1. Dorota Piontek, AMU dorota.piontek@amu.edu.pl
Communication
Dorota Piontek, AMU

2. schedule
communication in general
interview – how to prepare
workshop

3. communication as a process
communication is a process in which people share information, ideas, and feelings
basic elements of communication:
senders and receivers
messages
channels
feedback
setting

4. senders and receivers
senders - receivers send and receive messages simultaneously

5. message is made up of the ideas and the feelings to be shared
are represented by symbols
symbols – that stand for sth else
symbols: verbal and nonverbal
verbal symbols: concrete and abstract

6. channels route traveled by a message between the senders-receivers
senses and technical means

7. feedback response of the receivers-senders to each other
immediate and delayed

8. noise
interference that keeps a message from being understood or accurately interpreted
three kinds of noise:
physical
semantic
psychological

9. setting where the communication occures (the surrounding)
is made up of several components

10. principles of transactional communication
participation is continuous and simultaneous
all communications have a past, present, and future
all communicators play roles

11. types of communication
intrapersonal
interpersonal
small-group communication
institutional communication
mass communication

12. intrapersonal communication
occures within a person
is centered in the self – one is the only sender-receiver
message – thoughts and feelings
channel: one’s brain
social experience

13. interpersonal communication
one to one or a few
each functions as a sender-receiver
verbal and nonverbal symbols
channels: all senses
immediate feedback

14. small-group communication
each has a chance to interact with all
more complicated, more chance for confusion
usually to solve a problem
messages more structured
channels: all senses
immediate feedback

15. institutional/organizational communication
e.g. political system or business firm
complicated and indirect
delayed feedback
messages structured
formal and informal channels
need for technical devices

16. mass communication
delivering information, ideas, and attitudes to a sizable, diversified audience through use of media designed for that purpose
professional communicator
mass audience
highly structured message
delayed feedback

18. barriers to effective communication
selective attention, distortion, and recall
channel noises
psychological noise
language noise
fields of experience
value judgements
mis-matching
selectivity

19. barriers to effective communication
status differences
time constraints
overload

20. verbal communication
symbol – stands for the object or concept that it names
denotative meaning – dictionary definition
connotative meaning – feelings or associations one has about a word
meanings are determined by people, not by words

21. language environment
people
their purpose
the rules
the actual talk

22. language
ritual
appropriate
specialization

23. role and verbal image
style – result of the way we select and arrange words and sentences
verbal style – connected with the role
instrumental vs expressive language

24. improving verbal communication
what do you want to say
how do you want to say it
to whom are you talking
metatalk

25. metatalk the meaning exists on three levels:
what the speaker is saying
what the speaker intends to say
what the listener thinks speaker is saying

26. metatalk
how are you / how do you do

27. true meaning
hello; does not have a meaning – tell me, how have you really been

28. metatalk
call me

29. true meaning
don’t bother me now; I would accept if you asked me out; I can’t discuss this here; don’t go so fast

30. metatalk
I’ll call you

31. true meaning
let’s start something; don’t call me

32. let’s have lunch

33. social acquaintances: if you have nothing to do and I have nothing to do – let’s get together; business: if you have sth useful to say to me I’ll listen

34. let’s have dinner

35. social: let’s advance this friendship; business: let’s turn this into a friendship

36. metatalk
we must get together

37. I like you but I’m too busy now to take on more friendship

38. I can’t make the time to see you

39. we really must see more often

40. we must do this more often

41. true meaning
I can’t make the time to see you

42. we must do this more often

43. this was surprisingly enjoyable, but it still going to happen infrequently

44. I only say what I really mean

45. I’m about to insult you

46. nonverbal communication
any information communicate without using words
little or no control
involves several related messages
need to know a person

47. verbal and nonverbal differences

48. functions of nonverbal communication
to complement a verbal message
to regulate verbal communication
to substitute for verbal message
to accent what sb’s saying

49. principles of nonverbal communication
is culturally determined
may conflict with verbal messages
is largely unconscious
is important in communicating feelings and attitudes

50. types of nonverbal communication
paralanguage
body movement
body type
attractiveness
body adornment
space and distance
touch
time

51. paralanguage – the use of voice
rate (speed) – varying is important
pitch (highness or lowness) – middle in pitch is the best
volume – change good for attention
vocal fillers

52. body movements emblems illustrators regulators display of feelings
adaptors

53. body
body type
attractiveness
body adornment

54. space and distance - proxemics
intimate distance
personal distance
social distance
public distance

55. touch and time
cultural differences

56. inter-cultural communication - barriers
ethnocentrism
prejudice
stereotypes
uncertainty
wrong interpretation of non-verbal communication
language

57. types of cultures - Geert Hofstede
four dimensions of culture:
distance towards authorities: small vs huge
collectivism vs individualism: collective vs individualistic
musculine vs feminine: male vs female
avoiding uncertainty: open vs close

59. power vs distance
the degree to which the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally
fundamental issue here: how a society handles inequalities among people
people in societies exhibiting a large degree of power distance accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification
in societies with low power distance, people strive to equalise the distribution of power and demand justification for inequalities of power

60. individualism vs collectivism
individualism - a preference for a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of themselves and their immediate families only
collectivism - a preference for a tightly-knit framework in society in which individuals can expect their relatives or members of a particular in-group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty
a society's position on this dimension is reflected in whether people’s self-image is defined in terms of “I” or “we.”

61. masculinity vs femininity
masculinity - a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material reward for success; society at large is more competitive
femininity - a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life; society at large is more consensus-oriented

62. uncertainty vs avoidance
expresses the degree to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity
fundamental issue: how a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: should we try to control the future or just let it happen?
countries exhibiting strong UAI maintain rigid codes of belief and behaviour and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviour and ideas
weak UAI societies maintain a more relaxed attitude in which practice counts more than principles

63. long/short time orientation
can be interpreted as dealing with society’s search for virtue
societies with a short-term orientation: a strong concern with establishing the absolute Truth; are normative in their thinking, exhibit great respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save for the future, and a focus on achieving quick results
societies with a long-term orientation: belief that truth depends very much on situation, context and time; show an ability to adapt traditions to changed conditions, a strong propensity to save and invest, thriftiness, and perseverance in achieving results

64. indulgence vs restraint
indulgence - a society that allows relatively free gratification of basic and natural human drives related to enjoying life and having fun
restraint - a society that suppresses gratification of needs and regulates it by means of strict social norms

65. lower vs higher context cultures (E. Hall)
a culture's tendency to use high context messages over low context messages in routine communication
a high context culture: many things are left unsaid, letting the culture explain; words and word choice become very important in higher context communication, since a few words can communicate a complex message very effectively to an in-group (but less effectively outside that group)
a lower context culture: the communicator needs to be much more explicit and the value of a single word is less important

66. lower vs higher context cultures
lower context culture: Australian, English Canadian, English, Finnish, German, Irish, New Zealand, Scandinavia, Switzerland, United States (excluding the Southern United States)
higher context culture: African, Arab, Brazilian, Chinese, Filipinos, French, Canadian French, Greek, Hawaiian, Hungarian, Indian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin Americans, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Southern United States, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, Vitnamese, South Slavic

67. cross-cultural communication

68. task prepare to interview: applicants – cv and motivation letter
recuirement staff – selection of 5 applicants to the further interview

69. motivation letter introduce yourself
be clear about position you’re applying for
give good reasons for your application
give good arguments that you are the best choice
hand-written signiture
not longer than ¾ of a page

70. interview homework information about the organization
important attributes
first impression
body language

71. homework job description and general information position salary
department – in large or medium organization
location
description of the main resposibilities of the position

72. homework
objectives
key tasks
personal specification
social issues

73. information about the organization
whatever you can
have a „larger picture” of the history, aims, and corporate values

74. important attributes communication skills personal presentation
self-motivation

75. first impression up to 1 min personal presentation
confidence and assertivness
preparation
communication skills
enthusiasm for the position
punctuality
eye contact
impressive application/C.V.

76. body language greet the interviewer sit comfortably
keep an eye contact
pause to think
smile