Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Lecture Notes
Chapter 1: An Overview of Communication
Learning Objectives
1. Explain how communication is symbolic.
2. Explain how meaning is established.
3. Explain how communication is cultural.
4. Explain how communication is relational.
Chapter Outline
I. Introduction
A. Communication influences many areas of our life such as friendships and romantic
relationships, media, technology, cultures, personal and public influence, families,
health care, and the workplace.
B. Within this initial chapter, we will examine what communication entails.
II. Everyday Communication and the Relational Perspective
A. There are two primary features of communication:
i. Everyday communication:
a. Traditionally focused on the big or extraordinary moments in human
interactions.
ii. Relational perspective:
Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
a. Based on the belief that communication and relationships are interconnected.
B. Whatever the nature of communications, they are designed to enrich our lives.
III. What Is Communication?
A. Communication is the transactional use of symbols, influenced, guided, and
understood in the context of relationships.
i. However, this definition does not do justice to what communication really entails.
B. There have been many attempts at defining communication in order to do justice to
what it truly implies.
C. Communication is not just about exchanging messages.
i. This would explain why human interactions, on many occasions, might lead to
IV. Communication is Symbolic
A. All communication is characterized by the use of symbols.
B. Symbols: Arbitrary representations of ideas, objects, people, relationships, cultures,
genders, races, and so forth.
C. Symbols are of two types:
i. Verbal: Involves the use of languages.
ii. Nonverbal: Involves the use of all other symbols.
D. Signs and symbols, though often used interchangeably, have different connotations.
i. Signs: A consequence or an indicator of something specific, which cannot be
E. Symbols have no direct causal connection with the object they represent.
Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
i. They are arbitrarily selected.
V. Communication Requires Meaning
A. Symbols used in communication need to convey some meaning.
B. Symbolic meanings may undergo changes, depending on multiple contexts, the use of
other symbols and also the way symbols are sent.
E. Social Construction of Meaning
i. Meanings develop and become acceptable to use when groups of people use
particular symbols again and again, over time.
F. Meaning and Context
i. A single symbol or message can also have multiple meanings when used in
different contexts.
ii. Physical context refers to the actual location in which a symbol is used.
G. Verbal and Nonverbal Influence on Meaning
i. The accompanying verbal and nonverbal symbols will also affect meaning in both
relational as well as situational contexts.
H. Meaning and the Medium
i. The medium of communication, the means through which a message is
VI. Communication Is Cultural
Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
A. Cultural assumptions and knowledge influence communication.
VII. Communication Is Relational
A. Relationships and communications are intertwined.
B. Watzlawick, Beavin, and Jackson suggested that people related to each other
whenever they communicate.
VIII. Communication Involves Frames
A. Frames: Basic forms of knowledge that provide a definition of a scenario, either
because both people agree on the nature of the situation or because the cultural
assumptions built into the interaction and the previous relational context of talk give
them a clue.
B. Communication frames: A boundary around a conversation that pulls one’s
attention toward certain things and away from others.
C. Coordinating Interactions
i. Frames help people understand their roles in a conversation and what is expected
of them.
D. Assigning Meanings
i. Frames help us interpret the intended meaning of symbols used in a
IX. Communication Is Both Presentational and Representational
Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
A. No communication is ever neutral.
B. Through communication, people share their worldviews by selecting particular terms,
X. Communication Is a Transaction
A. Communication is always transactional.
B. To understand this transactional nature of communication, we must understand two
things first.
C. Communication as Action: The act of sending messages, whether or not they are
received.
i. It is not interesting, in itself.
ii. However, it can be developed by questioning whether someone must receive a
message for it to be called a communication.
D. Communication as Interaction: An exchange of information between two (or more)
individuals.
E. Communication as Transaction: The construction of shared meanings or
understandings between two (or more) individuals.
i. This is the most interesting way to view communication.