Writing 2111F/G Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Communication Theory, Business Communication, Interpersonal Communication

• School: Western University
• Department: Writing
• Course: Writing 2111F/G
• Professor: Simonsen

Document Summary

Communication helps organizations and the people in them to achieve their goals the ability to write an speak well becomes increasingly important as you rise up an organization. Good business writing meets five basic criteria clear, complete, correct, concise and courteous. Communication theory attempts to explain what happens we communicate. Semantics is the study of the way our behaviour is influenced by words and symbols. Communication theory and semantics both show why and where communication can break down and what we can do to communicate more effectively. Communication is a socio-cultural process negotiating differences of power and cultural competency within the broader environment (legal, ethical, ecological, political and economic) in building credibility, goodwill and trust that sustains business relationships. Communication theory helps us understand where and why miscommunications occur at each stage from perceiving to decoding and interpreting to choosing/selecting, encoding and feedback. Each person in the process is responsible for feedback that clarified and conforms to understanding.