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Unit 9: Entrepreneurship and Interpersonal Communication

Notes

Notes Successful interpersonal communication assumes that both the message senders
and the message receivers will interpret and understand the messages being sent
on a level of understood meanings and implications.

9.2.1 Communication Channels

Communication channels, the conceptualization of media that carry messages from sender to
receiver, take two distinct forms: direct and indirect. It can be one of them.

Direct Channels

Direct channels are obvious and easily recognized by the receiver. Both verbal and non-verbal
information is completely controlled by the sender. Verbal channels rely on words, as in
written or spoken communication. Non-verbal channels encompass facial expressions, controlled
body movements (police present hand gestures to control traffic), color (red signals ‘stop’,
green signals ‘go’), and sound (warning sirens).

Indirect Channels

Indirect channels are usually recognized subconsciously by the receiver, and are not always
under direct control of the sender. Body language, comprising most of the indirect channel,
may inadvertently reveal one’s true emotions, and thereby either unintentionally taint or
bolster the believability of any intended verbal message. Subconscious reception and interpretation
of these signals is often described with arbitrary terms like gut-feeling, hunch, or premonition.

9.2.2 Context
Context refers to the conditions that precede or surround the communication. It consists of
present or past events from which the meaning of the message is derived, though it may also,
in the case of written communications, depend upon the statements preceding and following
the quotation in question. Immediate surroundings may also color the perceived meaning of
words; normally safe discourse may easily become contextually ambiguous or offensive in a
restroom or shower hall. These influences do not constitute the message by themselves, but
rather these extraneous nuances subtly change the message’s effective meaning. Ultimately,
context includes the entire world, but usually refers to salient factors such as the following:
• Physical milieu: the season or weather, current physical location and environment

• Situational milieu: classroom, military conflict, supermarket checkout
• Cultural and linguistic backgrounds

• Developmental progress (maturity) or emotional state
• Complementary or contrasting roles: boss and employee; teacher and student; parent,
child, and spouse; friend or enemy; partner or competitor.

Task What is the main function of communication channels?

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