The evolution of communication

Chapter 1. Introduction to communication

Communication is derived from Latin "communis, meaning to share, it is the activity of conveying information through the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, visuals, signals, writing, or behavior. Communication requires a sender, a message, and a recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast distances in time and space. Communication requires that the communicating parties share an area of communicative commonality. The communication process is complete once the receiver has understood the message of the sender. It is the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one person to another; it involves a sender transmitting an idea, information, or feeling to a receiver. Effective communication occurs only if the receiver understands the exact information or idea that the sender intended to transmit. Many of the problems that occur in an organization are the either the direct result of people failing to communicate or processes, which leads to confusion and can cause good plans to fail. Communication is easily overlooked, but the ability to communicate effectively is necessary to carry out the thoughts and visions of an organization to the people. The importance of speech and words whether through a paper or a voice is a communication medium to convey directions and provide synchronization. Without communication, there is no way to express thoughts, ideas, and feelings.

CHAPTER.2 EVOLUTION of COMMUNICATION

The history of communication dates back to prehistory, with significant changes in communication technologies ,media and appropriate inscription tools evolving in tandem with shifts in political and economic systems, and by extension, systems of power. Communication can range from very subtle processes of exchange, to full conversations and mass communication. Human communication was revolutionized with speech approximately 200,000 years ago. Symbols were developed about 30,000 years ago, and writing about 7,000. On a much shorter scale, there have been major developments in the field of telecommunication in the past few centuries. One suggested theory about the development of an advanced communication system in humans is what linguist Guy Cook, in his seminal book Language Play, Language Learning, calls 'there's a bison down by the water theory', meaning that advanced communication emerged out of a need to convey information necessary for survival. This need for information exchange came about as humans began living in increasingly large social groups. Communication within social groups may have begun to evolve 250,000 years ago, but it took until 40,000 years ago - an interval of over 200,000 years - for human communication to evolve to the point that it could be recognized as language. The Neanderthals that lived alongside homo Sapiens were not capable of producing advanced language - that they died out and homo Sapiens survived suggests that the development of language was crucial to the survival of homo Sapiens.

CHAPTER.3 TYPES of communication Communication is generally classified into a couple of types. The classifications include: Verbal communication Nonverbal communication Oral communication

Verbal communication Verbal communication is a type of communication where the information flows through verbal medium like words, speeches, presentations etc. In verbal communication, the sender shares his/her thoughts in the form of words. In organizations, individuals communicate verbally among each other in the form of dialogues, speech, presentations, and discussions to name a few. The tone of the speaker, the pitch, and the quality of words play a crucial role in verbal communication. The speaker has to be loud and clear and the content has to be properly defined. Haphazard and unorganized thoughts only lead to confusions and misunderstandings among individuals. In verbal communication, an individual must understand the importance of words and how to put them across. While speaking the pitch ought to be high and clear for everyone to understand and the content must be designed keeping the target audience in mind. In verbal communication it is the responsibility of the sender to cross check with the receiver whether he has downloaded the correct information or not and the sender must give the required response. Non-verbal Communication: Nonverbal communication is a behavior, other than spoken or written communication, that creates or represents meaning. In other words, it includes facial expressions, body movements, and gestures. Nonverbal communication is talking without speaking a word. It is very effective, maybe even more so than speech. It involves those nonverbal stimuli in a communication setting that are generated by both the source i.e. the speaker and his or her use of the environment and

that have potential message value for the source or receiver i.e. listener. It is sending and receiving messages in a variety of ways without the use of verbal codes. It is both intentional and unintentional. Most speakers / listeners are not conscious of this. Non-verbal communication can be further divided into different categories: Facial expressions Head movements Gestures Eye contact

Facial expressions The face as a whole indicates much about human moods as well. Specific emotional states, such as happiness or sadness, are expressed through a smile or a frown, respectively. There are seven universally recognized emotions shown through facial expressions: fear, anger, surprise, contempt, disgust, happiness, and sadness. Although smiling is an expression of happiness in most cultures, it can also signify other emotions. Some Chinese, for example may smile when they are discussing something sad or uncomfortable. Winking has very different connotations in different cultures. In some Latin American cultures, winking is a romantic or sexual invitation. In Nigeria, Yorubas may wink at their children if they want them to leave the room. Many Chinese consider winking to be rude. Expressions of pain or discomfort such as crying are also specific to various cultures; some cultures may value a stoic affect while others may encourage a more emotive state. Expressions of pain or discomfort are also learned from ones family illness experiences, expressions, and idioms of distress.

Head Movements In Lebanon, the signal for YES may be a nod of the head. To signal NO, a Lebanese may point his or her head sharply upward and raise the eyebrows. Saudis may signal YES by

swiveling their head from side to side. They may signal NO by tipping their head backward and clicking their tongue.

Gestures: A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of speech or together and in parallel with swords. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body. Gestures differ from physical non-verbal communication that does not communicate specific messages, such as purely expressive displays, proxemics, or displays of joint attention. It allows individuals to communicate a variety of feelings and thoughts, from contempt and hostility to approval and affection, often together with body language in addition to words when they speak.

Eye contact A person's face, especially their eyes, creates the most obvious and immediate cues that lead to the formation of impressions. A person's eyes reveal much about how they are feeling, or what they are thinking. Eye contact serves a variety of purposes. It regulates conversations, shows interest or involvement, and establishes a connection with others. Certain Asian cultures can perceive direct eye contact as a way to signal competitiveness, which in many situations may prove to be inappropriate. Others lower their eyes to signal respect, and similarly eye contact is avoided in Nigeria, and between men and women in Islam. However, in western cultures this could be misinterpreted as lacking selfconfidence.

Chapter.4 Communication Strategy Communication strategies are common in the business world, where they are used as part of a business plan, detailing how to communicate with various groups of people. A single business may have multiple strategies for different categories of people, such as clients, investors, competitors, or employees. Some companies even have an internal communication strategy for communicating within the business itself. These strategies are used to determine things like what information to share with the clients or investors, as well as how that information should be presented. Committing to sustainability, and taking action on it is a critical element of today's corporate world, but without getting employees on board through a successful internal communications program, green and other social good initiatives are much less likely to succeed. Communication strategies are the strategies that learners use to overcome these problems in order to convey their intended meaning. Strategies used may include paraphrasing, substitution, coining new words, switching to the first language, and asking for clarification. These strategies, with the exception of switching languages, are also used by native speakers. Talking comes naturally, and everything is run by instinct. This is a reactive way of dealing with problems, and oftentimes the instinctive reaction is not the best one. Strategies for communication, on the other hand, are proactive, which means that they provide a solution to the problem before the issue even arises. With a communication strategy, the solution is carefully planned out in advance. This way, the reaction to the issue will be logical and advantageous to the companys overall goals, rather than instinctive and rash.

Data interpretation (This questionnaire is prepared for the employees at the managerial level in order to observe the recent trends and evolution in organizational communication structure)

Q.1 Since how long you are employed with your organization? 0-2 years 2-4 years 4-6 years 6-8 years More than 8 years Interpretation: When the survey was done, it was seen that majority of the