Download Information exchange between living organisms

ORAL COMMUNICATION
SKILLS
LECTURE 2
Information exchange between living organisms
• Communication is not limited to humans or primates.
• Every information exchange between living
organisms — i.e. transmission of signals involving a
living sender and receiver — can be considered a
form of communication.
•There is the broad field of animal communication
- cell signalling
- cellular communication
- chemical communication between primitive organisms
like bacteria within the plant and fungal kingdoms.
All of these communication processes are signmediated interactions with a great variety of distinct
coordinations.
Animal communication
• Any behaviour on the part of one animal
that has an effect on the current or future
behaviour of another animal.
• The study of animal communication is
called zoosemiotics (distinguishable from
anthroposemiotics, the study of human
communication)
• rapidly growing field
Plant communication
• (a) within the plant organism, i.e. within
plant cells and between plant cells,
• (b) between plants of the same or related
species and
• (c) between plants and non-plant
organisms, especially in the rootzone.
Plant roots communicate in parallel with
fungi and with insects in the soil.
Bacteria communication
• between different species of bacteria and
between bacteria and non bacterial life
• There are three classes of signalling
molecules for different purposes:
- signalling within the organism to
coordinate gene expressions
- to generate adequate response behavior
- signalling between same or related and
different species.
Fungal communication
• coordinate and organize their own growth
and development
• fungi communicate with same and related
species as well as with nonfungal
organisms in a great variety of symbiotic
interactions
Language
• a syntactically organized system of signals, such as voice
sounds, intonations or pitch, gestures or written symbols which
communicate thoughts or feelings
• Animals do not have a written form of a language, but use a
language to communicate with each another.
In that sense, an animal communication can be considered as a
separated language.
• Human spoken and written languages can be described as a system
of symbols (sometimes known as lexemes) and the grammar by
which the symbols are manipulated.
The word "language" is also used to refer to common properties of
languages.
• Language learning is normal in human childhood. Most human
languages use patterns of sound or gesture for symbols which
enable communication with others around them.
There are thousands of human languages, and these seem to share
certain properties, even though many shared properties have
exceptions.
Media
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The beginning of human communication through artificial channels, i.e. not
vocalization or gestures, goes back to ancient cave painting, drawn maps,
and writing.
Historians have folded civilization into "ages" according to the medium most
widely used. A book titled "Five Epochs of Civilization" by William
McGaughey (Thistlerose, 2000) divides history into the following stages:
- ideographic writing produced the first civilization;
- alphabetic writing, the second;
- printing, the third;
- electronic recording and broadcasting, the fourth;
- computer communication, the fifth.
The media affects what people think about themselves and how they
perceive people as well. What we think about self image and what others
should look like comes from the media.
digital and computer communication shows concrete evidence of changing
the way humans organize.
The latest trend in communication, termed smartmobbing, involves ad-hoc
organization through mobile devices, allowing for effective many-to-many
communication and social networking.
Electronic media
• In the last century, a revolution in telecommunications has greatly
altered communication by providing new media for long distance
communication.
The first transatlantic two-way radio broadcast occurred in 1906 and
led to common communication via analogue and digital media:
• Analog telecommunications include traditional telephony, radio and
TV broadcasts.
• Digital telecommunications allow for computer-mediated
communication, telegraphy and computer networks.
• Modern communication media now allow for intense long-distance
exchanges between larger numbers of people (many-tomany
communication via e-mail. Internet forums).
On the other hand, many traditional broadcast media and mass
media favor one-to-many communication (television, cinema, radio,
newspaper, magazines).
Communication Strategies
For effective communication in specialized contexts, certain strategies can be taken that will help
people achieve their goals and can be seen as techniques for attaining the purpose of communication.
Marketing
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Adaptive Innovation
Building or improving products, services, and processes while working with a customer versus
building products or services outside a customer engagement. Relates to service companies
working with large enterprises.
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Entrepreneurial Management
Describes a business where the employees are expected to work and relate to each other as self
driven business partners versus expecting to be mentored by a command and control
management structure. This assumes the phrase, "be the leader you seek."
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One Voice
A skill used to manage customer team meetings where one person is designated the leader and
other team members direct all their comments and questions through the designated OneVoice
speaker rather than to the customer(s).
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ShowTime
A term related to business people being "on stage" at all times during a meeting or customer visit.
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Strategic speed
A term related to working fast and smart, constantly looking for opportunities to improve and
innovate.
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Discipline of Dialogue
A term related to controlling your words and conversations during a business meeting or
presentation.
Metacommunication
• the process of communicating about
communication,
e.g. to discuss a past conversation and to
determine the meanings behind certain words,
phrases, etc…
• It can be used as a tool for sense making, or for
better understanding events, places, people,
relationships, etc..
The ability to communicate on the meta-level
requires introspection and, more specifically
what is called metacommunicative competence.
Sources
• Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to
belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a
fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin
117, 497-529.
• Severin, Werner J., Tankard, James W., Jr., (1979).
Communication Theories: Origins, Methods, Uses. New
York: Hastings House