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The speech was
within the time
range of 5–7
minutes.
The speech was
within 15
seconds of the
time range.
The speech was
more than 15
seconds over or
under the time
/5
appropriate or
professional
attire for the
speech.
wear appropriate
or professional
attire for the
speech.
Delivery
posture: feet
planted, no
fidgeting or
pacing;
appropriate
gestures.
solid speaking
posture; a bit of
fidgeting or
pacing, shifting
of weight, etc.
posture;
movements such
as fidgeting or
pacing distracted
from the speech.
to listen to and
clear at all times.
to and clear at
most times.
listen to or clear.
Speaker used a
very
conversational
Speaker used a
mostly
conversational
Speaker was tied
to notes and read
to audience.
/6
present/ cited
correctly.
present but not
cited correctly.
absent.
Second source
was present/ cited
correctly.
Second source
was present but
not cited
correctly.
Second source
was absent.
/3
Third source was
Third source was
Third source was
/3
52
present/ cited
correctly.
present but not
cited correctly.
absent.
Transition
statements were
smooth and
apparent between
each of the main
Transition
statements were
present but not
between all
sections and/or
Transition
statements were
nearly
nonexistent;
speech was
/3
tied nicely to the
conclusion.
53
© 2018 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
GROUP SPEECH (continued)
Best Good Needs Work Comments Score
Group Grade—Conclusion
“Clincher” was
present, tied in,
and forceful.
“Clincher” was
present but not
connected to the
speech.
“Clincher” was
missing or
weak (for
example, “That’s
it”).
/3
Group Grade—Other
12–16 minutes
(group of 4) or
15–20 minutes
(group of 5).
time range.
under the time
range.
Group used a
visual aid to
contribute to and
Group had a
visual aid that
contributed
Group did not
use the visual
aid to support
/4
everyone in the
room at least 80
percent of the
time.
people in the
room at least 60
percent of the
time.
60 percent of the
time.
54
The speaker
maintained a solid
speaking posture:
The speaker
mostly
maintained a
The speaker did
not maintain a
solid speaking
/6
were excellent
throughout the
speech; speaker
were OK
throughout the
speech; speaker
were poor
throughout the
speech; speaker
appropriate
manner.
was mostly
acceptable for a
public speech.
professional/
appropriate
clothing.
TOTAL SPEECH POINTS: /75
AVERAGE POINTS FROM GROUP MEMBERS’ EVALUATIONS: /25
Comments:
55
© 2018 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
Communication: Essential Human Behavior
CHAPTER OUTCOMES
• Define the communication process
• Describe the functions of communication
• Assess the quality or value of communication by examining its six characteristics
• Define what communication scholars consider to be competent communication
• Describe the visual representations, or models, of communication
• Describe why communication is vital to everyone
LECTURE NOTES
• Communication is the process by which individuals use symbols, signs, and behaviors to
exchange information.
○ Communication helps us satisfy our human needs.
− All communication “works” (or does not work) within the context of relationships—the
interconnections between two or more people.
− Relationships also involve interdependence, meaning that what we do affects others and
what others do affects us.
○ Influencing Others
− Communication requires a shared code, a set of symbols that are joined to create a
meaningful message.
−
Encoding
is the process of mentally constructing a message for production.
− Decoding is the process of receiving a message by interpreting and assigning meaning
○ Assessing Communicative Value requires assessing the quality of your communication as it
relates to the six communication characteristics.
• Communicating Competently examines the different aspects of competent, or effective and
appropriate for a given situation, communication.
○ Competent Communication Is Process Oriented
− Effective behavior requires prioritizing goals that are appropriate to each situation.
○ Competent Communication Involves Communication Skills, or behavioral abilities based
on social understandings that are used to achieve specific goals.
○ Competent Communication Involves Using Technology that may assist communicators in
meeting certain goals but may be inappropriate when used in some situations.
is an example of this model
○ The Competent Communication Model
− A transactional process where communication takes place between interdependent parties
simultaneously encoding and decoding within a relational context, a situational context,
and a cultural context.
57
© 2018 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
− The communicators send and receive messages based on cognitions (thoughts,
awareness, and understanding) that in turn influence behavior (observable
communication). Successful communicators have a high degree of cognitive complexity,
or the ability to consider multiple scenarios, theories, and interpretations.
− The relational context refers to the sum of the shared experiences of the individuals
involved in the relationship and helps define what is appropriate in specific circumstances.
It also includes goals and expectations for the relationship.
− The situational context includes the social environment, physical place, specific
situation, and details related to the time and place.
− The cultural context refers to culture as the backdrop for the other communication
contexts; cultural identity influences our communication choices and is reinforced by
messages from those in similar cultures. A successful communicator needs to determine
what is appropriate and what is not in a variety of cultures and situations.
• The Study of Communication explores how communication skills, concepts, and theories
groups and organizations (Part 3 of the text).
○ Public Speaking presents strategies on how to become a competent public speaker (Part 4 of
the text).
○ Mass Communication explores how the professional communicators in the mass media
industries work hard to get and keep our attention, and the power audiences have to reject
1. How does communication function in your everyday life? Where do you see yourself
having strengths in communication? Weaknesses?
• You may find that your students are hesitant to share about a topic as personal as their
communication strengths and weaknesses so early in the semester. Therefore, you might want
thinking about the course concepts, so have some secondary questions ready to go.
2. Looking at the competent communicator model, how do the different layers of context
work on the communication we have in the classroom?
3. What constitutes effective and appropriate communication in the classroom? How might
communication need to change to be appropriate and effective when you’re spending time
with friends or family? What if you’re communicating online?
• If your students seem hesitant, you might want to open up with a funny communication story
don’t know) in response to an essay question on an exam?
4. Take a look at the table The Broad Field of Communication Research Today (Table 1.2).
What types of careers do you think will be open to you if you choose to major in
communication or specialize in one of these areas?
• This is a particularly useful discussion to have with students if your department uses the
your own friends and colleagues from college and graduate school. Where are they now?
5. How does communication work in your relationships? Where do you think the most issues
come up? Why do you think they come up?
• The hardest thing here is going to be reining in the conversation. Be ready to guide students
continually back to the communication concepts they have learned in this chapter. How do
these concepts come into play in relationships?
© 2018 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
PERSONAL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
1. Identify Your Communication Goals
Ask students to consider a communication goal that they hope to accomplish in the near
future. How will they accomplish it? Have them consider the specific steps that they will need
2. Why Are You Here?
On the first day of class, assign students the question about their goals and motivations for
taking this course (see And You? on p. 00. Have students bring their responses to class and turn
3. Redo the Email
Have students rewrite the email given in the Wired for Communication box on p. 00. Ask them
1. GOAL Puzzles
2. Adjustable blindfold, such as a scarf or bandana
4. Document camera
Directions:
1. Break students into teams of four to five people; each team should have the same
3. The student who is first in line should begin directing the blindfolded student on how to
4. The team with the most pieces in the right places (or with the fastest time correctly
putting the puzzle together) wins.
© 2018 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
Debriefing: Direct the students to discover how challenging achieving goals through
communication can be. Even when we think our communication is very clear, other factors,
such as noise, can interfere in such a way as to make it very difficult for us to achieve our
communication goals.
2. Bag Me
Goals: To demonstrate the process of encoding and decoding in communication; to demonstrate
1. Have students place the bags containing their objects in one area of the room.
3. Have students take the object out of the bag and write a short description about the kind of
4. Ask students to read their descriptions out loud, and then ask the students who own the
objects to reveal themselves. Ask the owners if they agree with the descriptions given by
their peers. Repeat until time is up and have students return the objects to their rightful
owners.
did. How might those assumptions relate to the different contexts pointed out in the chapter?
3. Modeling Communication Through Paper Wars
Goals: To illustrate the different models of communication; to reinforce the idea of
1. Piece of full-size scrap paper for each student
1. Have students crumple their pieces of paper into balls. Tell them to hang onto them for the
present. Do the same for your pieces of paper.
2. As you explain the model of linear communication, throw your paper balls to various
students in the room and ask the students to catch the balls. If they fail to catch one of
3. Take one of your paper balls and play a game of “catch” with a student in the front row. Ask
4. Finally, ask students how communication in the classroom differs from what you have seen
before. If none of their answers point this out, prod students, asking them if they ever
5. At this point, ask students to pick up their paper balls. If you preface with “Ready? One . . .
6. Use this opportunity to talk about how competent communication happens as described in
4. Drawing Your Model
2. Permanent marker for each group
1. Break students up into groups of three to four.
2. Have each group, without opening their texts, draw what they think is a model of two
4. Pull out some of the models of communication that the students have drawn. For those that
most resemble the linear model, point out the various parts that exemplify the linear model,
such as sender and receiver, one-way communication, and noise. For those that most
5. How Should We Talk?
© 2018 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
Materials: Real Communication, 3e
Directions:
1. If you plan to have your students work in a set group this semester, encourage them to meet
2. Have the groups share their codes with the rest of the class. Ask them to share how their
code differs from the official one. Do they think this credo for ethical communication
might help their group? Why or why not?
6. Are You Like Me?
1. Write out the characteristics and behaviors from Table 1.1, listed on p. 00 of the text, on
2. Hand these cards out randomly to students.
3. Have students wear the neck cards and walk around the classroom, finding the
characteristic or behavior on another person’s card that fits with the card they are
they really pay attention to how communication becomes a transaction? Did students find
themselves pairing up with the “wrong people”? Explain to them that this shows that these
7. Channel Searching
Goal: To discover a number of different channels that communicators might use when
communicating
63
8. No Man Is an Island
Goal: To answer the question, why do we need human communication?
1. What did the Tom Hanks character do when he had no one to talk to?
3. Why should we study human communication, based on what you saw in Cast Away?
9. Connecting with Jimmy Fallon
Goal: Discover how Fallon plays familiar games with celebrity guests to connect with them in
a nonthreatening way.
Time Required: Twenty minutes
Directions: Pick a video of Jimmy Fallon playing games with guests.
Debriefing: Ask students how Fallon is connecting with his guests. What makes Fallon a competent
communicator?
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Why, in your opinion, is the study of communication often considered common sense?
2. What are the six characteristics of communication?
3. What do the authors of Real Communication mean when they say communication is
“culturally bound”?
4. Explain the transactional model.
5. What are the differences between the relational context and the situational context? Define
each.
6. What is cultural identity?
7. Why do communicators need to be flexible?
8. Describe an effective communicator.
MEDIA
American Hustle (Sony/Columbia, 2013)
and control. Irving Rosenfeld is a con man recruited by an FBI agent, Richard “Richie”
DiMaso, to participate in a sting operation targeting corrupt congressmen. Irving tries to
balance interdependent relationships with his high-strung wife, Rosalyn, and his mistress,
Sydney. All of these dynamics are complicated by dishonesty and hidden agendas. Ask
the students to discuss the role that ethics play in communication.
The Break-Up (Universal Pictures, 2006)
throughout the film. What do their efforts illustrate about control?
65
© 2018 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (20th Century Fox, 2011)
This movie is a prequel to the Planet of the Apes that shows how experiments with human
genetics gave rise to the apes who became involved in a war for supremacy. Have students
examine the role that communication plays in the rise of the apes and their formation of a
society.
Ronald Reagan: The Great Speeches (The Nostalgia Company, 2004)
Show at least one speech being delivered by Ronald Reagan and have students discuss why
he was considered the “Great Communicator.”
Sideways (Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2004)
Two old friends spend a week before a wedding touring the wine country of Santa
Barbara, California. Ask students to examine the ways in which they communicate as
friends, considering the situational context and their relational history. Students can also
compare the friends’ communication with each other with their behavior with the women
in their lives.
HANDOUTS
Word Search
Use this handout to complete the classroom activity “Channel Searching.”
66
H M Y F R E G A U G N A L
N
GI S
O A T A U R B D S F X K H V F I W
W R L C W T I T M C E Z A G A K R
X C J I S A C E V I V H N L C Q X
Y Y T A O L S X O C L A D T E X E
F L D L A K M T I Z Z N S T B Q G
L L X E Q I O M P Z K D I E O Q A
Y T C X Z N K E C I T W G L O
N
U
P E I P L G E S I R Q R N E K Q G
O E A R L D S S H K M I A G U I
N
I Z H E F S I A D Z D T L R B
N
A
F P H S P L G G V V X I S A D B L
A F E S L R N I S R Q N C P Y H Y
D K M I U E A N I T Y G E H W S D
Z Y A O W E L G K Z S D U Z P X O P
T I N X U S T E L E P H O N E B L G L
S U C H A T B Y U M E A L S
