MAC 108- Basic Communication skill

The word communication is used to mean speaking or writing or sending a message to another person. Communication is really much more than that. It 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. 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, on-going, ever changing, continuous. When we label something as a process, we also mean that it does not have a beginning, an end, 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.