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The main components of communication process are as follows:

u Context: Every message should have a context. This context may be physical, social, chronological or
cultural. Every communication begins with context. Context is a very broad field that may consist of different
aspects.

u External stimulus: The sources of external stimulus include meeting, letter, memo, telephone call, fax, note,
email and even a casual conversation. This external stimulus encourages you to respond and this response
may be oral or written.

u Internal stimuli: It includes your opinion, attitude, likes, dislikes, emotions, experience, education and
confidence. All these have multifaceted influence on the way you communicate your ideas. As a sender, you
can communicate the ideas effectively by considering all aspects of context mentioned above.

u Sender: The sender is a person who sends the message. A sender uses a combination of symbols, words,
graphs and pictures comprehensible by the receiver to convey the message in order to achieve the desired
response. The views, background, approach, competencies, skills, and knowledge of the sender have a
great impact on the message. The verbal and non-verbal symbols chosen are essential in establishing
interpretation of the message by the recipient in the manner intended by the sender.

u Message: Message is the information exchanged between the sender and the receiver. You should always
decide the following things before initiating communication:
z What is the message you want to communicate?

z What would be the content of your message?
z What are the major points of your message?
z What other information to include?
The central idea of the message must be clear. The sender must ensure that the main objective of
the message is clear. All aspects of the context and receiver should be kept in mind while writing the
message.

u Medium: It is the channel via which the message is exchanged or transmitted between the sender and
the receiver. For making the message effective and for it to be correctly interpreted by the recipient, an
appropriate medium of communication is essential. Hence, the sender must select an appropriate medium
for transmitting the message. The choice of communication medium varies depending upon the features of
communication:

z It depends on the nature and type of your message.
z It is also predisposed by the relationship between the sender and the receiver.
The verbal medium is effective when your message is urgent, personal or when immediate feedback is
desired. Written medium is preferred, when your message needs to be documented and is technical.
u Recipient: The recipient is a person to whom the message is sent. The various factors decide the degree to
which the decoder understands the message are as:

z The reliance of encoder on decoder
z Responsiveness of recipient to the message
z Knowledge of recipient
u Feedback: Feedback is the major component of the communication process as it allows the sender to
analyse the efficacy of the message. It aids the sender in confirming the correct interpretation of the message
by the receiver. Feedback completes the loop of communication. Feedback may be verbal or non-verbal (in the
form of smiles, signs, etc.). It may also be taken in written form, i.e. memos, reports, feedback forms, etc.

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