Communication Is Constant

Video Transcription

Hi, I'm Julie Tietz, and welcome to Conflict Resolution, Putting the Pieces Together. Today, we're going to talk about how we're always constantly communicating. So we're going to start off by listing our key terms that I want you to keep an eye out for throughout this tutorial. We have code, symbol, and unintentional communication. So look out for those three terms.

So in our groups and cultures, we have so many different communication codes. And a code is a set of symbols with consistent meanings used to hold and convey information. And we are constantly transmitting symbols. And a symbol is a representation of a concept in a tangible or otherwise perceivable form. So when we're communicating, we are transmitting symbols here. And we are-- our groups are-- interpreting this as a communication event.

With all of these different codes out there, we can have unintentional communication. And this is the interpretation of symbols observed by a receiver, but not intentionally transmitted by the sender. So this type of communication is where we're not trying to send any signals or communication to another person. But a receiver is out there, and they are interpreting our actions or observing or interpreting our actions as communication towards them.

And we can interpret this unintentional communication in the correct way or the incorrect way. So maybe we hear somebody shouting, hey you, across the street. And we turn around. And we think that they're talking to us. But then we notice that their body is turned in the other direction, and they're waving at another person. And so what we're seeing and we're interpreting this as a non-intentional act here and are moving along in our lives and really aren't thinking anything of this communication that had just happened.

Or we could interpret it incorrectly. Like for example, if we're at a business meeting, and somebody comes in wearing a suit and tie where everyone else is being a little bit more casual in their dress. And they may take that the way that the person is dressed is insulting, and that they're trying to over bear them or show or prove that they are better than them in their dress, when the person that is wearing the suit in the room had no intention of doing that. That's just how they dress every other day when they go to work.

So now that we've gone over how we are constantly communicating, let's go over some of our key points here. Groups in society have various communication codes. And these are constantly being transmitted and interpreted as communication between the people and the groups.

And oftentimes, there can be a situation where there's unintentional communication. And this is where we are interpreting symbols observed by receiver, but not intentionally transmitted by the sender. So the receiver is interpreting a message that maybe the sender is not intentionally trying to send to them. And we have correct and incorrect interpretations of these unintentional communications, such as the verbal example of the, hey, you, or the dressing up in the suit example, which would be an incorrect interpretation.

Well, I really hope that you've learned something today on communication and how it is constant. And I can't wait to catch you again next time.