Play Video Games? An   Wohn,   Donghee   Yvette, et al. “Understanding Digital Patronage.” Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, 2019, doi:10.1145/3311350.3347160.  

In the third   article, “Why do people watch others play video games? An empirical study on   the motivations of Twitch user” by Max   Sjoblom   Juho   Hamari   explain that viewers view streams for the gratification and why do viewers watch streams for hours upon hours. The viewers want the content of live broadcasting “real time” rather than a television broadcast. The study enlisted an investigation of five ways to motivate the viewer to chime in a certain   streamer .   The main and overall reason people tune into a stream from the results gathered is to release tension. The findings also indicated a positive predictor of how many hours users watch a stream.  

Recktenwald, Daniel. (2018). The Discourse of Online Live Streaming on Twitch: Communication between conversation and Commentary.   

In the fourth article by   Recktenwald,   Daniel,”Live   streaming is a new form of online broadcasting of video games   from live streaming platforms”. In   the visual game, it   has a “computer-mediated communication”   between a streamer and   a decently sized active chat. The way of communicating   online via live stream   is quickly   spreading   to other   kinds of online live   broadcasting   (gaming platforms, discords,   obs   equipment, just chatting live streams).   A few experts in   sociological and ethnographic studies argue that live streaming is a mix   up   of   talking or commenting   and gameplay commentary.   In this study the conversation is told to dissolve in higher viewership’s because how chaotic chats are with people commenting to the streamer. In this study they research on describing the organization of how discourses occur during the live stream.   

Nascimento, Gustavo & Ribeiro,   Manoel   & Cerf,   Loic   & Cesario, Natalia &   Kaytoue, Mehdi &   Raïssi,   Chedy   & Vasconcelos, Thiago &   Meira   Jr, Wagner. (2014). Modeling and Analyzing the Video Game Live-Streaming Community. Proceedings – 9th Latin American Web Congress, LA-WEB 2014. 1-9. 10.1109/LAWeb.2014.9.  

In the fifth article, “modeling and analyzing the video game live streaming community” ,   discusses   that   with higher growing rates   in the   gaming   industry, streaming video games are rising. By how popular of live streaming platforms are creating more platforms for video gaming. They study how streamers and spectators behave by observing the   chat to   gather a more thorough   understanding   how streamers behave, and how online entertainment   like live streaming   is different   but changing the gaming world by being different   than   previous platforms. They observe the time spent on a streamers page based on current viewers   which help describe behavioral patterns.   

Wulf, T., Schneider, F.M., &   Queck, J. (in press). Exploring viewers’ experiences of   parasocial   interactions with videogame streamers on Twitch. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social.  

In the sixth article, they study the difference of watching regular tv and live video streaming where you can directly talk to the streamer. They observed and analyzed in three categories, individual, collective and no addressing and attention vs no attention with the chat. They come to find that more interactions helped with why viewers viewed the stream.  

gaming,primetime.“StreamingTips!!”Https://Www.facebook.com/2263866483670387/Videos/457919612092126, Facebook.com.  

In this 7 th   source   is   video,   you will visually see comments being answered streamer to viewer. This video shows how communication works within live streaming between streamer and viewer. He begins with   I’m   opening chat ask me something and he starts replying. He answers a large amount of question. He also describes some equipment needed for live streams and why he uses certain equipment.  

Hitmangaming“warzonetimebaby,letsgo!”https://www.facebook.com/102135107877754/videos/201256565099085, Facebook.com  

In this 8 th   source   is   video   that shows   you will see how viewers in the chat are entertained. He is a horrible gamer, but he is entertaining therefore people love him. He is vulgar and people love how vulgar he can be. Hitman gaming engages with his audience but   overall   he receives views because of the entertainment which answers the question of why viewers watch streamers.   

King Kaplow Live “follower Fridays”,   https://www.facebook.com/110232784004090/videos/913491892759836   facebook.com  

In this 9 th   source   is   video   of   king Kaplow has the follower Friday games. This is a day where the streamer plays 2 consecutive matches with 3 people that follow his streaming page on   facebook. He demonstrates and explains the gameplay strategies as the progresses. He communicates with followers in the way of playing games and helps gain his community.  

Phree   gaming,   “#2 sniper in warzone”   https://www.facebook.com/103870221691735/videos/459218541799975   facebook.com  

In this 10 th   source is video,   Phree   gaming is new streamer on   facebook   gaming. In this video it shows you how he engages with viewers. Where   phree   asks the viewers if they are not following type in chat a   way   he can gain your followership. His gameplay is advanced and tells play by play gameplay. He has only been streaming for 8 weeks and has gained 25 thousand followers. This is a reason why people follow and watch his stream because of the high level of   gameplay.   

Stylez   qp, “TOP 9000 IN THE WORLD -“KILLS”#1 AFRO ON FACEBOOK!”   https://www.facebook.com/112076670215695/videos/184384773300805   facebook.com  

In this 11 th   source is video of another streamer that has higher average viewers. This video shows how communication happens during a stream. He interacts with the community and gives high level gameplay. He plays games that consist of quad matches mainly and as you can see in the game title, he is top 9000 in kills in the world.  

Youtube.com. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xggjnvT_Ok> [Accessed 30 March 2021].  

In this 12 th   source is video of equipment that is necessary for streaming video games. It explains a cheaper way to have a streaming setup. They go over pc monitors wires software and mic setup. This is how the communication happens during the stream by having the proper equipment that helps streamers engage in their live stream.    

Understanding Literacy in Our Lives by Coty is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

More From Forbes

The 5 most common causes of miscommunication—and what to do about them.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

Watch out for these 5 mistakes

By Dianna Booher—

The seventh email on the same situation just popped into my inbox. Yet the matter was so very simple to handle:

––1 st Email:  I asked my financial adviser to transfer money from one account to another account at a different firm by the end of the week and confirm that he’d completed the transaction.

––2 nd Email: He replied “Sure thing.” And then he asked if I was going to be attending their upcoming seminar, giving me further details on that event.

––3 rd Email: I answered “no” about the seminar.

––4 th Email: (2 weeks later): I prompted him again on my earlier request: “Have you completed the money transfer? I don’t see the money in the second account.”

––5 th Email: (a day later, from the boss): “Jerry’s working on the transfer.”

––-6 th Email:  (a day later, back to the boss): “What do you mean by ‘Jerry’s working on it’? Transfers typically take a day. I requested the funds 2 weeks ago. Is there some technical problem?”

Best Travel Insurance Companies

Best covid-19 travel insurance plans.

––7 th Email: (a day later): The boss replied that I should have all future requests go through him, not Jerry.

I’m still waiting on an answer about the transfer. But you get the idea because I’m guessing that you’ve been trapped in equally frustrating miscommunications. These scenarios eventually wear you down until you sever the relationship—or better, until someone wises up to the causes and cures.

Common Causes and Cures for Miscommunication

1.      you’re giving too much information..

You understand the resulting confusion of too much information if you’ve ever tried to take driving directions from someone who gives them like my husband. “Okay, you’re going to be on Loop 610 going South. You’ll pass a couple of exits where there’ll be big logjams at that time of day. Just stay in the lefthand lane to get through them. After you see the big shopping center off to the right, next to the Conference Center, get in the righthand lane. Then take the next exit after that. You’ll see a Burger King ahead, but you’ll need to exit about half a mile before that point. You’ll exit to the right, but loop over the freeway and quickly get onto the service road and make a sharp U-turn. The building will be right at that corner.”

Are you lost? Directions, explanations, or presentations that provide too much information confuse rather than clarify. The number one complaint executives mention when they send people to us for presentations coaching is this: “He/she gets down in the weeds too often. They lose people.”

2.      You’re giving too little information.

Likewise, scanty information leads to confusion . Back to the money transfer scenario in the opening: Even when making the simplest of requests or passing along nontechnical information, giving too few details leaves others with two bad choices. They either have to “read between the lines” or ask you for information, once again creating more email, text, or phone exchanges.

To strike the right balance between too much or too little information, run through the 6 Ws in your mind: Who. What. Where. When. Why. How. Include only those details that are relevant.

3.      You’re depending on voice inflection to carry your written message.

Somewhere in your career, I’m sure you’ve run across an illustration like the following to point out how voice inflection alters the meaning of what you say. Inflect your voice on each italicized word as you read the variations on this sentence.

    John told his boss that Lisa had terminated the contract but kept the bonus money.

John told his boss that Lisa had terminated the contract but kept the bonus money.

So how does voice inflection create havoc routinely? When you write an email, text, or any other document, you typically hear yourself “speaking” the words as you write. You know what you mean, so you use voice inflection naturally.

But often, you fail to write that voice inflection (by proper punctuation and placement of ideas). When your reader sees the written words, he or she doesn’t hear that same inflection.

So chances for misunderstanding rise exponentially. The cure? Make sure you’re actually writing what you’re saying to yourself.

4.      You’ve failed to summarize your point at the beginning.

Let’s face it: Many people talk or write until they figure out what they want to say. That is, they ramble through an issue, saying aloud whatever enters their mind. Then they walk away (or end the email or text) and leave it to the listener or reader to draw a conclusion.

Don’t be one of those people. Think first. Then write or speak. Or if you have to talk through or write through the details as a thinking tool, fine. Do that.

But after you come to a conclusion and figure out your point, do your listener or your reader a favor: Summarize it. If you’re emailing or texting, go back and insert that summary at the beginning. The other person will follow your point much more easily if you start with an overview before getting into the details.

5.      You’re using sloppy grammar.

A missing or misplaced comma can totally change the meaning of a sentence. I’ve spent much of my early career teaching business and technical writing to attorneys and engineers, and during those programs participants have brought me hundreds of example sentences with muddled meanings.

In one particular oil company, the tax attorney plopped a regulation down in front of me: “We’re still fighting the government on this one. To us, it means $7 million this quarter. All because the reference for ‘this’ is unclear.”

Bad grammar is like bad breath; even your best friends won’t tell you. So if you find yourself embroiled in more and more miscommunications, grab a grammar book and brush up particularly on these three things: punctuation, misplaced modifiers, and “that” versus “which.” 

Make clear, concise, credible communication your pathway to increased productivity and a proven personal brand!

Dianna Booher is the bestselling author of 49 books, including Communicate Like a Leader . She helps organizations communicate clearly. Follow her at BooherResearch.com and @DiannaBooher.

• Editorial Standards
• Reprints & Permissions

Geomagnetic storm from a solar flare could disrupt radio communications and create a striking aurora

B OULDER, Colo. (AP) — Space weather forecasters have issued a geomagnetic storm watch through Monday, saying an ouburst of plasma from a solar flare could interfere with radio transmissions on Earth. It could also make for great aurora viewing.

There's no reason for the public to be concerned, according to the alert issued Saturday by NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.

The storm could interrupt high-frequency radio transmissions, such as by aircraft trying to communicate with distant traffic control towers. Most commercial aircraft can use satellite transmission as backup, said Jonathan Lash, a forecaster at the center.

Satellite operators might have trouble tracking their spacecraft, and power grids could also see some “induced current” in their lines, though nothing they can't handle, he said.

“For the general public, if you have clear skies at night and you are at higher latitudes, this would be a great opportunity to see the skies light up,” Lash said.

Every 11 years, the sun's magnetic field flips, meaning its north and south poles switch positions. Solar activity changes during that cycle, and it's now near its most active, called the solar maximum.

During such times, geomagnetic storms of the type that arrived Sunday can hit Earth a few times a year, Lash said. During solar minimum, a few years may pass between storms.

In December, the biggest solar flare in years disrupted radio communications.

Advertisement

Supported by

A Lunar Eclipse Warms Up the Moon for April’s Solar Eclipse

The subtle event, known as a penumbral eclipse, can be observed by everyone on Earth’s nightside.

• Share full article

By Katrina Miller

Katrina Miller is part of a team of journalists reporting on April 8’s solar eclipse for The Times, the last time a total eclipse will be visible in most of North America for 20 years.

As the moon prepares to blot out the surface of our sun in two weeks, it’s warming up with a penumbral lunar eclipse on Sunday night or Monday morning, depending on your time zone.

In general, eclipses are the result of a delicate dance between the moon, the sun and the Earth. Lunar eclipses occur when the planet slides between the sun and the moon. That’s in contrast to a solar eclipse, which happens when the moon interjects between the other two bodies.

“It’s all about shadows,” said Noah Petro, a planetary geologist who works on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA. The sun beams light on Earth, casting a long shadow behind it.

“And every once in a while, the moon wanders into that shadow,” Dr. Petro said.

In the most dramatic version of the event, the darkest part of Earth’s shadow washes over the lunar surface, making it shine crimson. This is a total lunar eclipse, also known as a blood moon .

But you won’t see that happen overnight. At 12:53 a.m. Eastern time on Monday , the moon will start to pass through only the outermost part of Earth’s shadow, known as the penumbra. As a result, its full face will slightly dim.

Is that worth trying to see? Dr. Petro thinks so. But the change will be difficult to catch with the naked eye, so he encourages using binoculars or a telescope, and taking note of how the moon’s brightness changes through the night.

Lunar eclipses happen slowly over several hours, Dr. Petro said, so “if you only go out once to look at it, you may not even notice that it’s happening.”

Unlike their solar counterparts, lunar eclipses can be viewed by everyone on the nightside of Earth. According to Dr. Petro, the reason for this difference has to do with the varying sizes of the celestial bodies.

Because Earth is so much bigger than the moon, its shadow is large enough to envelop the entire lunar surface — an effect that tonight will be visible to people across much of the Americas. Skywatchers in the western half of Africa, and in eastern parts of Asia and Australia, might also see some of the eclipse.

The moon, on the other hand, is much smaller than our planet. So during a solar eclipse, it plunges only a narrow path on Earth’s surface into darkness.

Different though they are, the two celestial events are related. Both have to do with the alignment of the moon, Earth and sun, but in different orientations. Lunar and solar eclipses always occur in pairs, two weeks apart — the amount of time it takes for the moon to move from one side of Earth to the other.

“The moon is this dance partner that we’ve now had for four and a half billion years,” Dr. Petro said, adding that both kinds of eclipses should remind us of the importance of our cosmic companion .

“We are part of a system,” Dr. Petro said. “Eclipses are great reminders that we are not alone in space.”

Katrina Miller is a science reporting fellow for The Times. She recently earned her Ph.D. in particle physics from the University of Chicago. More about Katrina Miller

We've detected unusual activity from your computer network

To continue, please click the box below to let us know you're not a robot.

Why did this happen?

Please make sure your browser supports JavaScript and cookies and that you are not blocking them from loading. For more information you can review our Terms of Service and Cookie Policy .

For inquiries related to this message please contact our support team and provide the reference ID below.