Models of

communication
Models of communication are conceptual models used to explain the
human communication process.
What is a Model
A model is widely used to depict any idea, thought or a concept in
a more simpler way through diagrams, pictorial representations etc.
Models go a long way in making the understanding of any concept
easy and clear. Through a model one can easily understand a
process and draw conclusions from it. In simpler words a model
makes the learning simple.
Aristotle Model of Communication
Aristotle was the first to take an initiative and design the communication model.
Let us first go through a simple situation.
• In a political meeting, the prospective leader delivers speech to the audience
urging for more votes from the constituency. He tries to convince the crowd in
the best possible way he can so that he emerges as a winner. What is he
actually doing ?
• He is delivering his speech in a manner that the listeners would get convinced
and cast their votes only in his favour, or in other words respond in the same
manner the speaker wanted to. Here the leader or the speaker or the sender is
the centre of attraction and the crowd simply the passive listeners.
The example actually explains the Aristotle model of communication.
• According to this model, the speaker plays a key role in
communication. He is the one who takes complete charge of the
communication. The sender first prepares a content which he does by
carefully putting his thoughts in words with an objective of influencing
the listeners or the recipients, who would then respond in the
sender’s desired way. No points in guessing that the content has to be
very very impressive in this model for the audience or the receivers to
get convinced. The model says that the speaker communicates in
such a way that the listeners get influenced and respond accordingly.
• The speaker must be very careful about his
selection of words and content in this model of
communication.
• He should understand his target audience and
then prepare his speech.
• Making eye contact with the second party is
again a must to create an impact among the
listeners. 
The Aristotle model of communication is the widely accepted and
the most common model of communication where the sender
sends the information or a message to the receivers to influence
them and make them respond and act accordingly. Aristotle
model of communication is the golden rule to excel in public
speaking, seminars, lectures where the sender makes his point
clear by designing an impressive content, passing on the message
to the second part and they simply respond accordingly. Here the
sender is the active member and the receiver is passive one.
4. Berlo’s Model of Communication
While the Aristotle model of communication puts the speaker in the central
position and suggests that the speaker is the one who drives the entire
communication, the Berlo’s model of communication takes into account the
emotional aspect of the message. Berlo’s model of communication operates
on the SMCR model.
• In the SMCR model
• S - Stands for Source
• M - Message
• C - Channel
• R - Receiver
S - Source
The source in other words also called the sender is the one from whom the thought
originates. He is the one who transfers the information to the receiver after carefully putting
his thoughts into words.
How does the source or the sender transfer his information to the recipient ?
It is done with the help of communication skills, Attitude, Knowledge, Social System and
Culture.
• Communication Skills
An individual must possess excellent communication skills to make his communication
effective and create an impact among the listeners. The speaker must know where to take
pauses, where to repeat the sentences, how to speak a particular sentence, how to
pronounce a word and so on. The speaker must not go on and on. He should also make a
point to cross check with the recipients and listen to their queries as well. An individual must
take care of his accent while communicating. A bad accent leads to a boring conversation.
• Attitude
§It is rightly said that if one has the right attitude, the whole world
is at his feet. There is actually no stopping for the person if he
has the right attitude. A person might be a very good speaker but
if he doesn’t have the right attitude, he would never emerge as a
winner. The sender must have the right attitude to create a long
lasting impression on the listeners. An individual must be an
MBA from a reputed institute, but he would be lost in the crowd
without the right attitude.
• Knowledge

Here knowledge is not related to the educational qualification of

the speaker or the number of degrees he has in his portfolio.
Knowledge is actually the clarity of the information which the
speaker wants to convey to the second party. One must be
thorough in what he is speaking with complete in-depth
knowledge of the subject. Remember questions can pop up
anytime and you have to be ready with your answers. You need to
be totally familiar with what you are speaking. Before delivering
any speech, read as much you can and prepare the subject
completely without ignoring even the smallest detail.
§ Social System
Imagine a politician delivering a speech where he proposes to construct a
temple in a Muslim dominated area. What would be the reaction of the
listeners ? They would obviously be not interested. Was there any problem in
the communication skills of the leader or he didn’t have the right attitude ?
The displeasure of the listeners was simply because the speaker ignored the
social set up of the place where he was communicating. He forgot the
sentiments, cultural beliefs, religious feelings of the second party. Had it been
a Hindu dominated society, his speech would have been very impressive.
§ Culture
Culture refers to the cultural background of the community or the listeners
where the speaker is communicating or delivering his speech.
M - Message
When an individual converts his thoughts into words, a message is created. The process is also called as
Encoding.
Any message further comprises of the following elements:
• `Content

One cannot show his grey matter to others to let him know what he is thinking. A thought
has to be put into words and content has to be prepared. Content is actually the matter or
the script of the conversation. It is in simpler words, the backbone of any communication.
§Ted to Jenny -“I am really exhausted today, let’s plan for the movie tomorrow evening”.
§Whatever Ted has communicated with Jenny is actually the content of the message. It is
very important for the speaker to carefully choose the words and take good care of the
content of the speech. The content has to be sensible, accurate, crisp, related to the
thought to hit the listeners bang on and create an immediate impact.
• Element
It has been observed that speech alone cannot bring a
difference in the communication. Keep on constantly
speaking and the listeners will definitely lose interest after
some time. The speech must be coupled with lots of hand
movements, gestures, postures, facial expressions, body
movements to capture the attention of the listeners and
make the speech impressive. Hand movements, gestures,
postures, facial expressions, body movements, gestures all
come under the elements of the message.
• Treatment
§ Treatment is actually the way one treats his message and is conveys to the
listeners. One must understand the importance of the message and must
know how to handle it. If a boss wants to fire any of his employees, he has to
be authoritative and can’t express his message in a casual way. This is referred
to as the treatment of the message. One must understand how to present his
message so that the message is conveyed in the most accurate form.
• Structure
§ A message cannot be expressed in one go. It has to be properly structured in
order to convey the message in the most desired form.
• Code
Enter a wrong code and the locks will never open. Enter a
wrong password, you will not be able to open your email
account. In the same way the code has to be correct in the
communication. Your body movements, your language,
your expressions, your gestures are actually the codes of
the message and have to be accurate otherwise the
message gets distorted and the recipient will never be able
to decode the correct information.
C - Channel
• Channel - Channel actually refers to the medium how the information flows from the
sender to the receiver.
• How does one know what the other person is speaking ? - Through Hearing.
• How does one know whether the pasta he has ordered is made in white sauce or
not ? - Through Tasting.
• How does one know that there is a diversion ahead or it’s a no parking zone? -
Through Seeing.
• How will an individual come to know that the food is fresh or stale ? How do we find
out the fragrance of a perfume ? - Through Smelling.
• How will you find out whether the milk is hot or not ? - Through Touching.
• All the five senses are the channels which help human beings to communicate with
each other.
R - Receiver
• When the message reaches the receiver, he tries to understand what the listener
actually wants to convey and then responds accordingly. This is also called as
decoding.
• The receiver should be on the same platform as the speaker for smooth flow of
information and better understanding of the message. He should possess good
communication skills to understand what the speaker is trying to convey. He should
have the right attitude to understand the message in a positive way. His knowledge
should also be at par with the listener and must know about the subject. He should
also be from the same social and cultural background just like the speaker.
• There are several loopholes in the Berlo’s model of communication. According to the
berlo’s model of communication, the speaker and the listener must be on a common
ground for smooth conversion which is sometimes not practical in the real scenario.
Shannon and Weaver Model of Communication

Shannon and Weaver model is the most popular

model of communication and is widely accepted all
over the world.
Let us first go through the following example to understand the model better.
• Peter is working as Vice president - Marketing with a reputed multinational
firm. He is currently heading Mike who in turn is taking care of a small team.
Peter wanted Mike to prepare an exhaustive report on marketing strategies
which can be employed to achieve the goals of the organization. He also
wanted a detailed study on the competitor’s activity by end of the day. While
he was speaking, the company peon interrupted to take the lunch order.
Finally when Mike got the complete information, he in turn delegated the
responsibility to his team members. He tried his level best to convey what
Peter actually expected his team to prepare. At the end of the day, the team
did prepare the report and submitted to Peter but there were few errors
which they rectified later on.
Let us now understand the example in a more detailed away.
• Who is Peter ?
Peter is actually the person who thought of preparing the detailed
report for better output of the organization. He is actually the one
from whom the thought came. It was Peter’s brain who came up with
this idea of preparing marketing strategies for the organization.
Thus Peter is actually the source of information.
Information Source (Thought / message)

↓
Transmitter (Brain to mouth) [Along with noise and distractions-external barriers]
↓
Signal
↓
Recipient (Receives the signal)
↓
Final Destination (Finally gets the message)
Lasswell's model of communication
Lasswell's model of communication (also known as Lasswell's
communication model) describes an act of communication by defining
who said it, what was said, in what channel it was said, to whom it was
said, and with what effect it was said. It is regarded by many 
communication and public relations scholars as "one of the earliest and
most influential communication models.  The model was developed by
American political scientist and communication theorist Harold Lasswell
 in 1948 while he was a professor at Yale Law School.[2] In his 1948
article "The Structure and Function of Communication in Society",
Lasswell wrote:
[A] convenient way to describe an act of communication
is to answer the following questions:
• Who
• Says What
• In Which Channel
• To Whom
• With What Effect?
This verbal communication model has been referred to as "a linear and Uni-directional process", "a
one-way process", an "action model", a media theory "classic", "widely used segmentation of the
communication process", and "a simple, linear, and potentially hypodermic conceptualization of
communication."
The model organizes the "scientific study of the process of communication". The main focus of the
model is broken down by each element of communication: "'who' refers to the communicator who
formulates the message; 'what' is the content of message; 'channel' indicates the medium of
transmission; 'whom' describes either an individual recipient or the audience of mass communication;
'effect' is the outcome of the message..." The movement of the message travels from the communicator
to the audience. Although this model represents a one-way flow of communication, the "effect" also
refers to feedback in public relations. The model can be used in pedagogical settings to teach students
major elements of a communication process and as a starting point for developing hypotheses.
Lasswell stated that the "Who" referred to "control analysis", the "Says What" referred to "
content analysis", the "In Which Channel" referred to "media analysis", the "To Whom" referred to "
audience analysis", and the "With What Effect" referred to "effect analysis".
Lasswell stated that the "Who" referred to "control analysis", the "Says What"
referred to "content analysis", the "In Which Channel" referred to "media
analysis", the "To Whom" referred to "audience analysis", and the "With What
Effect" referred to "effect analysis".
The seven Cs of
Communication
How often you communicate with people during your
day? How clear is your communication? This article,
published on Mind Tools, shares the seven Cs of
communication to ensure you’re communicating
in the most clear and effective way possible
You write emails, facilitate meetings, participate in conference calls, create reports,
devise presentations, debate with your colleagues…the list goes on.
We can spend almost our entire day communicating. So, how can we provide a
huge boost to our productivity? We can make sure that we communicate in the
clearest, most effective way possible.
This is why the seven Cs of communication provide a checklist for making sure
that your meeting, emails, conference calls, reports, and presentations are well
constructed and clear – so your audience gets your message.
According to the seven Cs, communication needs to be: clear, concise, concrete,
correct, coherent, complete and courteous.
In this article, we look at each of the 7 Cs of Communication, and we’ll illustrate
each element with both good and bad examples.
1. Clear
When writing or speaking to someone, be clear about your goal or
message. What is your purpose in communicating with this person? If
you’re not sure, then your audience won’t be sure either.
To be clear, try to minimize the number of ideas in each sentence.
Make sure that it’s easy for your reader to understand your meaning.
People shouldn’t have to “read between the lines” and make
assumptions on their own to understand what you’re trying to say.
Information and actions required, must be clear so the reader has the
information they need to take action.
2. Concise
When you’re concise in your communication, you stick to the point and keep it
brief. Your audience doesn’t want to read six sentences when you could
communicate your message in three.
• Are there any adjectives or “filler words” that you can delete? You can often
eliminate words like “for instance,” “you see,” “definitely,” “kind of,”
“literally,” “basically,” or “I mean.”
• Are there any unnecessary sentences?
• Have you repeated the point several times, in different ways?
3. Concrete
When your message is concrete, then your audience has a clear picture of what you’re
telling them. There are details (but not too many!) and vivid facts, and there’s laser-like
focus. Your message is solid.
4. Correct
• When your communication is correct, it fits your audience. And correct
communication is also error-free communication.
• Do the technical terms you use fit your audience’s level of education or knowledge?
• Have you checked your writing for grammatical errors? Remember, spell checkers
won’t catch everything.
• Are all names and titles spelled correctly?
5. Coherent
When your communication is coherent, it’s logical. All points are connected and
relevant to the main topic, and the tone and flow of the text is consistent.
6. Complete
In a complete message, the audience has everything they need to be informed
and, if applicable, take action.
• Does your message include a “call to action,” so that your audience clearly
knows what you want them to do?
• Have you included all relevant information – contact names, dates, times,
locations, and so on?
7. Courteous
• Courteous communication is friendly, open, and honest. There are no hidden
insults or passive-aggressive tones. You keep your reader’s viewpoint in mind,
and you’re empathetic to their needs.
Note:
There are a few variations of the 7 Cs of Communication:
• Credible – Does your message improve or highlight your credibility? This is
especially important when communicating with an audience that doesn’t know
much about you.
• Creative – Does your message communicate creatively? Creative communication
helps keep your audience engaged.
General principles of Effective Communication
1. Know your purpose in communicating. Are you communicating basically
to inform, to entertain, or to persuade? While you may have more than one
purpose, there is still a more dominant objective or reason why you
communicate.
2. Know your audience. In both speaking and writing, you should know your
audience as it will dictate the speaking or writing style you are going to
employ.
3. Know your Topic. You communicate essentially because you
want to share something. In speaking situations, speakers are
invited because they have something to share. This has also
applies to writing. You write because you wish that other people
learn something from you. You may then utilize several or
multiple communication techniques to easily catch the emotion
of the audience.
4. Adjust your Speech or writing to the content of the situation.
The environment in which your speech or writing is to be
delivered determines the kind of language you will use.

5. Work on the Feedback given you. Once you receive comments

from the listeners / readers, work on them. Take kindly to
criticism. In the long run, constructive criticisms will prove
beneficial to you as you learn to address them.
Principles of Effective Oral Communication
1. Be Clear with your Purpose
2. Be complete with the message you deliver
3. Be concise
4. Be natural with your delivery
5. Be specific and timely with your feedback
Assignment
Comprehension Questions:
Check your understanding of the input by answering the following questions:

1. What are the communications models? Why do you think they were introduced?
2. How does one model differ from the others?
3. If you were to choose a conceptual model for communication, what would you prefer
and why? How can you by guided by any of these models when you communicate?
4. How do the principle of effective communication differ from those of effective
written communication? Do they have similarities at all?
5. How come one observe ethics in communication?
6. Why is it important to have a code of conduct or a code of ethics?
Task 1
Effective Oral Communication
View on You Tube the speech of President Rodrigo Duterte at Philippine
China Trade and Investment Forum Beijing, China on October 16, 2016.
Do you think the five principles of effective oral communication were
followed? Which ones were followed? Which ones were not? Why or
why not?
What advice would you give to make the speaker more effective? Write
your thoughts.
Task 2
Read the translated English version in 2015 President Noynoy Aquino’s
speech on the Mamasapano speech incident then write your reaction to it.
Do you think the speech followed the principles of effective written
communication? Why or why not? What advice can you suggest?
Task 3.
Form yourselves into groups of five members. Role-play a situation in
the workplace where ethical communication is put into question. Make
sure that someone explains the situation first before the group makes the
presentation. You may plan or draft your role-play.
Task 4

The code of ethics in the workplace should be carefully

thought out since it will guide the employees in
assessing what is right and wrong for the business. If you
were to put up your own business, what values would
you incorporate in your company’s code of ethics?
Synthesis
1. The communication models explain how the communication process works. Some of
the well-known conceptual models are Aristotle, Shannon-Weaver, Laswell and
Berlo’s models.
2. For oral communication to be effective, there is a need to be clear with the purpose,
complete and concise with the message, natural with the delivery, and specific an
timely with the feedback.
3. For written communication to be effective, the 7 C’s, namely: clarity, conciseness,
concreteness, correctness, coherence, completeness, and courtesy should be observed.
4. A code of ethics is important for any organization. Without it, confusion,
misunderstandings, and conflicts arise within the structure since there are no standards
to be observed.