Communication Systems Continued…

Types of Systems

Communication systems can be lumped into two categories, verbal and nonverbal. Verbal communication includes anything you can think of and is not limited to the following:

Language. English, French, Japanese and even sign language, this is how we connect with other human beings.

Computers offer a variety of ways to communicate. In its ever-growing popularity, email is quickly taking the place of phone calls, web logs or blogs are taking the place of a hand-written journal, and instant messaging takes the place of short conversations.


Then comes the wide world of consumerism. Television and radio are great ways to convey your message to millions of people. Advertising with direct mail, billboards and flyers are also excellent for distributing information to the masses.

Nonverbal communication is more subtle. It is not as blatant as that giant billboard on the freeway telling you who to choose as your cellular service provider, but it gets the job done. Body language is the main nonverbal communication system and is as old as it is widespread. Sure human beings use body language to communicate; holding a baby close communicates love, recoiling from a snake communicates terror and drumming your nails on a desk communicates boredom.

Animals also communicate nonverbally. A horse will turn its ears back when angry or afraid and a dog will shake when it hears thunder before a storm. Nonverbal communication is simpler but sometimes much more effective because it does not have to incorporate mixed messages as often.

What are You Saying Anyway?

A communication system of any kind is not perfect and does not claim to be. There are so many things that are factored in. Haven't you ever received an email and wondered about the person's tone. Or been on a date and thought - this conversation is so awful - while your date seems to be enjoying themselves very much. Interpretation is everything and how a person interprets communication is a result of their lives, their upbringing, what country they live in or anything else they have experienced.

Because there are several layers of messages being sent, there are several things that can go wrong. For instance, your verbal language can be saying one thing while your body language is saying the opposite. Thus leaving your date stupefied! That is called incongruence and it is important to be clear. In the corporate world, that is called the fine print (i.e. should you not understand this article, please see page 76 of the fine print).

In order to have an effective, open communication system in place, people need to take all factors into consideration; different realities, space the communication takes place in, non-verbal as well as verbal communication and also connotation and denotation of the words we are using.

By Lisa Sharp