TOPIC 1: INTRODUCTION TO

COMMUNICATION
Communication skill is the ability to convey
information effectively, efficiently and
coherently.
It is more than just words; it tells the
following during a discourse:
•How you say it- including the tone of your
voice
•When you say it- the situation/time (during
an argument, special occasion)
•Why you say it- the intention behind the
message
•Your body language- including facial
expressions, gestures and postures
MEANING AND ROLE OF COMMUNICATION
 The word communication is used to mean
speaking or writing or sending a message
to another person.
 Communication involves ensuring that your

message reaches the target audience and

that the receiver understands and responds
to the message appropriately.
 Communication is an important aspect of

behaviour; human communication is

affected by all factors that influence human
behaviour
GENERAL DEFINITION OF COMMUNICATION
 Communication comes from the Latin word
communicare, which means “to make
common” or “to share.
 Communication is defined as the process of

using messages to generate meaning (Judy

Pearson, 2008).
 Communication is considered a process

because it is an activity, an exchange, or a set

of behaviours—not an unchanging product. It
is an activity in which you participate.
 David Berlo (1960), a pioneer in the field of
communication, probably provided the
clearest statement about communication as
a process: “If we accept the concept of
process, we view events and relationships
as dynamic, ongoing, ever-changing,
continuous.
 When we label something as a process, we

also mean that it does not have a

beginning, an end, or a fixed sequence of
events. It is not static, at rest. It is moving.
The ingredients within a process interact;
each affects all the others.
Working definition
 Communication is the process of transmitting
information and meaning from one individual
or organisation to another by means of
mutually understandable symbols.
 The crucial element is meaning.

Communication has as its central objective

the transmission of meaning.
 The process of communication is successful

only when the receiver understands an idea

as the sender intended it.
 Both parties must agree not only on
the information transmitted but also
on the meaning of that information.
 In order to transfer an idea, we must

use symbols (words, signs, pictures,

sounds) which stand for the idea.
 The symbols must be understood by

the person or persons with whom we

intend to communicate. Both must
assign the same meaning to the
symbols used; otherwise, there is
miscommunication.
ROLE/ PURPOSE OF COMMUNICATION IN AN
ORGANISATION
 1. Managing human resources. Communication is the
tool with which we exercise influence on others, bring
about changes in the attitudes and views of our
associates, motivate them and establish and maintain
relations with them. The primary element in the skills of
management is competence in communication.
 2. Communication is central to the success of
everything that we do in an organisation (objectives);
our family, school/college, office, hobby group,
community group, our city/town are the organisations
in which we live and act. Our activities succeed or fail,
and our goals are achieved or not achieved, according
to our ability to communicate effectively with other
members.
 3. Building positive interpersonal relations.
Communication plays a foundational role in
the development of any healthy
interpersonal relationship. It can strengthen
a mutual sense of commitment; it also helps
to bridge the gap between people who have
misunderstandings.
 4. Communication creates unity and

harmony. Without effective communication,

information cannot be collected, processed,
or exchanged; words and data would
remain isolated facts.
 5. Communication enables an
individual to express ideas
thoughts and feelings effectively
in writing and in speech.
 The most important foundation

skill for anyone in the new world

of work is the ability to
communicate; being able to
express your ideas effectively.
 6. Communication helps in team building
and teamwork.
 Team members must be able to work

together to identify problems, analyse

alternatives, and recommend solutions.
 They must be able to communicate their

ideas persuasively to others. The ability

to work well in teams, to manage your
subordinates and your relationships with
seniors, customers and colleagues,
depends on your communication skill.
 7. Marketing the products and
services. Communication in the form
of advertisement and public relations
is needed in order to inform the public
and persuade potential customers to
buy the products.
 Production of goods is of no use if

potential buyers have no information

about the product. Communicating to
the public about the product is the
essence of business.
 8. Delegation of work horizontally
and vertically.
 9. Transacting business: through

internal and external

communication.
 10. Building positive public

relation
 ESSENTIALS/PRINCIPLES OF
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
 Communication is effective only when both
the sender and the receiver are focused on
the act of communication.
 While the sender must sharpen and improve

skills of speaking and writing, the receiver

must improve skills of listening and reading.
The qualities of communication which the
sender must achieve are called the C's of
Communication because most of them begin
with the letter C.
Cs of Good Communication
 1. Correctness A letter must be correct in
every respect:
 In spelling, grammar, pronunciation, and

use of language
 In appearance and form of layout
 In the information conveyed correct and

accurate
 In tone, formality and style must be

appropriate to the occasion

 2. Clarity -The message must be
clear at the first reading so it
takes very little time to follow and
understand.
 Clearly written or spoken

messages avoid misunderstanding

and save time.
 Write and speak to express, not to

impress.
 Clarity depends upon five factors:
 (i) Simple, common everyday words
which everyone can understand. Never
send the reader to the dictionary.
Technical terms should be avoided
unless absolutely needed and if you are
communicating within the profession.
 (ii) Short and simple sentences. Long

sentences confuse the reader and often

confuse the writer also. Each bit of
important information should be given in
a separate sentence.
 (iii)
Proper punctuation and pauses. It
helps to provide pauses and stops and
to break up groups of words into
sensible units.
 Besides the full stop, there are other,

shorter pauses like the semicolon and

the comma which help to break up a
sentence into readable units.
 3. Consistency
 Consistency should be in the use of

numbers, units of measure, technical

terms, abbreviations, grammar, spelling,
punctuation and capitalization and
dates.
 British or American spellings vary.

Hyphenation, punctuation and

capitalization do not have absolutely
fixed rules.
 Whatever you decide on, be consistent

throughout the document.

 4. Coherence- is a logical sequence of ideas.
Making a clear plan for a presentation or a
letter ensures that the ideas are in logical
order; coherence, that is, logical connection
of ideas makes any composition easy to
understand.
 5. Concreteness- Giving definite and concrete

details with figures and names. Vague

phrases like "in due course" or "at your
earliest convenience" are not as useful as
definite time phrases like in two weeks or
within three weeks.
 communicate exact and definite information.
 6. Conciseness – means expressing much in a few
words; in business communication, it means
keeping to the point and using as few words as
possible without sacrificing clarity or courtesy.
 Conciseness can be achieved by: (i) Leaving out
unnecessary modifiers; for example, "new
innovation;" (can there be an old innovation?) or
''very unique" (unique means only "one of its kind").
Other examples are: "advance plans", "actual
experience", "cylindrical in shape", "three cubic
meters in volume."
 (ii) Reducing unimportant ideas to phrases or single
words like, in the form of - as in many cases -
often exhibits the ability to - can in the event of - if
 (iii) Making sure that only the necessary and
relevant details are included. Using more words
than necessary confuses the idea.
 7. Courtesy -is the consideration for other people's
feelings. It is seen in an individual's behaviour with
others.
 In a letter, the manner and the choice of words
reflect the courtesy of the writer.
 (i) Use the courtesy words please, thank you, excuse
me and sorry as the situation requires.
 (ii) Express appropriate feelings according to the
situation. For example, sympathy when someone
suffers, good wishes when someone begins
something new, and congratulation when someone
achieves something.
 (iii) Make the other person feel comfortable. This is
an important factor of courtesy. Care and
consideration for the reader are reflected in the
letter.
 (iv) Be attentive and prompt in responding. Every
message, written or oral should be answered within
twenty-four hours. If it is a letter of complaint, the
response should be immediate; a courteous
company makes a phone call or sends a fax
message immediately upon receiving a complaint or
hearing about a problem.
 (v) Let the tone, the choice of words and the style of
the message reflect your consideration for the
feelings and needs of the receiver. This is
particularly important if the message to be
'conveyed is likely to be unpleasant for the reader.
 8.Completeness The message
communicated should be
complete with all necessary
details and information are given
to enable proper understanding
and response by the receiver.
 Types of Communication Skills
Para-Communication Skills.
This type of communication includes communicating with the divine and
with spirits in the form of incantations and rituals.

Interpersonal Communication Skills. This is direct, face-to-face

communication that occurs between two persons. It is essentially a
dialogue or a conversation between two or more people. This type of
communication involves maximum interaction through words and
gestures.

Non-verbal Communication Skills. This includes aspects such as body

language, gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, etc., which also
become a part of the communicating process; as well as the written and
typed modes of communications.
No matter what the different types of communication skills are,
communicating is an ever-continuing process that is going on all the time.
It is as important to human life as is day-to-day existence
END