Communication is the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, visuals, signals, writing, or behavior.

Derived from the Latin word "communis", meaning to share. 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.[citati

Nonverbal communication
Main article: Nonverbal communication Nonverbal communication describes the process of conveying meaning in the form of non-word messages. Research shows that the majority of our communication is non verbal, also known as body language. Some of non verbal communication includes chronemics, haptics, gesture, body language or posture; facial expression and eye contact, object communication such as clothing, hairstyles, architecture, symbols infographics, and tone of voice as well as through an aggregate of the above. Speech also contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage. These include voice lesson quality, emotion and speaking style as well as prosodic features such as rhythm, intonation and stress. Likewise, written texts include nonverbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words and the use of emoticons to convey emotional expressions in pictorial form.

[edit] Oral communication

Oral communication, while primarily referring to spoken verbal communication, can also employ visual aids and non-verbal elements to support the conveyance of meaning. Oral communication includes speeches, presentations, discussions, and aspects of interpersonal communication. As a type of face-to-face communication, body language and choice tonality play a significant role, and may have a greater impact upon the listener than informational content. This type of communication also garners immediate feedback.

Chronemics is the study of the use of time in nonverbal communication. The way that an individual would perceive and value time, structure our time and react to time is a powerful communication tool, and helps set the stage for the communication process. Across cultures, time perception plays a large role in the nonverbal communication process. Time perceptions include punctuality, willingness to wait, and interactions. The use of time can affect lifestyles, daily agendas, speed of speech, movements and how long people are willing to listen. Time can also be used as an indicator of status. For example, in most companies the boss can interrupt progress to hold an impromptu meeting in the middle of the work day, yet the average worker would have to make an appointment to see the boss. The way different cultures perceive time can influence communication as well.

Haptics refers to the sense of touch (from Greek = "I fasten onto, I touch"). It is a form of nonverbal communication.

Haptic customs differ greatly throughout the world. In many Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America, people greet each other with one kiss on the cheek, for example in Argentina. In Spain, people greet each other with two kisses on the cheek. In Colombia shaking hands or verbal greeting is common and probably without hugging. In Peru when men greet one another they usually do so shaking hands or with a verbal greeting, otherwise, whenever a woman is involved, greeting involves kissing on the cheek or verbal greeting. In the United States, the main form of greeting is shaking hands, though when greeting friends it is not uncommon for them to hug. In Japan, people bow to each other in greeting and think it's rude to touch. Every country has a different perception of touch as communication.[1] 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 spoken words. 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.[1] Gestures allow 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. Gesture processing takes place in areas of the brain such as Broca's and Wernicke's areas, which are used by speech and sign language.[2] Body language is a form of mental and physical ability of human non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals almost entirely subconsciously. James Borg states that human communication consists of 93 percent body language and paralinguistic cues, while only 7% of communication consists of words themselves;[1] however, Albert Mehrabian, the researcher whose 1960s work is the source of these statistics, has stated that this is a misunderstanding of the findings[2] (see Misinterpretation of Mehrabian's rule). Others assert that "Research has suggested that between 60 and 70 percent of all meaning is derived from nonverbal behavior."[3] Body language may provide clues as to the attitude or state of mind of a person. For example, it may indicate aggression, attentiveness, boredom, relaxed state, pleasure, amusement, and intoxication, among many other cues. Human positions refer to the different positions that the human body can take. There are several synonyms that refer to the human position, often used interchangeably, but having specific flavors.[1]

Position is a general term for a configuration of the human body Posture means the intentionally or habitually assumed position Pose implies artistic or aesthetic intention of the position Attitude refers to postures assumed for purpose of imitation, intentional or not, as well as in some standard collocations in reference to some distinguished types of posture: "Freud never assumed a fencer's attitude, yet almost all took him for a swordsman."[2] Bearing refers to the manner, of the posture, as well as of gestures and other aspects of the conduct taking place

A facial expression is one or more motions or positions of the muscles in the skin. These movements convey the emotional state of the individual to observers. Facial expressions are a form of nonverbal communication. They are a primary means of conveying social information among humans, but also occur in most other mammals and some other animal species. Humans can adopt a facial expression to read as a voluntary action. However, because expressions are closely tied to emotion, they are more often involuntary. It can be nearly impossible to avoid expressions for certain emotions, even when it would be strongly desirable to do so;[citation needed] a person who is trying to avoid insulting an individual he or she finds highly unattractive might nevertheless show a brief expression of disgust before being able to reassume a neutral expression.[citation needed] Microexpressions are one example of this phenomenon. The close link between emotion and expression can also work in the other direction; it has been observed that voluntarily assuming an expression can actually cause the associated emotion (Schnall & Laird, 2003; Soussignan, 2002 as cited in Papa & Bonanno, 2008). Some expressions can be accurately interpreted even between members of different species- anger and extreme contentment being the primary examples. Others, however, are difficult to interpret even in familiar individuals. For instance, disgust and fear can be tough to tell apart.[citation needed] Because faces have only a limited range of movement, expressions rely upon fairly minuscule differences in the proportion and relative position of facial features, and reading them requires considerable sensitivity to same. Some faces are often falsely read as expressing some emotion, even when they are neutral, because their proportions naturally resemble those another face would temporarily assume when emoting.
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Effective Communication
All communications, intentional or unintentional, have some effect. This effect may not be always in communicator's favor or as desired by him or her. Communication that produces the desired effect or result is effective communication. It results in what the communicator wants. Effective communication generates the desired effect, maintains effect & increases effect. Effective communication serves its purpose for which it was planned or designed. The purpose could be to generate action, inform, create understanding or communicate a certain idea/point etc. Effective communication also ensures that message distortion does not take place during the communication process.

[edit] Barriers to effective human communication

Communication is the key factor in the success of any organization. When it comes to effective communication, there are certain barriers that every organization faces. People often feel that communication is as easy and simple as it sounds. No doubt, but what makes it complex, difficult and frustrating are the barriers that come in its way. Some of these barriers are mentioned below. Barriers to successful communication include message overload (when a person receives too many messages at the same time), and message complexity.[4] There also can be a lack of determining "knowledge appropriate" communication, as when someone uses ambiguous legal words, or medical jargon, when speaking with another person that lacks understanding in these areas. Effective communication can be achieved only when the words used are brought to a common level of understanding for both parties.

communication
noun 1. the act or process of communicating; fact of being communicated.

2. the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs. 3. something imparted, interchanged, or transmitted. 4. a document or message imparting news, views, information, etc. 5. passage, or an opportunity or means of passage, between places.

Definition of communication 1: the act or process of transmitting information (as about ideas, attitudes, emotions, or objective behavior) <nonverbal interpersonal communication> <emotional communication between parent and childG. S. Blum>: a : exchange of information between individuals through a common system of signs, symbols, or behavior <pictorial representation is a usable channel of communication between humans and the chimpanzee> <the function of pheromones in insect communication> b : personal rapport <a lack of communication between young and old persons> 2 : information communicated 3 : a connection between bodily parts <an artificial communication between the esophagus and the stomach>