COMMUNICATION IS 1

Michelle Friedman

Coms St. 9 Communication Essay

Prof. Ruh

5/13/17

Communication is...

Communication is in the broadest sense is a tool for the exchange of information. It may

be expressing emotions, reactions, or thoughts; communication is something humans have

expanding over thousands of years and have passed on to subsequent generations.

Communication both verbal and nonverbal can tell others if we are hungry, sleepy, wanting or

needing something, and many other complex concepts which may use signs, symbols, physical

movement, nonverbal cues, language, sensory skills, or emotions. Though most of our

communication is verbal, originally humans use nonverbal exchanges. It all began with

understanding nonverbal communication which every culture has utilized in addition to its

spoken language(s).

There are hundreds of spoken languages and dialects throughout the world and even sign

language for those who cannot hear. Other nonverbal communication can be shown in body

language as well as facial expressions. In most of the worlds cultures body language plays a

major role in how we communication. Elizabeth Kuhnke (2016) discusses a system called

Y.O.D.A (you, observe, decode, adapt) to explain how people identify and respond to nonverbal

communication and body language. She states that you accept responsibility for the impact of

your nonverbal behaviors and accept your feelings, mood and emotions impact on the signals

you emit and those that you, in turn, receive (p.7). Facial expression such as pursed lips, fake

smile, or crossed arms according to Kuhnke can give information that a person is defensive and
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their choice of body language are considered micro expressions (p. 12). While nonverbal can

express a lot of information, emotions are another way to explicitly give someone relational data.

Stone, Patton, and Heen (1999) consider that emotions are fundamental when people are

placed in difficult conversations. They state that The problem is that feelings are at the heart of

whats going on, they are the business at hand and ignoring them is nearly impossible (p. 87).

What also seems to happen is unspoken feelings appear and can shape people body language as

well as their mind state. To Stone, Patton, and Heen, ...unexpressed feelings can create so much

tension which could end up with broken relationships such as friendships and couples (p. 88).

When dealing with emotions as well as looking at nonverbal communication, listening a key part

to understand what the situation going to turn into.

Steve Duck and David McMahan (2015) say that active listening has been viewed as

the ideal method of listening (p. 115). In active listening, there are five steps to be actively

listening starting with receiving the message someone has given. Second is attending which is

the focus on what was received thereby doing the third step which is interpreting or making

sense of what was said. Then responding to what was being interpret and received would be next.

The last process for active listening is reflecting or paraphrasing on the whole process on what

was said and the interpretations others might have made (p. 114-115).

When partaking in active listening this can give the impression to others that someone

that put effort into building and improving relationships is someone who authentically cares.

Active listen and other forms of expressing communicative skills are especially important not

only in social situations, but including the workforce.

Workplace communication displays to others how one person can identify themselves as

being an individual worker or as a team player. Duck and McMahan say that work identities,
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...reflect the conduct of workers relationships not only with one another but with customers and

clients (p. 204). Additionally, communication through work can make peoples behaviors and

their use of language change to be able to accommodate for their job. For Duck and McMahan

this concept is called professional face (p. 203). For example, some people might be able to

figure out that someone could be police officers just by hearing them say, copy that instead of

yes, got it (p. 205).

Speaking of workplace language, language is another form of how people communicate

to others. Verbal communication is in short using language to express information to others.

What verbal communication can also do is set up to others what someones certain relationship is

to another person. To give a visual case I have an older sister who is twenty-six and a great uncle

who just turned eighty years old. Even though they both are my family I probably would not ask

my great uncle any question that relate to something other women can relate to. Therefore, what

other people chose to discuss or ask of other can help identify or shape the connection they have

with other.

Duck and McMahan claim in their book Communication in Everyday Life that verbal

communication is in fact relational meaning that it influences and can inform on what kind of

communication will occur based on the relationship. Their text gives a well put explanation to

how verbal communication shapes a relationship by saying that the words I love you have

different meaning attached depending on the relationship in which they are spoken (p. 73). In

other words, someone could say one thing but mean another, but it is all based on what the

relationship is and how it might have been said.

When communicating through a spoken language this can give insight to others that they

may come from a certain country or cultural background. Additionally, Duck and McMahan
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(2015) pointed out that people who may speak the same language can sometimes be a part of

something called intercultural communication (p.246). For instance, someone who speaks

English from North America may consider a flaky baked good that butter can go on may be

called a biscuit; however, a biscuit in the England is considered a cookie to an American. To go

even further certain accents can be completely different based on where the person is from. To

give a better understand, someone who has a thick New York accent will sounds completely

different then someone who would have a smooth southern accent from Tennessee even though

they are both places are in the United States of America.

Defining what is communication is not as simple as it seems. Even today there is not a

single definition for this complex concept. The formal studies of communication is a little over

one-hundred years ago, it is still a topic and field that is always growing and developing. An

example of the growth and changes like in communication is growing popularity in rap and hip-

hop music. The message in rap/hip-hop may be similar to a traditional balled but is expressed in

a distinctive rhythmic way. One could watch a basketball game and see the players exchanging

different handshakes almost every week. The same photo whether viewed in color or black and

white can tell a different story. Communication is a tool to exchange information and human

beings are unique in that we can speak, write, compose, sign with our body, and silent means of

expression which separate us from all animals.