The Communication Process & Public Speaking

Before you begin to prepare a presentation, it is essential to understand the basics of what communication is, the characteristics of communication, and the elements of the communication process.  Trying to define communication is a challenge, even for communication scholars and practitioners, and a search for a definition yields hundreds of variations.  However, a synthesis of many of those definitions is provided here:

Communication is a dynamic process used to create and share meaning using verbal and nonverbal symbols in order to meet needs, achieve goals and build relationships.

Let’s examine this definition more closely.  First, communication is dynamic:  it is characterized by constant change, activity and progress.   Communication is also a process, which means it involves a series of actions or steps taken to achieve a particular end.  That particular end is the “creation and sharing of meaning” by those involved in the communication event through the use of “verbal and nonverbal symbols”.  Messages are created (encoded) and exchanged using language, movement, pictures, and other ways of expressing ourselves to others who receive and process (decode) these messages.  The receiver simultaneously encodes a message of response that the sender decodes in the process.  All of this is done so that we can meet our needs, achieve our goals, and build personal, professional, and social relationships.

From this brief description of what communication is, we will look at the characteristics of communication.  According to O’Hair et al (2015), Adler and Proctor (2017) and others, communication has several distinctive characteristics.

Communication is symbolic. Our language and actions do not have meaning in and of themselves. They are tools we have to make our thoughts and feelings visible and able to be shared with others.

Communication is transactional. When we communicate, we are senders and receivers simultaneously. The communication process is not linear, meaning someone speaks (sender) and then someone listens (receiver).  As you are speaking, you are simultaneously attending to the feedback and various cues sent by those with whom you are interacting. For those listening, they are attending not only to what you are saying but also to their own internal ideas and reactions while sending feedback to you.  The messages we send to one another are interdependent, meaning they are influenced by those participating in the communication exchange.

Communication is intentional and unintentional. We communicate intentionally, in that we choose to speak, listen, send a text or write a note. However, we also communicate unintentionally; raising our eyebrows, nodding, blushing, or fidgeting all send messages to others whether we are aware we have sent those messages or not.  According to Adler and Proctor (2017) and others, “Because both intentional and unintentional behaviors send a message…it is impossible not to communicate. Whatever you do…speak or remain silent…you provide information to others about your thoughts and feelings.” (p. 17)

Communication is irreversible. Once a message is conveyed, intentionally or unintentionally, oral or written, it cannot be deleted like a line of text on the computer. It becomes part of the communication exchange and influences each successive interaction.

Communication is unrepeatable.  Because communication is dynamic and ongoing, it is never the same twice.  Even if you were to say the exact same words in the exact same way with the exact same movements, each time you say it, the message would be different, because you are different at each moment, and so are those to whom the message is sent.

Communication has both content and relational components. The content aspect of communication pertains to the information contained in the message.  The relational aspect of the message, often conveyed nonverbally and through voice variations, conveys how we feel about the others involved in the interaction and how we are feeling about ourselves in relation to others and in relation to the situation.

Communication is situational and purposeful. What, why and how we communicate is influenced by the situation in which it occurs and the purpose for which it occurs.

Communication involves the whole person.  No matter when or why we communicate, we draw from our thoughts, feelings, experiences, our culture and our relationships, our hopes, dreams, fears and aspirations as we create, send, receive and process messages in a communication event.

In order to pull these characteristics together to see how they intersect during the communication process, we will look at the Transaction Model of Communication offered by Butland and Backlund (2015).  In this model, it is easy to see the numerous variables that intersect and influence the communication process.The communication process and public speaking. With this overview of the communication process in mind, let’s apply this information to the public speaking context.

As mentioned earlier, communication is not linear. When giving a presentation, you are doing more than speaking your prepared ideas to passive listeners.  You are interacting with the audience just as they are interacting with you. The impact of the presentation is co-created by both presenter and audience, and it is influenced by the numerous variables in the communication process.  The remainder of the workbook provides information for you as speaker, as well as for the listeners/ audience, on how to create an effective communication exchange in the public speaking context.