Communication can be classified into a number of types such as oral, written, intentional, non-verbal and symbolic. The article highlights various communication styles by keeping the human context at the axis.
In all the communication forms, the people involved in the process form the most important element. Depending on the amount of people interested in the process, communication can be termed as intrapersonal, interpersonal, transpersonal, group or mass communication.
Communication with Self
Intrapersonal communication : is concerned with communicating with your own self. Day dreaming, thinking, imagining and problem solving fall under its purview. It is estimated that around 90,000 thoughts cross the human mind everyday making this communication form as the most common as compared to other types of communication.
Various feedback mechanisms of a human body such as hunger, pleasure and pain are also included in intrapersonal communication’s realm. It also covers the spiritual conversations such as individual reflection, transcendental meditation and contemplation.
Transpersonal communication : involves conversing with spirits, divine and ancestors making it an important incident of the monastic and religious life in prayer halls, ashrams and among tribal and aboriginal communities.
A single person is the source as well as the destination of intrapersonal communication, with brain waves being the channel for the same. It is a reflection of a person’s habits, role, self-concept, attitude, beliefs and values.
Communication with Other People
This covers the interaction between different people with the help of direct face-to-face methods for conversing with each other.
It is the most influential and persuasive communication method as compared to all other types of communication as it involves extensive usage of gestures and words which go a long way in conveying warmth and closeness between people.
The feedback mechanism used in this communication form is predominantly instantaneous.
Communication in a Group
This is an extended form of interpersonal communication sharing all its qualities in a lesser measure. The likelihood of exchanging information with the other members of the group in an intimate and personal way is inversely proportional to the group size. With the increase in the group size, the communication becomes like a monologue on account of the difficulty for each member to participate in the conversation. The magnitude of intimacy and directness depends upon group size, meeting place, relationship of group members with each other and group leader. The essential conditions for group communication are as follows:
Communication on a Mass Basis
When help is required by a message in reaching its destination after being dispatched by the source, mass communication occurs. The various media for connecting the senders and receivers with each other are print (magazines or newspapers), electronic (computer modems) or electrical (TV, radio or video). Mass communication has a deep impact on our beliefs, attitudes and perspectives. It is an important source of companionship, information and entertainment and acts as a platform for sharing viewpoints about events, issues as well as cultural life. It provides visibility and hearing to a certain set of people which comes at the cost of muting the voices of the other few.
Communication is an extremely important part of our social lives with the person’s self being the centre of all types of communication. People think, listen, respond and speak according to their own self-perspective.
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