Speech Test 1 Cards

• 1. You cannot NOT communicate.
•     Because we are sending messages non-verbally at all times, it is impossible to not communicate

• 2. Communication is culture-specific.
•     Every culture has unique ways of communicating.

Communication is transactional because it is a continuous flow of shared meaning. Senders are receiving and receivers are sending equally.

• Parent
• Adult
• Child

• Public speaking:
• - occurs when one person speaks face to face with a live audience. (at least 15 ppl)
• - audience can consist of a small number of people, or hundreds, or thousands.
• - Communication is more formal and deliberate with organized thoughts

• Mass communication:
• - Involves a sender transmitting a message
• - Often hundreds of thousands to billions of people who cannot be gathered in one place
• - Does not have to be a live audience
• - Method of communication can take any medium

• 2. Organization
• 3. Interpretation/Evaluation

• Cultural Schemata: based on your ethnic
• heritage and your familial experiences.
• It is common for people to shake hands in the US when greeting eachother, in Asia it
• is common to bow.

• Situation Schemata: refer to the appropriateness of a behavior in a given context.
• Are public displays of affection appropriate in the church?

• State Schemata: an individual’s physical or
• emotional conditions.
• If you notice a person is grumpy you may wait to ask him a favor.

The “halo effect” is the process of inferring additional positive qualities to someone based on a known positive quality. When you like somebody, you will generally see the things they do as positive.

Personal experiences: personal experiences shape how we perceive communication. If you have gone through an event, then you will see others in a similar event differently. (homelessness)

• Third-party influences: our friends, family,
• instructors, and the media, has a huge impact on how we perceive and view
• communication

• Physical conditions: our actual physical
• comfort level can determine what aspects around us we will focus on. If a classroom is hot and miserable, students are less likely to pay attention to the teacher.

• Send messages about communicators: our
• vocabulary reveals aspects about our educational background, our age, and even what part of the country we are from.

• Strengthen social bonds: people socialize
• through communication. It also serves as a social function when spoken in unison, i.e. the pledge of allegiance.

Supportive communication: communication is likely to be positive and communicators feel comfortable communicating freely. (“I feel like”)

Defensive Communication: communication is likely to be negative and communicators do not feel comfortable communicating freely. (“You are soo”)

• Defensive message:
• You always call me down for using my knife! You treat me like I am an irresponsible and ignorant child who does not know how to use a knife safely. You don’t even know what the law says about carrying a pocket knife! Who are you to call me down and tell me what to do?
• You have no reason to be embarrassed or feel uncomfortable when I use a knife.
• If other people don’t know what the law is then that is their problem…not
• yours!

• Supportive message: 
• Kendra, when you call me down or get upset with me for carrying and using my pocket
• knife I get frustrated because I feel like you are treating me like a child. I am not saying that you are actually calling me a child but it is how it makes me feel.  I feel like you think I am irresponsible and unsafe when using my knife. I feel like you are embarrassed by my actions or that you think I am doing something illegal. I do not plan to stop carrying a pocket knife so I would like to understand what your thoughts
• and concerns are about pocket knives.

Proxemics: The use of space to communicate. The levels of distance range from intimate, personal, social, and public. (Each persons personal bubble)

• Artifacts: objects that convey information about us.  We litter our environment with
• artifacts that communicate about our personality and likes. (the kind of car you drive/how you decorate your home/personal items you display)

• Substitution
• Indicate a Relationship
• Reinforcement

• Indicate a Relationship: Using nonverbal to
• signify a relationship. Wedding rings symbolize marriage. Holding hands,
• kissing, and hugging indicates the nature of your relationship with someone.

• Reinforcement: nonverbal can reinforce
• verbal messages. If you are angry, you might use tone of voice and volume in
• addition to pounding your fist on a table to reinforce your angry verbal words.