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Name: Saad Mazhar

ID: SP12-BB-0056

Course: Oral

Communication

Section: A

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TERM

REPORT

Acknowledgement

At the onset I would like to thank ALLAH who gave me strength to compile this report with my own efforts and collected the data.

I hope that the report I tried to make will afford information and true picture to the readers and they might show the deep sense of appreciation for my effort.

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I am thankful to my course instructor Ma’am Rubina Safdar who helped me throughout the entire course and guided to complete this report successfully.

Table of Contents

Contents

Page #

Introduction to Communication Process 4

Self Perception 5

Self Concept 6

Self Esteem 7

Self Disclosure 8

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Leadership 9

Types Of Communication 10

Verbal Communication 10

Non Verbal Communication 14

Barriers 17

Effective Listening 20

Types of Listening 21

INTRODUCTION TO

COMMUNCATION PROCESS

Communication has three different meanings that is, the sharing of information, giving and receiving of messages, transfer of information from one or more people to one or more other people.

We use ‘communication’ usually to mean speaking or writing or sending a message to another person. Communication is really much more than that. It involves a number of choices and decisions but being natural and

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unnoticed in informal situations. In formal situations, our communication needs to be more effective and carefully chosen, that is, we need to plan our communication. Communication may be broadly defined as the process of meaningful interaction among human beings. More specifically, it is the process by which meanings are perceived and understandings are reached among human beings. Looked at more closely, what is essential for communication to occur is the cooperation between two parties, one active or at the giving end and the other passive or at the receiving end. The sender selects appropriate symbols to suit the situation and realizes the meaning through speech or writing depending upon the socially regulated requirements or self-perceived needs. At the receiving end the symbols are identified and identification obviously implies recognition and realization of meaning through the interpretive process.

Communication is thus a network of interactions and naturally the sender and the receiver keep on changing their roles. Another aspect of communication is the deployment of a code consisting of arbitrarily evolved symbols and the determination of the appropriateness of their use in given situations, leading to the emergence of diverse communication patterns. A number of factors come into play in shaping these patterns. In fact, communication is often but not always momentary. At times communication is a cumulative process that starts before the actual communicative event takes place and continues after it has occurred. Thus communication therefore must acquire a true perspective of not only the present requirements of the situation but also its relationship with the past and its impact on the future.

Communication is a process where one sets out to convey a message to another person through the medium of words, gestures and / or pictures. The process of conveying the message is fulfilled only when the person receiving it has understood the message entirely.

SELF PERCEPTION

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Self-perception is an account of attitude change developed by psychologist Daryl. It asserts that people develop their attitudes by observing their behavior and concluding what attitudes must have caused them. The theory is counterintuitive in nature, as the conventional wisdom is that attitudes come prior to behaviors. Furthermore, the theory suggests that a person induces attitudes without accessing internal cognition and mood states. The person reasons their own overt behaviors rationally in the same way they attempt to explain others’ behaviors.

People decide on their own attitudes and feelings from watching themselves behave in various situations. This is particularly true when internal cues are so weak or confusing they effectively put the person in the same position as an external observer.

Self-Perception Theory provides an alternative explanation for cognitive dissonance effects. Cognitive dissonance says that people felt bad about lying for $1 because they could not justify the act. Self-perception takes an 'observer's view, concluding that those who were paid $1 must have really enjoyed it (because $1 does not justify the act) whilst those who were paid $20 were just doing it for the money.

Note that this indicates how changing people's attitudes happen only when two factors are present:

They are aroused, feeling the discomfort of dissonance.

They attribute the cause of this to their own behaviors and attitudes.

SELF CONCEPT

Self-concept (also called self-construction, self-identity or self-perspective) is a multi-dimensional construct that refers to an individual's perception of "self" in relation to any number of characteristics, such as academics (and nonacademic), gender roles, racial identity, and many others. Each of these characteristics is a research domain (i.e. Academic Self-Concept) within the larger spectrum of self-concept although no characteristics exist in isolation as one’s self-concept is a collection of beliefs about oneself.

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While closely related with self-concept clarity (which "refers to the extent to which self-knowledge is clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and temporally stable"), it presupposes but is distinguishable from self-awareness, which is simply an individual's awareness of their self. It is also more general than self-esteem, which is a function of the purely evaluative element of the self-concept.

The self-concept is an internal model which comprises self-assessments. Features assessed include but are not limited to: personality, skills and abilities, occupation(s) and hobbies, physical characteristics, etc. For example, the statement "I am lazy" is a self-assessment that contributes to the self-concept. However, the statement "I am tired" would not be part of someone's self-concept, since being tired is a temporary state and a more objective judgment. A person's self-concept may change with time as reassessment occurs, which in extreme cases can lead to identity crises.

The self-concept is not restricted to the present. It includes past selves and future selves. Future or possible selves represent individuals' ideas of what they might become, what they would like to become, or what they are afraid of becoming. They correspond to hopes, fears, standards, goals, and threats. Possible selves may function as incentives for future behavior and they also provide an evaluative and interpretive context for the current view of self.

The perception that people have about their past or future selves is related to the perception of their current self. Temporal self-appraisal theory argues that people have a tendency to maintain a positive evaluation of the current self by distancing negative selves and bringing close positive selves. In addition, people have a tendency to perceive the past self less favorably (e.g., I'm better than I used to be) and the future self more positively.

SELF ESTEEM

Self-esteem is a term used in psychology to reflect a person's overall emotional evaluation of his or her own worth. It is a judgment of oneself as well as an attitude toward the self. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs (for example, "I am competent", "I am worthy") and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame. Smith and Mackie define it by saying

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"The self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem is the positive or negative evaluations of the self, as in how we feel about it." Self-esteem is also known as the evaluative dimension of the self that includes feelings of worthiness, prides and discouragement.

Self-esteem is a disposition that a person has which represents their judgments of their own worthiness. In the mid 1960s, Morris Rosenberg and social-learning theorists defined self-esteem as a personal worth or worthiness. Nathaniel Branden in 1969 defined self-esteem as "...the experience of being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and being worthy of happiness". According to Branden, self-esteem is the sum of self-confidence a feeling of personal capacity and self-respect a feeling of personal worth. It exists as a consequence of the implicit judgment that every person has of their ability to face life's challenges, to understand and solve problems, and their right to achieve happiness, and be given respect.

Self-esteem is an essential human need that is vital for survival and normal, healthy development. It arises automatically from within based upon a person's beliefs and consciousness, and occurs in conjunction with a person's thoughts, behaviors, feelings and actions.

SELF DISCLOSURE

Self-disclosure is both the conscious and subconscious act of revealing more about oneself to others. This may include, but is not limited

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to, thoughts , feelings , aspirations , goals , failures , successes , fears , dreams as well as one's likes , dislikes , and favorites.

A self-disclosure happens when we initially meet someone and continues as we build and develop our relationships with people. As we get to know each other, we disclose information about ourselves. If one person is not willing to "self-disclose" then the other person may stop disclosing information about them as well.

In a counseling session, the patient or client does the "self-disclosing" while the counselor, or therapist listens. The goal is to help the client see things from different perspectives. This allows the client to see and evaluate options he or she may not have thought about, which may give the client more power when making important life decisions. There are several relationship perspectives in self-disclosing information in a counseling session.

There are several important factors that influence self-disclosure and the state of the relationship, such as the relational definition, time, and way of explaining each other's behavior, degree of affection, reciprocity, and goals. The dimension of time is especially interesting because social penetration theory assumes that relationships increase in intensity in a gradual and orderly manner. This orderly progression resembles the shifting messages from superficial to more intimate and move toward broader range conversation topics that take place over time. But linear progress in a single direction is only one pattern of relational development. Research has shown that for some couples, the early period of openness is followed by a quick decline in self-disclosure. There are also long-term marriages in which greater and greater disclosure is followed by a leveling off of disclosure and perhaps decline. And still another pattern is when people click right away so that disclosure occurs quickly rather than in gradual fashion.

LEADERSHIP

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Leadership has been described as “A process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Other in-depth definitions of leadership have also emerged.

Leadership is "organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal". The leader may or may not have any formal authority. Students of leadership have produced theories involving traits, situational interaction, function, behavior, power, vision and values, charisma, and intelligence, among others. Somebody whom people follow: somebody who guides or directs others

Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience.

To inspire your workers into higher levels of teamwork, there are certain things you must be, know, and, do. These do not come naturally, but are acquired through continual work and study. Good leaders are continually working and studying to improve their leadership skills; they are NOT resting on their laurels.

Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. This definition is similar to Northouse's “ Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal”.

Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership knowledge and skills. This is called Process Leadership. However, we know that we have traits that can influence our actions. This is called Trait Leadership , in that it was once common to believe that leaders were born rather than made.

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TYPES OF COMMUNICATION

Communication takes place by exchanging symbols to describe our ideas and experience. Language is a common symbol system which is used for sharing our experiences with others. We can also use other symbols like pictures, colours, signs and sounds to communicate. We do communicate a number of things by our facial expressions, movements, clothing and so on, though we do not speak. Thus communications through words are called Verbal Communication; communications through symbols are called non-verbal communication.

VERBAL COMMUNICATION We use verbal communication for most purposes. Verbal communication may be oral or written.

a) ORAL COMMUNICATION

Oral Communication is more natural and immediately available for responding to a comment / statement. In natural and informal situations, we speak readily without hesitation in order to communicate with others; but in a formal and official situation, many persons feel nervous and cannot speak easily. It needs training, practice and skill to speak effectively in a formal situation. Oral communication requires the presence and simultaneous attention of both the persons. Need for personal presence makes certain demands on the skills of both; each must be able to respond to the body language of the other, and must be able to make immediate response to what the other says. Oral communication occurs in situations like conversations, telephone talk, interviews, presentations, group discussions, and meetings.

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FACE-TO-FACE CONVERSATION

Oral communication is best when it is face-to-face. A face-to-face setting is possible between two individuals or among a small group of persons at an interview, or in a small meeting, where both the sender and the receiver could see each other and communicate. Communication can flow both ways in these situations. Here, an immediate feedback, which gives clarification, is possible. Besides, a face-to-face setting offers a rich communication experience owing to the presence of the living personality whose voice, tone, expressions and movements add significance to the words.

PRESENTATION

It has a face-to-face setting. It is a formal, well-prepared talk on a specific topic, delivered to knowledgeable and interested audience. It looks odd and slumbers if the presentation is not welcomed by the audience to which it is presented. At times a touch of humor always enriches the presentation. The purpose for such kind of communication is to give / pass on the information rather than making them dull and sleepy.

PUBLIC SPEECH

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A public speech or lecture also has a face-to-face setting, but here the space between the speaker and audience do matters. This distance increases as the audience gets larger, as in an open air public meeting. This way of communication much depends on the speaker’s skill in using gestures and using the microphone in the correct order.

INTERVIEW An interview is a meeting at which one person or panel of persons, who are the interviewers, discuss a matter with another person or ask questions of another person, who is the interviewee. The purpose is, usually to assess, to judge whether it would be worthwhile to enter into a relationship with the other. An interview is of structured question and answer type of communication.

MEETING

Usually a meeting involves many persons; there is a chair person or leader who leads and guides the communication and maintains perfect order. There is a fixed agenda, that is, a list of issues to be discussed at the meeting. Meetings are of many types, from the small committee meeting consisting of three or four persons to the large conference or the share holders’ meeting. This type of oral communication is backed up by note-taking and writing up of minutes.

B) WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

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Written communication is used for many purposes. Many types of documents are required for official work. Letters, circulars, memos, notices, reports and minutes are constantly prepared and exchanged in and between organizations. All has a format and layout which is fixed by custom. Letters are the most widely used form of written communication. They are used mostly for external communication. A letter has a complex lay-out which has to be carefully followed.

Memo

Memo, short form of memorandum, is an informal message between members of an organization and generally relates to daily work. Information or instructions can be conveyed by a memo. A memo may or may not be signed.

Notice

A notice is used in order to communicate the same message within an organization. It is the most common method of mass communication, within an organization. It should be short, its language should be simple and the type should be large and well spaced for easy reading.

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Circular

A circular is a detailed document giving information, instructions or orders on a specific matter. A circular has a number and date for reference, and is signed by the authorized signatory of the issuing office. They are generally issued by government department and other official bodies like government departments, councils, universities and Head Offices of organizations.

Report

A report is a document prepared by an individual or a committee entrusted with the task of collecting information on a given subject. It requires careful research, collection of data and presentation of the findings, conclusions and recommendations. Reports are of varying length and may be anything from two pages to a full book dived into chapters.

Minutes

Minutes are the written record of decisions taken at a meeting. Different bodies have their own convention of recordings the discussion and the decisions. Minutes may be written by hand or typed and pasted in minute books, or typed and filled in a minute file. Minutes are a legal document.

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Nonverbal communication is the process of sending and receiving messages from another person. These messages can be conveyed through gestures, engagement, posture, and even clothing and hygiene. Nonverbal communication can convey a very different message than a

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verbal conversation. This can tell someone whether they are liked, interesting or hated. Nonverbal communication can have meanings in objects as well. Certain articles in a person’s life can say a lot about them and can sometimes even talk for them. A person’s handwriting can also tell a lot about the way they can communicate with others. Nonverbal communication can be easiest practiced when the two communicators are face to face. The nonverbal aspect of communication is easiest when the environment is right for all communicators involved, such as, when the environment is right or the moment is right. Nonverbal communication is an important aspect in any conversation skill people are practicing. Nonverbal communication will inhibit someone to be able to tell other person how they are really feeling without having to voice any opinions. People can interpret body signals better than they can talk most of the time.

Nonverbal communication is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless cues between people. Messages can be communicated through gestures and touch, by body language or posture, by facial expression and eye contact. Speech contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage, including voice quality, rate, pitch, volume, and speaking style, as well prosodic features such as rhythm, intonation, and stress. Likewise, written texts have nonverbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words, or the physical layout of a page. However, much of the study of nonverbal communication has focused on face-to-face interaction, where it can be classified into three principal areas: environmental conditions where communication takes place, physical characteristics of the communicators, and behaviors of communicators during interaction.

Use of Body: Kinecs The term "kinesics" was first used (in 1952) by Ray Birdwhistell, an anthropologist who wished to study how people communicate through posture, gesture, stance, and movement. Part of Birdwhistell's work involved making films of people in social situations and analyzing them to show different levels of communication not clearly seen otherwise. Several other anthropologists, including Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, also studied kinesics.

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Gesture Gestures may be made with the hands, arms or body, and also include movements of the head, face and eyes, such as winking, nodding, or rolling one's eyes. Although the study of gesture is still in its infancy, some broad categories of gestures have been identified by researchers. The most familiar are the so-called emblems or quotable gestures. These are conventional, culture-specific gestures that can be used as replacement for words, such as the hand wave used in western cultures for "hello" and "goodbye." A single emblematic gesture can have a very different significance in different cultural contexts, ranging from complimentary to highly offensive. For a list of emblematic gestures, see List of gestures. There are some universal gestures like the shoulder shrug. “The shoulder shrug is a good example of a universal gesture that is used to show that a person doesn’t know or doesn’t understand what you are saying. It’s a multiple gesture that has three main parts: exposed palms to show nothing is being concealed in the hands, hunched shoulders to protect the throat from attack, and raised brow, which is a universal, submissive greeting” Displays of emotions can generally be categorized into two groups: negative and positive. Negative emotions usually manifest as increased tension in various muscle groups: tightening of jaw muscles, furrowing of forehead, squinting eyes, or lip occlusion (when the lips seemingly disappear). In contrast, positive emotions are revealed by the loosening of the furrowed lines on the forehead, relaxation of the muscles around the mouth, and widening of the eye area. When individuals are truly relaxed and at ease, the head will also tilt to the side, exposing our most vulnerable area, the neck. This is a high-comfort display, often seen during courtship that is nearly impossible to mimic when we are tense or suspicious.

Eye Contact

Since the visual sense is dominant for most people, eye contact is an especially important type of nonverbal communication. The way you look at someone can communicate many things, including interest, affection, hostility, or attraction. Eye contact is also important in maintaining the flow of conversation and for gauging the other person’s response.

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Facial Expression The human face is extremely expressive, able to express countless emotions without saying a word. And unlike some forms of nonverbal communication, facial expressions are universal. The facial expressions for happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust are the same across cultures.

Facial expressions, more than anything, serve as a practical means of communication. With all the various muscles that precisely control mouth, lips, eyes, nose, forehead and jaw, human faces are estimated to be capable of more than ten thousand different expressions. This versatility makes non verbal of the face extremely efficient and honest, unless deliberately manipulated. In addition, many of these emotions, including happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, disgust, shame, anguish and interest are universally recognized.

Posture Posture or a person's bodily stance communicates a variety of messages. Posture can be used to determine a participant’s degree of attention or involvement, the difference in status between communicators, and the level of fondness a person has for the other communicator, depending on body “openness”. Studies investigating the impact of posture on interpersonal relationships suggest that mirror-image congruent postures, where one person’s left side is parallel to the other person’s right side, leads to favorable perception of communicators and positive speech; a person who displays a forward lean or decreases a backward lean also signifies positive sentiment during communication.

Barriers

Communication is the process of establishing meaningful relationships among human beings. Communication is used to share information,

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thoughts and feelings between each others. Effective communication ensures whether the transmitted contents are received and understood by someone in the way they were intended. Also the common goal of effective communication includes creating a general perception, changing behaviors and acquiring correct information. Many people think that communication is easy. But effective communication cannot be expressed in simplest form. It is not just about talking. There are many other things involved with effective communication such as gesture, proper body language, expressions and listening. The proper balance of these attributes to be maintained during your communication process if you need to receive the intended goal.

Communication is not always successful. Several things can prevent the message from reaching the intended recipient or from having the desired effect on the recipient. There may be some fault in the communication system which may prevent the message from reaching. Some of these defects are in the mechanical devices used for transmitting – medium, some are in tools we use for communication – language, and some are in nature of persons who are engaged in communication – the sender and recipient / receiver.

There are some common barriers exist against effective communication. Communication is straightforward. But it becomes complex and difficult when barriers are there. Here are some types of barriers that negatively affect to effective communications.

Types Of Barriers

Language Barriers

This is one of the most common barriers that can be found. Many communication issues can be occurred because of the language and

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vocabulary differences. If the sender and the receiver cannot understand the languages of each others, the communication will not give the intended effect. Use of unclear and inappropriate words also can make confusions and misunderstandings during a particular communication process.

Cultural Barriers

There are many communication issues comes through cultural differences. Age differences, gender differences, economic positions, political beliefs and cultural backgrounds are some of them. Effective communication between people of different cultures is really difficult. Same word can make different meaning to people who have cultural differences.

Organization Barriers

Most of the communication barriers exist in workplaces can be included into this category. Poor organization structures, some rules and regulations, poor employee relationships, physical separations, outdated equipments and noisy environment can badly affect to communication processes within the organization.

Personal Barriers

Individual discomfort and perceptions can also make negative impact on effective communication. If people are not in the same level in terms of their perceptions, knowledge and attitudes; the communications between them are not very much successful.

Interpersonal Barriers

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Misunderstanding, lack of trust on each other, fear of losing power and control, poor relationships are some of interpersonal communication barriers. These can make lack of attentions, listening and poor responses during a communication.

Physical Barriers

This barrier is particularly important when speaking to a group or audience. If the audience perceives you as distant from them, looking down on them, or simply not reachable, then they will not be as receptive to the message you are trying to share. For example, if you are standing on a stage and never venture out into the audience, the distance itself can send a message contrary to the one you intend.

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EFFECTIVE LISTENING

Listening is a communication technique that requires the listener to feed

back what they hear to the speaker, by way of re-stating or paraphrasing

what they have heard in their own words, to confirm what they have heard

and moreover, to confirm the understanding of both parties.

When interacting, people often "wait to speak" rather than listening

attentively. They might also be distracted. Active listening is a structured

way of listening and responding to others, focusing attention on the

"function" of communicating objectively as opposed to focusing on "forms",

passive expression or subjectivity.

There are many opinions on what is "active listening". A search of the term

reveals interpretations of the "activity" as including "interpreting body

language" or focusing on something other than or in addition to words.

Successful communication is the establishment of common ground

between two people. Agreeing to disagree is common ground. Common

ground can be false, i.e., a person says they feel a certain way but they do

not. Nevertheless it is common ground, once accepted as understood.

Dialogue, understanding and progress can only arise from that common

ground. And that common ground cannot be established without respect for

the words as spoken by the speaker, for whatever reason.

Thus the essence of active listening is as simple as it is effective:

paraphrasing the speakers words back to them as a question. There is little

room for assumption or interpretation. It is functional, mechanical and

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leaves little doubt as to what is meant by what is said. "The process is

successful if the person receiving the information gives feedback which

shows understanding for meaning. Suspending one's own frame of

reference, suspending judgment and avoiding other internal mental

activities are important to fully attend to the speaker.

Types of Listening

Appreciative Listening

In appreciative listening, we seek certain information which will appreciate,

for example that which helps meet our needs and goals. We use

appreciative listening when we are listening to good music, poetry or

maybe even the stirring words of a great leader.

Discriminative Listening

Discriminative listening is the most basic type of listening, whereby the

difference between difference sounds is identified. If you cannot hear

differences, then you cannot make sense of the meaning that is expressed

by such differences.

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We learn to discriminate between sounds within our own language early,

and later are unable to discriminate between the phonemes of other

languages. This is one reason why a person from one country finds it

difficult to speak another language perfectly, as they are unable distinguish

the subtle sounds that are required in that language.

Likewise, a person who cannot hear the subtleties of emotional variation in

another person's voice will be less likely to be able to discern the emotions

the other person is experiencing.

Listening is a visual as well as auditory act, as we communicate much

through body language. We thus also need to be able to discriminate

between muscle and skeletal movements that signify different meanings.

Comprehension Listening

The next step beyond discriminating between different sound and sights is

to make sense of them. To comprehend the meaning requires first having a

lexicon of words at our fingertips and also all rules of grammar and syntax

by which we can understand what others are saying.

The same is true, of course, for the visual components of communication,

and an understanding of body language helps us understand what the

other person is really meaning.

In communication, some words are more important and some less so, and

comprehension often benefits from extraction of key facts and items from a

long spiel.

Comprehension listening is also known as content listening, informative

listening and full listening.

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Empathetic Listening

When we listen empathetically, we go beyond sympathy to seek a truer

understand how others are feeling. This requires excellent discrimination

and close attention to the nuances of emotional signals. When we are

being truly empathetic, we actually feel what they are feeling.

In order to get others to expose these deep parts of themselves to us, we

also need to demonstrate our empathy in our demeanor towards them,

asking sensitively and in a way that encourages self-disclosure.

Critical Listening Critical listening is listening in order to evaluate and judge, forming opinion

about what is being said. Judgment includes assessing strengths and

weaknesses, agreement and approval.

This form of listening requires significant real-time cognitive effort as the

listener analyzes what is being said, relating it to existing knowledge and

rules, whilst simultaneously listening to the ongoing words from the

speaker.