Page 96 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

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5

Models of Communication

After reading this chapter, you will be familiar with:
• Different models that provide visual explanation of the communication process
• Models that are best-suited to classroom teaching
• Techniques that improve your own communication
• Programmes that help develop effective communication

Models of coMMunication

There is a paradox about the term ‘communication’. It is obvious and obscure
at the same time. Its meaning seems to be obvious in contemporary usage but
very illusive when we try to capture its essence in a rigorous definition. In
order to understand the communication process we must use various devices
to structure our thinking. These devices are called communication models.
According to Devito (1978), communication models serve to organize
the various elements and processes of the communication act. No model
can organize all the data pertaining to communication but we can expect
reasonably good models to organize at least some of the data in a meaningful
and interesting way. These models aid in the discovery of new facts about
communication. Thus, they serve a heuristic function. These models help
to generate questions concerning communication that can be researched
further and hopefully studied and understood. These models enable us to
make predictions concerning communication, for example, to theorize what
will happen under certain conditions. Such knowledge can help fine-tune the
understanding and grasp of technical literature and matters involving ideas
and concepts. The models to a great extent can provide a means of measuring
the elements and processes involved in communication. Feedback is one
such element of considerable value to the communicator to enable him to
enhance the quality of his message.

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