Introduction
While the field of communication has changed considerably over the last thirty years, the models used in the introductory chapters of communication textbooks (see Adler, 1991; Adler, Rosenfeld, and Towne, 1996; Barker and Barker, 1993; Becker and Roberts, 1992; Bittner, 1996; Burgoon, Hunsaker, and Dawson, 1994; DeFleur, Kearney, and Plax, 1993; DeVito, 1994; Gibson and Hanna, 1992; Wood, 2002) are the same models that were used forty years ago. This is, in some sense, a testament to their enduring value. Shannon’s (1948) model of the communication process (Figure 1) provides, in its breakdown of the flow of a message from source to destination, an excellent breakdown of the elements of the communication process that can be very helpful to students who are thinking about how they communicate with others. It remains, however, that these texts generally treat these models as little more than a baseline. They rapidly segue into other subjects that seem more directly relevant to our everyday experience of communication. In interpersonal communication texts these subjects typically include the social construction of the self, perception of self and other, language, nonverbal communication, listening, conflict management, intercultural communication, relational communication, and various communication contexts, including work and family. In mass communication texts these subjects typically include media literacy, media and culture, new media, media industries, media audiences, advertising, public relations, media effects, regulation, and media ethics.
There was a time when our communication models provided a useful graphical outline of a semesters material. This is no longer the case. This paper presents the classic models that we use in teaching communication, including Shannon’s information theory model (the active model), a cybernetic model that includes feedback (the interactive model, an intermediary model (sometimes referred to as a gatekeeper model of the two-step flow), and the transactive model. Few textbooks cover all of these models together. Mass Communication texts typically segue from Shannon’s model to a two-step flow or gatekeeper model. Interpersonal texts typically present Shannon’s model as the “active” model of the communication process and then elaborate it with interactive (cybernetic) and transactive models. Here we will argue the value of update these models to better account for the way we teach these diverse subject matters, and present a unifying model of the communication process that will be described as an ecological model of the communication process. This model seeks to better represent the structure and key constituents of the communication process as we teach it today.
Shannon’s Model of the Communication Process
Shannon’s (1948) model of the communication process is, in important ways, the beginning of the modern field. It provided, for the first time, a general model of the communication process that could be treated as the common ground of such diverse disciplines as journalism, rhetoric, linguistics, and speech and hearing sciences. Part of its success is due to its structuralist reduction of communication to a set of basic constituents that not only explain how communication happens, but why communication sometimes fails. Good timing played a role as well. The world was barely thirty years into the age of mass radio, had arguably fought a world war in its wake, and an even more powerful, television, was about to assert itself. It was time to create the field of communication as a unified discipline, and Shannon’s model was as good an excuse as any. The model’s enduring value is readily evident in introductory textbooks. It remains one of the first things most students learn about communication when they take an introductory communication class. Indeed, it is one of only a handful of theoretical statements about the communication process that can be found in introductory textbooks in both mass communication and interpersonal communication.
Shannon’s model, as shown in Figure 1, breaks the process of communication down into eight discrete components:
- An information source. Presumably a person who creates a message.
- The message, which is both sent by the information source and received by the destination.
- A transmitter. For Shannon’s immediate purpose a telephone instrument that captures an audio signal, converts it into an electronic signal, and amplifies it for transmission through the telephone network. Transmission is readily generalized within Shannon’s information theory to encompass a wide range of transmitters. The simplest transmission system, that associated with face-to-face communication, has at least two layers of transmission. The first, the mouth (sound) and body (gesture), create and modulate a signal. The second layer, which might also be described as a channel, is built of the air (sound) and light (gesture) that enable the transmission of those signals from one person to another. A television broadcast would obviously include many more layers, with the addition of cameras and microphones, editing and filtering systems, a national signal distribution network (often satellite), and a local radio wave broadcast antenna.
- The signal, which flows through a channel. There may be multiple parallel signals, as is the case in face-to-face interaction where sound and gesture involve different signal systems that depend on different channels and modes of transmission. There may be multiple serial signals, with sound and/or gesture turned into electronic signals, radio waves, or words and pictures in a book.
- A carrier or channel, which is represented by the small unlabeled box in the middle of the model. The most commonly used channels include air, light, electricity, radio waves, paper, and postal systems. Note that there may be multiple channels associated with the multiple layers of transmission, as described above.
- Noise, in the form of secondary signals that obscure or confuse the signal carried. Given Shannon’s focus on telephone transmission, carriers, and reception, it should not be surprising that noise is restricted to noise that obscures or obliterates some portion of the signal within the channel. This is a fairly restrictive notion of noise, by current standards, and a somewhat misleading one. Today we have at least some media which are so noise free that compressed signals are constructed with an absolutely minimal amount information and little likelihood of signal loss. In the process, Shannon’s solution to noise, redundancy, has been largely replaced by a minimally redundant solution: error detection and correction. Today we use noise more as a metaphor for problems associated with effective listening.
- A receiver. In Shannon’s conception, the receiving telephone instrument. In face to face communication a set of ears (sound) and eyes (gesture). In television, several layers of receiver, including an antenna and a television set.
- A destination. Presumably a person who consumes and processes the message.
Communication Model Terms as provided by Rothwell
Noise; interference with effective transmission and reception of a message.
For example;
physical noise or external noise which are environmental distractions such as poorly heated rooms, startling sounds, appearances of things, music playing some where else, and someone talking really loudly near you.
physiological noise are biological influences that distract you from communicating competently such as sweaty palms, pounding heart, butterfly in the stomach, induced by speech anxiety, or feeling sick, exhausted at work, the ringing noise in your ear, being really hungry, and if you have a runny nose or a cough.
psychological noise are the preconception bias and assumptions such as thinking someone who speaks like a valley girl is dumb, or someone from a foreign country can’t speak English well so you speak loudly and slowly to them.
semantic noise are word choices that are confusing and distracting such as using the word tri-syllabic instead of three syllables.
Sender; the initiator and encoder of a message
Receiver; the one that receives the message (the listener) and the decoder of a message
Decode; translates the sender’s spoken idea/message into something the receiver understands by using their knowledge of language from personal experience.
Encode; puts the idea into spoken language while putting their own meaning into the word/message.
Channel; the medium through which the message travels such as through oral communication (radio, television, phone, in person) or written communication (letters, email, text messages)
Feedback; the receiver’s verbal and nonverbal responses to a message such as a nod for understanding (nonverbal), a raised eyebrow for being confused (nonverbal), or asking a question to clarify the message (verbal).
Message; the verbal and nonverbal components of language that is sent to the receiver by the sender which conveys an idea.
Humans act toward people or things on the basis of the meanings they assign to those people or things. -“Language is the source of meaning”. -Meaning arises out of the social interaction people have with each other.
-Meaning is not inherent in objects but it is negotiated through the use of language, hence the term symbolic interactionism. As human beings, we have the ability to name things. Symbols, including names, are arbitrary signs. By talking with others, we ascribe meaning to words and develop a universe of discourse A symbol is a stimulus that has a learned/shared meaning and a value for people Significant symbols can be nonverbal as well as linguistic.
-Negative responses can consequently reduce a person to nothing. -Our expectations evoke responses that confirm what we originally anticipated, resulting in a self-fulfilling prophecy.
HOW BUSINESS CAN BE SUCCESSFUL
Lots of people have the dream, but they get bogged down in the details of how to go about it. While this article isn’t meant to serve as a complete business start-up guide, it will give you an idea of some of the steps involved in starting your own business.
Hire Professionals
The most important professionals you’ll need at the beginning are a lawyer and an accountant. The lawyer can help you decide if you want to be a corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, or some other type of company. A good accountant can help you make this decision based on which will be most advantageous to you from a tax angle. A lawyer can also help you register your business and get any licenses and permits you will need, and can advise you about patenting your idea or protecting your intellectual property by requiring everyone you discuss your business with to sign non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements.
Make a Business Plan
You may need to hire a writer or other business professional to help you write a business plan. You’ll need one to help yourself get organized as to what your business’s main purpose or goal will be. This could be anything from serving hot dogs to people outside the home improvement store to providing technology support to major players in the business world. Either way, you need a plan that sketches out how you will proceed toward your goal and an estimate of how much money you’ll need to get there. What will your equipment costs be? Will you be hiring employees? How about renting office space? All of these cost estimates should be included in your Business Plan.
Get Financing
How much start-up money will you need? Do you have savings you can use? Friends or business associates who might want to invest in your venture? Or do you need a bank loan? Whatever the situation, you’ll need to present a copy of your business plan to bankers or investors if you need to borrow money to get your company rolling.
Set Up Your Record-keeping System
A good accountant can advise you on the best record-keeping software for your business, and help you set up a system for keeping track of payables, receivables, sales tax, payroll, employee benefits plans, and so forth. You will be relying on the accountant for at least your yearly tax return for your business, and possibly for quarterly payroll and sales tax returns. Your accountant can also get you an EIN number (Employer Identification Number).
Find a Location
Depending on your business, location may be very important. If you need to be visible to the public (say your business is a bookstore or restaurant), then you’ll have to think long and hard about where you should set up shop. Location can make you or break you-and the rent is due no matter which way your fortune turns. You will also need to get a phone, get the utilities turned on, install your furniture and equipment, and get a sign or two that shouts “Hey look! We’re here!”
Set Up Accounts with Credit Card Companies
Every brick-and-mortar business these days takes plastic or they don’t stay in business. You’ll pay a small percentage for every credit or debit card transaction a customer makes. You will need to invest in a method for checking the validity of debit and credit cards-like those “Slide Card Here” machines at cash registers everywhere.
Hire Employees
You may not need to do this step if you’re a one-person operation. Maybe you can get by with just one part-time person to answer phones and do some of the paperwork. Of course, it depends on your business. You can probably run a small bookstore by yourself, but even a tiny restaurant means you’ll need a cook, several servers, someone at the cashier, and so forth. You’ll need to have them complete various forms for the IRS, and you may want to run background checks or at least check some references before you hire anyone.
Promote Your Business
Decide how you will let people know you exist, what you can do for them, and why they should come to you instead of someone else. Common forms of advertising are TV and radio commercials, newspaper ads, flyers, and coupons that appear in booklets distributed by local companies.
The list above might make you think twice about starting a business of your own. Perhaps you aren’t looking to make such a financial commitment regarding the hiring of professionals, finding a location… And it’s also a big, big risk.
But let’s look back at the way this article began: “I’ve always wanted to have a business of my own. Something I’d really enjoy doing. Be my own boss.”
YOU CAN! Without all of the headaches of traditional business.
There is a very simple way of attaining this goal that has worked well for millions of people. You can have your very own business in your home, and you can cross off all or most of the steps listed above. The best part of exploring home-based business opportunities is that there is little risk and the upside is tremendous.
Many of the inconveniences and pressures of the traditional business are wiped away with the home business. The biggest roadblock to starting or buying a business is that they require a considerable up-front cash investment. In addition to the large investment, the time commitment you must make when starting a business can ultimately turn out to be far greater than what you have experienced in any job, and the return is not necessarily worth the extra time or the financial risk.
HOW CAN A BUSINESS BECOME FAIL
Small businesses fail because they run out of cash.” A statement such as this is 100% accurate but completely unhelpful. It’s like saying: “The patient died because he or she stopped breathing.” When people set up their own business for the first time, three issues come up time and time again, often resulting in early-stage failure.
The first is not fully understanding what they are letting themselves in for. It’s important that you go into any new venture with your eyes wide open. In all honesty you cannot do enough research and homework before you start. The more unfamiliar the territory is to you, the higher the implementation risk.
The second is getting paid – bad debts often become a major issue. Lack of capital will destroy your business over time, lack of liquidity will destroy it in a heartbeat, and accounts receivable is your biggest contributor to liquidity. It is imperative therefore that you devise a strategy that will facilitate your being paid promptly, whether your clients are small businesses, multinationals, or public sector entities.
The third reason for failure is choosing the wrong business partner(s) to help grow the business. It is very difficult to steer two or more people onto the same page from the outset; it’s even harder to keep them there. People drift for a variety of reasons, or they may not subscribe to the same code of conduct as the founder. Do not take any chances – try to find a way that you can collaborate before formalising matters, so that you have an opportunity to see how you interact in practice. If this goes well, then you can proceed. If you have the slightest doubt, then take that as a sign not to proceed, at least not immediately.
Once you prove to yourself and the market that your model works, life becomes a great deal more complex as you look to take your business to the next level. As part of my research for the third book in my Crew to Captain series, I assembled the following pieces of advice:
1. Making decisions based on insufficient management information (MI) is not going to help. Make sure your MI is timely, meaningful and relevant. Furthermore, make sure you understand the financial drivers in your business, in particular your gross and net margins and your breakeven point.
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2. Businesses without a plan B often fail. Make sure you have a risk register, with countermeasures to eliminate the main risk in your business.
3. Cash is, and will remain, king. Make sure your expansion can be supported by either long-term capital, working capital, or both. Without cash, your days are numbered. An expansive order book is no use if you cannot pay your bills.
4. Avoid concentration risk – it’s great if you have a significant predictable revenue stream each month from one client, but what if your key sponsor leaves?
5. Don’t lose sight of your core values – they should be enduring and if you lose them you are building your house on sand, in biblical terms.
HOW TO MAKE GOOD COMMUNICATION
Building good relationships with other people can greatly reduce stress and anxiety in your life. In fact, improving your social support is linked to better mental health in general, since having good friends can act as a “buffer” for feelings of anxiety and low mood. This is especially true if you are socially anxious and desperately want to make friends, but are either too fearful to do so or are unsure about how to reach out to others. As a result of these anxious feelings, you may even be avoiding social situations.
Unfortunately, one of the consequences of avoiding social situations is that you never have the opportunity to:
build up your confidence interacting with others, or
develop strong communication skills that would increase the chance for successful relationships!
For example, if you are afraid of going to parties or asking someone out on a date, your lack of confidence and experience will make it even MORE difficult to know how to handle these situations (like what to wear, what to say, etc…). Often, people have the necessary skills, but lack the confidence to use them. Either way, practice will increase your confidence and improve your communication skills.
Why are communication skills important?
Communication skills are the key to developing (and keeping!) friendships and to building a strong social support network. They also help you take care of your own needs, while being respectful of the needs of others. People aren’t born with good communication skills; like any other skill, they are learned through trial and error and repeated practice!
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