 If you've ever built anything from the ground up, then you know the importance of a strong foundation It doesn't matter if it's a house of cards if it's a tower of Legos or if it's an actual house that you're building If you don't have a strong foundation That thing is just going to topple over in time and the same thing is true with our study of communication So it's important that we start with a look even just a brief look at the communication Basics laying that firm foundation for further study in a in a different area or more specific area of communication But we got to start at the beginning. So let's just Jump into the very basics of communications who we're starting on the same page when that firm foundation So first of all just to define communication very quickly communication is very simply the process of understanding and sharing Meaning that's what we mean when we say communication. It's it's one person or a group of people trying to Communicate something and share a sense of meaning with another person or group of people And so communication is simply the process of understanding and sharing meaning as you may know from previous studies There's a particular process that takes place in communication We have a whole other video on this that you can check it out If you want the details or want to hear about this in detail and understand this graphic a little more detail But basically these are the elements of the communication process Communicator a has a message that they want to send a communicator be they communicate that message through a particular channel That's the method through which it's communicated communicator bees also Communicating in return. They have that feedback creating that constant not even a loop, but just a constant Expression between the two and the message and the feedback going back and forth at all times There is noise that interferes with the sending and receiving this message and that can that noise could be anything whether it's physical physiological psychological Again, these are things you get into in in other videos more detail But and then all of this happens in a particular context right within the realm of this Whatever context that it's in and that plays an important part So you put these seven elements together and you have the process of communication now There are a lot of variables at work and in all of these almost a countless number of variables For every particular element here. So there's it's it's it can be quite complex But it really boils down to these seven things. That's the process of communication again if you haven't Watch that video or don't have an understanding of the transactional model like communication I encourage you to to check that out We'll put the link down below, but that'll give you a fuller explanation But here we just want to remind you that communication is a process and it relates to these seven elements in particular There are different levels of communication again There are other videos we have that'll go into this in more detail But just to briefly review and recap these you have intrapersonal communication, which is just communication that happens within Oneself right so when you're talking to yourself when you're having thoughts when you're playing an argument on your head That's all intrapersonal communication You also have interpersonal communication, which is communication between two people within the context of a relationship Whether that's a romantic relationship friendship family relationship even work relationship that you have with a co-worker That's interpersonal communication that takes place between two people within the context of a relationship There are different rules than the kind of guidelines that exist for group communication That's another level when you have three or more people working toward a common purpose or goal That's what we would define as a group and there are certain elements of communication that are different for that type of Environment and that type of context so there's group communication. Well, so everybody's favorite public communication You know clearly defined by public speaking one person sharing a message with a group of people And so that that has different rules and different expectations with it as well Finally, we have mass communication This is communication where a person or a group of people is trying to communicate with as broad an audience as they possibly can And there's always some form of technology that's used as a medium or a channel between those two people So they're again different elements and different rules and that's not Same elements same seven elements, but different ways that we apply them in different rules that apply to those same seven elements But the the transactional model of communication is at work in every one of these levels or forms of Communication so those seven elements again become very very important to us a Few principles of communication. I just want to share with you again briefly here We'll move them fairly quickly, but this is just an overview. This is just a recap Hopefully to refresh your memory if you need more detail on this, please You know consult one of our other videos or one of the other resources available to you for that But just real quickly here's some principles of communication some things to keep in mind Communication can be intentional or unintentional all of us have moments where we say something and then immediately think oh I didn't mean to say that or I hope they didn't hear that or I you know It didn't mean for that to be overheard or we're seen or whatever Sometimes we are very intentional about the way we communicate and sometimes we communicate unintentionally or people interpret things With a meaning that we did not intend so communication can be intentional, but it can also be unintentional Communication is irreversible though whether it's intentional unintentional the one thing we can't do is take it back There are no takes backs in communication once you say something even if you say well scrub that forget I said that Check that then the other person says okay. No problem. They're not really gonna forget it I mean they may try move on, but it's still gonna be there once it's out there. It's out there. It's irreversible Communication is unrepeatable right? There's an old old proverb that says no man ever steps in the same river twice It's not the same river and he's not the same man And so what that means is you know you step in a river and you got that water there And then you step out even if you step back in immediately It's different water that water is moved downstream. You're also a different person. You know what it's like to step in that river You know what to expect so that it's a different experience Communication is the same way. It's unrepeatable doesn't matter if we're saying the exact same thing to the exact same person It's going to be different each time not necessarily better or worse just different think about the phrase I love you think about you know a couple that's been together for a long long time, right? An older couple has been together for a long time How many times have they said I love you to one another and yet each time? It's a little different because they're a little different right they've grown they've first of all you it's never the same It's not the same the second time you hear it is the first time right? There's something special about that first time But then over time if they've had kids they've had a life together They've had joy and they've had pain and so forth and I love you takes on a different meaning again not necessarily Better or worse or more meaningful or less meaningful just different because that communication is Unrepeatable in that exact context in that exact sense that you said it before Communication has content and relational dimensions. This is really important I tend to think of it sometimes like if you were at work right and yet you had this person at work And you wanted to ask something wanted to do something whether it doesn't have to be a day It could just be if they wanted to go hang out or something right so but you asked so you asked this person at work You've kind of gotten to know them a little bit You asked them if they want to do something this Saturday and they say sorry. I'm busy this Saturday Those are the words they use okay, but there are a variety of ways they can say that and some things We can communicate saying the same things right maybe they say with an expression of oh man I'm sorry. I'm busy this Saturday But they give you you know through their facial expressions and the way they say it and things that they give you that Impression that off this for another Saturday. I would love to but I've got this thing going on and I can't get out of it Okay, that's one way they could say it, but another way would be I'm sorry. I'm busy this Saturday and give you that facial expression that says not only am I busy this Saturday But I'm busy every Saturday for the rest of eternity So they they give you those two things right so which one you know depending on how we say it That has a major influence on how somebody interprets it and how we how we express it So there's there's first the content dimension There's what is said and the content dimension in this example did not change either time right the content dimension was I'm busy this Saturday. So they were telling you that they're not available this Saturday, right? But they said it in those two different ways right in the different ways they said it or what we call the relational dimension How they express something communicate something about how they feel about that message about how they feel about that person And and you know some subtexts that they may be trying to communicate there as well So every message every Every form of communication every every bit of communication has both that content dimension What is being said and then the relational dimension of how it's being said and what else that communicates then? So communication has content and relational dimensions Also people give communication its meaning. This is important to remember You know, we think of words is these excuse me sort of magical things, right? That that you know are sent down from on high, but the truth is The words have no meaning in and of themselves words are just you know created things We we put them together It's a random collection of of random symbols that we made up and we put together in a certain order And then we just agree on what they mean so words themselves have no meaning It's people and their connection that they're connected meaning And and they're hopefully unified meaning of what that word means and represents that is important Sometimes you think like this too the only difference between these two notes Is your belief that one has more value than the other? So the difference between a legal us tender united states hundred dollar bill and and a monopoly hundred dollar bill They're both made of paper. They're both use special ink They both have different colors, right? And they both represent different things, but we know that one Has actual value in the real world and one only has value in monopoly. Why? Because we share that meaning that's that's the only thing that gives that that other You know one more meaning than the other is that we agree We all have collectively agreed that this is the legal Us tender dollar and you can't give me your monopoly hundred dollar bill and expect to buy something with it outside of that game Communication is the exact same way The what gives words or other symbols their meaning is our shared understanding of what those things represent and what they mean So at this point sometimes we're thinking, you know, well, what does all this mean? How do I know if I'm doing this right? What is the importance here? And how do we measure effective communication? Well, we measure effective communication through what we call communication competence and very simply communication competence Is engaging in communication with others that is both effective and appropriate within a given context So we're measuring it along two different axes right as this effective Meaning am I achieving my goal with this communication and is this appropriate? Am I communicating in the most appropriate way? And then that last part is important too within that given context So understanding that what is appropriate here may not be appropriate somewhere else And and what's appropriate in one situation may not be as appropriate or effective in another So communication competence is communicating in a way that is both effective and appropriate for that given context So some specific things that we look for in communication competence The elements that make up competence are first of all having a large repertoire of skills I think of this as having a lot of tools in your tool belt A lot of communication tools in your tool belt if you're going to build a house You need more than just a hammer. You need some other tools to go along with that, right? To be an effective communicator, we need to be more than just a one-trick pony We need to have a lot of different communication skills that we can pull out of our communication tool belt So we need to develop a large repertoire of skills to have communication competence Then we also have to be adaptable again. This has to work within a given context So we have to be able to know when to use a hammer and when to use a screwdriver and when to use You know, whatever I also saw so we need to be adaptable and be able to pull out the right skill At the right time. So we need to have that ability We also need to be able to perform that skill skillfully perform those things skillfully, right? We need to not only select the right tool, but know how to use it Right, how do we have to first pick the right tool for the job? Then we have to be able to use that tool effectively We also need to develop empathy I know keep in mind empathy is just being able to relate to and understand somebody else's perspective It's not a matter of you don't necessarily have to agree with that person or endorse what they're saying But it is important for us to be able to understand what somebody's saying and relate to that Maybe understand where they're coming from and why that might be important to them So we don't have to necessarily agree, but we do need to be able to empathize and develop those skills We also need to develop cognitive complexity Meaning that we can see things from those different perspectives. We can have a contradicting idea in our head Mull it over turn it around look at it from different perspectives really seek to understand it Maybe without even rejecting it out of hand That's important too in cognitive complexity It doesn't mean again, we have to endorse it or eventually agree with it But we ought to be able to hold these Contradicting ideas in our head and evaluate them and look at them from different perspectives And finally we need to develop self-awareness and self-monitoring We ought to be able to look at ourselves and our skills and all those things that we're doing as communicators And first of all be aware whether or not something is working whether or not it's effective be able to judge that in that moment And at that time hopefully and then also be a You know Consciousness of what our what our skills are and whether they're being effective And then being able to change them right and and monitoring ourselves and saying okay that didn't work in the situation So what else can I do here? What else might I have tried? What can I do next time and and just being aware of our communication skills? And and continually trying to grow those and and help them be more adaptable So now that we're at the end of this you may be thinking What's the point of all this isn't isn't just all this just common sense Is this really something that I needed to to learn about in its communication? We're just born with it right or not born with it Well, you know people say well, it's just common sense and I always remind them of what Voltaire said Common sense is not so common. So even if it is common sense that doesn't mean we always display those Things right we have lots of miscommunication Even if it's common sense So it's it behooves us to to learn about these things and to to develop these skills and understand that it is a skill That requires our practice and requires our awareness of those things It's not just something that's going to naturally happen We have to work at these things over time And I promise you no matter what your profession and no matter what your personal circumstances These things will pay dividends becoming a more effective communicator Will pay off in the long run. So be sure that you're paying attention to these even basic level things and building that strong foundation If you have questions about this or anything else related to communication Please feel free to email me. I'd love to hear from you there And in the meantime, I hope that you have a better understanding of the basics of communication and have started to build that strong foundation