They may be nonverbally establishing eye contact (or not), yawning, or verbally interrupting or asking questions.Encoding refers to the process of taking an idea or mental image, associating that image with words, and then speaking those words in order to convey a message. In addition, the listener is also simultaneously communicating messages back to us. The other communicator, who is listening, decodes the message by interpreting and adding meaning to it. The channel we send our message through can be spoken words (for verbal symbols) or hand gestures (for nonverbal symbols). While telling the story, we may use both verbal and nonverbal symbols to create the content of our message. Did you focus on different details with each person? That’s encoding. Think about the last time you recapped your experience at a social gathering for a friend and then again for a family member. While we are telling our story, we are encoding our thoughts and feelings and considering which details to leave out and which ones to talk about. For example, in a face-to-face interaction, we may be telling a story about our horrible day and the other person may be listening. In any interpersonal interaction, there are at least two communicators and both communicators are generating and creating meaning by simultaneously sending and receiving messages. Noise can occur in various places in the process, such as in the people, in the channel, in the message, and even outside the interaction. Noise is a type of interference in the communication process that results from the physical, relational, individual, and/or cultural context. For example, if someone says a word we are unfamiliar with, we may frown in response or give them a confused look to let them know we do not understand. The verbal and nonverbal messages sent by one communicator in response to the other communicator’s message(s). The means through which the message is sent from one communicator to the other, such spoken words, a text message, or our hands to make a gesture. For example, we may intentionally smile at a friend but unintentionally fidget with our hands when nervous. Messages can be both intentional (conscious) and unintentional (unconscious). Verbal and nonverbal symbols that represent thoughts, feelings, and ideas. In communication, symbols can be verbal, such as words, or nonverbal, such as the ‘okay’ hand symbol. Symbol:Ī thing that represents or stands for something else. The process of interpreting and adding meaning to the verbal and/or nonverbal messages we receive. The process of turning our thoughts, ideas, and feelings into verbal and/or nonverbal messages.

For example, in a face-to-face interaction, the other communicator may be recounting an experience verbally with words and nonverbally with hand gestures, while we are sending our own nonverbal messages via eye contact, facial expressions, posture, etc.

Because we are continuously sending and receiving verbal and/or nonverbal messages, we are simultaneously both a sender and receiver in interactions. Senders and receivers of messages in a communicative interaction. In order to better understand how verbal and nonverbal symbols are produced, interpreted, and coordinated in interactions, it is necessary to understand the components of the communication process.

4 elements of communication