What is the 5 elements of communication?

One of the benefits of being anthropomorphic is the ability to communicate and use big words like “anthropomorphic.” But as some sage once observed, “Having an ability and being able to use it effectively are two different things.”

Personal communication through the spoken word is still the best way to provide direction, teach, motivate, offer praise, make suggestions, assist understanding and resolve conflict. But effective communication does not happen without effort and attention. As a consequence, many — maybe most — transmissions aren’t “heard” and understood the way they were “spoken.”

There are five elements in the process: The sender; the receiver; the message; the medium; and internal and external static. A glitch in any of these areas can deform the message and distort its meaning. Even when two well-intentioned people make a careful effort to exchange clear concepts, the words used and the static generated can get in the way.

This is understandable. Even a sincere listener has more than one thing on his or her mind when communication starts and, unless he is unusually good at compartmentalizing his thoughts and putting his mental mainframe on “hold,” the new message will be just one of many vying for attention.

Also, everyone has “hot buttons,” experiences, emotional baggage, biases, or beliefs that cause them to tune out or twist the messages they receive, despite their good intentions. Fatigue or boredom can get in the way too.

And since listeners can process words at least twice as fast as a sender can produce them, there’s always time for a listener to try to do two things at once. As a consequence, a message has to struggle for attention and accurate comprehension.

Then there are external distractions like noise, an uncomfortable environment, time pressures, interruptions, and the discursive techniques and physical mannerisms of the sender.

The latter are particularly important since researchers tell us that up to 65 percent of the meaning of a message comes from the sender’s body language.

Here are a few Brass Tacks Tips for improving communication in the workplace:

• Prepare. Think about what you want to say and to whom you are going to say it. Structure your message in a logical order and make it as brief as possible. Don’t provide so much content that the listener will have to search for meaning.
• Connect with the listener. Make sure you get his full attention and establish some initial rapport and a welcome connection. Set the stage by providing the “big picture” up front, but avoid long-winded introductions and unnecessary preliminaries. Get to the point quickly.
• Use short units of information. Try this experiment and you’ll get the point: Recite four numbers and ask a listener to repeat them. No problem. Now off-load 20 more numbers in rapid succession and ask the listener to repeat the first four numbers “because they are the only important ones.” In most instances even an intent listener will be unable to recite the initial four digits you really wanted to convey. Bottom line: Never try to make more than three or four points at one time.
• Choose your words carefully. The average person has a ready vocabulary of about 500 words for which the dictionary provides about 25,000 different meanings. If you are going to get technical, make sure both you and the listener know the meaning of the words you’ll use. Remember John F. Kennedy’s gaffe while trying to impress a German audience with his fluency in their language. His proclamation “Ich bin ein Berliner,” literally translated meant, “I am a donut.” You can also use analogies and metaphors to help understanding.
• Verify transmission. After you’ve sent your message, ask the receiver to play it back. You’ll often be surprised what he thought you said. Don’t try to identify who flubbed the communication, just make sure you keep sending improved messages until the intended meaning is received.
• Ask questions. When an intended receiver responds to your message be sure to ask a couple of questions to make sure you fully understand the reply. Be particularly attentive to the part of the transmission that comes after the word “but.” People frequently tell you what you want to hear before they convey what they want you to hear. It’s easy to get lost in the “schmoozing” that precedes the “but.”

Check the necessity: Before you communicate anything, make sure that what you are saying has to be said. G.K. Chesterton once observed: “The moment in history when we had nothing important left to say was marked by the invention of the loudspeaker.”

Thanks to today’s proliferating technology we are all seduced into saying far more than mankind deserves to hear.

5 elements of communication from Emmanuel Calimag

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