The Elements of Communication

Now, that's a pretty straightforward concept which does not need much explanation or elaboration. Many of the points covered under this topic broadly corresponds to the previous post on Process of Communication. Elements of communication simply refers to all the components of the communication process. Here is a comprehensive list of all the elements of communication.

• Source: The source refers to the sender who wants to transmit his / her thoughts, feelings, ideas or emotions. If there is no source, there will be no sound, action or word, which will then result in no communication.

• Message: Can you think of a communication which does not have any message? Certainly not. A communication can simply not exist without a message. Just like the purpose of a journey is to reach a destination, the purpose of communication is to deliver a message. There may be several objectives of delivering the said message. We shall deal with objectives in a later section.
• Encoding: Encoding, as described in the previous post is nothing but transferring the thoughts and ideas into words and sentences. It is necessary, so as to be able to make the message understandable to the receiver. Although science has proven the existence of telepathy (mind to mind communication) as a means of communication, we cannot rely on it because we shall never know for sure if the message was actually conveyed or just thought in our own mind.

• Channel: This refers to the pathway we use to send our message. We could speak about it, write it down for someone to read, use signs and symbols or even use actions or gestures to send the message. Modern channels of communication include telephone (both fixed lines and cellular), e-mail, text messages, blogs, etc.
• Decoding: As explained in the Process of Communication, decoding refers to transferring the words and sentences back into thoughts and ideas. It is necessary for the sender and the receiver to have similar ideas about the words used, so as to be able to decode properly.
• Receiver: This element of Communication refers to the person who receives the message, hence the term - receiver. One can receive message through any one or a combination of the channels mentioned above. One can also receive messages from one or more channels simultaneously.
• Feedback: Feedback refers to the response given by the receiver, based on the message sent across by the sender. The feedback may be positive or negative, may use words or actions, may simply be the nod or shake of the head. What matters is some response from the receiver. As mentioned in the previous post, this completes the process of communication.

• Context: This is similar to the first step in the process of communication. It basically refers to the origin of thought in the mind of the sender, without which there can not be a communication. Context provides the seed for communication through which grows the various branches and fruits, like the various objectives of communication and feedback.

Coming soon... Objectives of communication... Stay tuned!