Page 48 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

Chapter 1 Practical Speaking 15

ence are sharing messages right back. Generally this feedback is nonverbal
feedback
in nature and includes such things as eye contact, facial expressions, and body
Audience member re-
orientation. In some situations, these audience-initiated messages may be ver-
sponses, both verbal and
bal, as is the case when members of parliament in the United Kingdom vocalize nonverbal, to a speaker.
their approval or disapproval of what the prime minister shares with them. In
either case, the audience is not passive during a public speech, and the speaker
should note these messages and adapt to them.
The sheer number of people in an audience also affects the overall speech
transaction. It’s one thing to speak with 25 other students in a traditional college
classroom. It’s quite another to speak to an assembly of the entire graduating
class at commencement as people shift restlessly in their seats. Thus, you can
no more afford to ignore the size of your audience than you can afford to ignore
their feedback, the environment in which the transaction takes place, or the pur-
pose for which you have gathered.

Messages: Content and Relational Components

The message is the meaning produced by the speaker and the audience mem-
message
bers. In the transactional system modeled here, the message and the medium
The meaning produced
through which it travels are intentionally blurred. This is because the two are
by communicators.
inter dependent—not independent. What we would like to say to our audience is
signifi cantly affected by the manner in which we say it, and the way we convey content (of
the message is affected by what we want to say. This reciprocal process has a messages)
tremendous impact on how our message is perceived by our audience. The essential meaning
All messages are composed of two parts. The fi rst part of the message is its of what a speaker wants
content, the essential meaning, the gist or substance, of what a speaker wants to convey.
to convey. For example, you might wish to convey your affection for another
relational component
with the three words “I love you.” The second part of a message, called its rela-
(of messages)
tional component, involves the combined impact of the verbal and nonverbal
The combined impact of
parts of that message as it is conveyed. Consider how you might use your voice,
the verbal and nonverbal
face, and eyes to alter the impact of the words “I love you.” You could make these
components of a mes-
three words an expression of sincere endearment, a plea, or even a statement of sage as it is conveyed.
wanton desire.
Meaning is derived from both the content and the relational parts of a mes- symbol
sage. Moreover, neither part is more important than the other in its contribution Something that stands
to meaning. What you say and how you say it, in other words, are roughly equal for or suggests some-
in this regard. thing else by reason
of relationship or
association.
Constructing and Interpreting Symbols
encoding
When we try to convey our thinking to other people, there is no way to directly The process by which
communicate our ideas. Our thoughts must be converted into words and ges- ideas are translated into
tures whose meaning can be interpreted by those receiving the message. These a code that can be un-
words and gestures are really symbols, things that stand for or suggest other derstood by the receiver.
things by reason of relationship or association. This process of converting our
decoding
thoughts and ideas into meaningful symbols is called encoding. These sym-
The process by which
bols are then interpreted when received by audience members, a process known
a code is translated back
as decoding. This is simpler said than done. Whether an audience decodes a
into ideas.