Lecture #1

Wednesday, September 02, 2009 8:49 PM

Understanding Human Dynamics The functional perspective What is the meaning of communication? We use communicate to help, begin, maintain, and end relationships Not only personal but professional Occurs through the process of exchanging information It could be verbal, non-verbal, signs, symbols, and behaviors Ie "the middle finger" Interpretation of these things can be different Communication Characteristics Communication is inescapable(even when we don't know it) It doesn't have to be intentional Communication is irreversible "Once a word goes out of your mouth, you can never swallow it again" -Russian Proverb Communication is complicated Conflicts , disagreements, and misunderstanding are inevitable Communication is governed by rules Vary depending on situation and context Rules dictates what an d when something is appropriate What is competent communication?(What can I do to communicate better?) Recognize it's process-oriented It's not what you say, it's how you say it Appropriate communication is Effective Behavioral flexible is key to appropriate communication Understanding context matters! Modeling Communication The Linear Model |Channel for the message| -->Receiver Noise Noise can internal and/or external. The Interaction Model noise Sender Encode----------> Decode Receiver Decode<----------Encode Feedback The Competent Communication Model -cultural context -situational context -relational context -cognition Self-Concept: A person's identity Influenced by thoughts ,actions, abilities, values, goals, ideas.. How you see yourself influences how you communicate Develops through: 1 Communication with others 2 Association with groups 3 Assumed roles 4 Self labels Cooley's Theory of Reflected Appraisal It postulates that how others see us affects how we see ourselves Usually our significant others have the most affect on it Significant Others- people whose opinions we especially value Ego-booster Enhance your self-concept Mark's grandmother Ego-buster Sender-->

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Ego-buster Doesn't enhance your self-concept(does the opposite of ego-booster) The Principal calling Mark a pothead Schultz's Needs Theory Designed to help our self-concept and self-esteem Inclusion-we want to feel like you're part of something We need to feel like we matter We want to feel like we are contributing to the group Control We need to feel like our decisions and actions are making a contribution Affection We need to feel like we are accepted by others Audience Analysis "If you don't aim at the audience, they may take aim at you. -Alan J. Parisse The Necessity of Audience Analysis Audience Centeredness Keeping the audience in mind at every step of speech preparation and presentation. Look how people will react to the presentation Messages must be targeted for a particular audience Identification Common bond between the speaker(s) and the audience that is created through targeted messages (Kenneth Burke, A Rhetoric of Motives, 1950) IE Obama's book was able to connect with a lot of people which is good. Demographic and Dispositional Audience Analysis Demographic analysis 1 Age Use appropriate examples for specific age groups Value maybe different depending on the age group 2 Gender Selection words can be very important IE Don't use chicks when addressing women 3 Sexual Orientation Stay away from derogatory words 4 Racial, Ethnic and Cultural Background You should try learn about the culture of other people 5 Religion 6 Group Membership Dispositional Analysis 1 Interests If a group like something make references to it or something 2 Knowledge 3 Attitudes 4 Motivation: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Self-Actualization Needs Independence, enjoyment ,curiosity, change Esteem Needs Pride, success, recognition, prestige Belonging Needs When we join groups Companionship, support approval and affection IE Debate team Safety Needs Security, control, tradition Physiological Need Air, water, food, shelter IE In African village that is suffering would rather get water than an iphone You need the lower ones in order to satisfy the higher ones

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