Components of the communication model

Participants:  people in the communication exchange.

Intent:  intended meaning which the sender wishes to share with the other.

Encoding: process of giving the intent a symbolic equivalent; process of giving a visible or oral imprint to their intended meaning.

Action: intent is encoded into two types of action, verbal and nonverbal.

Filter: a matrix of family upbringing, culture, educational background, personality, self-concept and past experiences which shapes stimuli entering into the person’s world of awareness; serves a welcome function (guarding us from negative experiences); also serves an unwelcome function (blocking us from seeing new experiences as positive).

Decoding: process of deriving meaning from the symbolic action that was provided to the receiver; process of extracting meaning from what is heard and/or seen in the message.

Effect: the reaction of the receiver to information that was shared with them.

Noise: forces that interfere with the process of communication; found outside of the environment, inside the environment, inside each participant, inside the encoding/decoding processes & mechanisms.

Communication Environment/Context: physical, sociocultural, sociopolitical; is a permeable boundary, allowing noise and other influences into the communication exchange, allowing noise and impact of the communication exchange to go out into the environment.

Relational climate: the spirit of the interpersonal exchange; also referred to as classroom climate, organizational climate, relational tone, “vibes.”