Perception and Context

Usually, communication depends on the context surrounding the conversation. If I am on a boat ride with my family, the topic of conversation may tend to lead toward boating or things that have to do with the water. If I am at a funeral, then chances are I am not going to be talking much or be in a very happy mood. The things you talk about depend heavily on your surroundings.
Perception is your understanding of a certain event from your own vantage point. Every single person perceives things differently from one another; whether it be because your old or young, rich or poor, etc. For example, someone who has been attacked by a dog would have a different perception of dogs than I would, because I have never been attacked by one. From my past experiences, I would perceive strawberries differently than other people. Perception is really important in communication because it has a lot to do with how you feel about something, and feelings play a great deal in communication.

Feedback and Channel

There are two types of feedback; positive and negative. We've all received both and I'd be the first to say I would rather it be positive because I don't take negativity well. If you say something that ticks somebody off then they'll probably not be very nice to you for awhile or they may even say some mean things behind your back. On a lighter note, if you give someone a compliment then you'll probably receive a smile or a thank you back.
The channel in communication is how a message gets from the receiver to the sender. So a channel could be through the t.v., radio, facial expressions, gestures or any other way messages are given from one person to another.

The Sender and Receiver!

In every type of conversation there is a sender and receiver. There could be multiple receiver's. For example, when a person is giving a speech they are the sender, and the people in the crowd they are talking to are the receiver's. In a way everyone is sort of both. We are being the sender of our own feelings that are we are expressing nonverbally to those around us, and at the same time we are the receiver's to other people's moods and actions. We are always interpreting people's feelings and words and someone is always interpreting our own, either successfully or not.

Internal and External Noise

The "noise" in our communication plays a huge role! I'll be talking to friend at school and then I realize I haven't been listening to a word she's been saying because I was listening or watching something else that was near me. Do you ever have to tell your younger sibling to just shut up sometimes because your favorite song is on? I have to all the time! These are all things that are apart of external noise, because they take part around us. Another type of interruption to our communication is internal noise. I personally think this is the noisiest of the two. When I am stressed out, my brain is working at top speed and thinking of all the things I need to do. When I am bored in class, I start thinking of other things and day-dream. Then I'm lost in class on what we are doing because I had tons of things going on in my head. Everybody struggles with the noise inside their own head, and it can be quite annoying at times. Unlike external noise where you can do some things to limit the interferences, you can't really shut out the thoughts you have that are in your head.

Encoding/Decoding in Communication

All the time, whether I'm talking to my friends or family, I have to interpret the messages they are sending to either me or someone else. When I am talking to one of my friends I have to think about what they say and then come up with a response for them. Are there times when someone says something to you, you think about it, and then go, "What?" This happens to me all the time. I either don't know what they are talking about or I am confused with what they just told me. Another example is if someone gives me a mean or dirty look then I would probably think that they are mad at me. When a message is sent to you, either nonverbally or verbally, you must decipher what the sender is telling you which is called decoding.

It is very important to be careful what you say and how you say it. I think it's best to think twice before you say something, becaue then you can usually catch yourself in case you say something offensive or inappropriate. If everyone said what they thought of at the top of their head right away, I'm thinking it probably wouldn't be a good thing. However, many people do it and it's annonying. The choice you make and the things you think about before you say something is apart of the process of encoding.

Communication - Verbal and Nonverbal

Everyday we use communication in our day to day lives. Whether we communicate with our hands, facial expressions, or voice we are using some sort of communication. Without communication our world would be completely different, I'm not sure how we would survive. There is a process and many steps to successful communication. The first two main things you can distinguish first are whether or not the communication is verbal or nonverbal.

In verbal communication, it is the use of your voice or words. For example, I wrote a letter to my Grandparents a couple years ago. The letter talked about what I did with money that they had given me for Christmas. That would be an example for verbal communication. Even though I am not using my voice, I am still using words to communicate which is considered verbal. Other types of verbal communication would be the radio, t.v., plays, and books.

Nonverbal communication is anything that doesn't use words or your voice. When I am bored or tired in class, I usually slouch in my chair. If I am mad for reason I will probably have a angry or unkind expression on my face. In sports, coaches give signals to their players to preform a certain play and if someone wants you to be quiet, they will put a finger to their lips to silence you. It is easy to misjudge people based on what they tell us nonverbally. For instance, there have been times when my mom asks me what's wrong and I tell here, "What?". Then she may tell me I look either angry or sad, which I didn't know because I was neither. Nonverbal communication is extremely important in how we communicate everyday.