Communication Basics for Technical Professionals

Part of why I became an engineer was to avoid communicating. I was a ‘book smart’ kid. What I read in the textbooks came a lot more naturally to me than writing and presenting. I never took a communication class and focused on technical skills for the first part of my career. Turns out, there are Communication 101 classes. And the concepts aren’t that dissimilar to engineering topics. Today, we start with the basics.

So let’s start with a question. What does communication mean to you? Would you start with talking about a conversation with a friend? Or writing a letter? How about texting over a chat app? What about presenting to an audience? Would you think about the internal messages that we send ourselves? Communication definitions are tough.

There is no single definition of communication. Here are a couple of attempts:

1. Communication in the Free World - “We will define communication as the process of generating meaning by sending and receiving verbal and nonverbal symbols and signs that are influenced by multiple contexts.”
2. Skillsyouneed.com - “Communication is simply the act of transferring information from one place, person, or group to another. Every communication involves (at least) one sender, a message, and a recipient.”
3. ChatGPT - “Communication is the process of exchanging information, ideas, thoughts, or feelings between individuals or groups through various methods such as speech, writing, gestures, body language, or signals.”

As you can see from this short list of definitions, there is no single definition. Sending messages, transferring information, and exchanging ideas are all examples of something engineers do a lot. We take water, electricity, or data from one place and move it to another. Communication works similarly. Messages are sent back and forth between conversation participants.

Just like engineers, scholars who study communication create diagrams, commonly called models, to represent the communication process. Communication models are meant to translate the complete process of communication into pictures. The most basic model of communication is the transmission model.

Communication in the free world describes this model as a “linear, one-way process in which a sender intentionally transmits a message to a receiver.” The sender encodes their idea into words and sends it to a receiver through a channel. As that message travels, it combines with other noise, until it reaches a receiver. The receiver must decode that message so that they can integrate the ideas with their own. It looks like this:

The sender’s idea they want to transmit travels through a medium, where it combines with noise, and then arrives at the receiver. The message and the noise then need to be interpreted for the receiver to understand. Anything which interferes with the message as it travels is called noise. This can be physical noise, which makes it hard for the receiver to hear the message. Or it can be semantic noise, where something interferes with the encoding and decoding process. If the sender is using unfamiliar jargon in the message, the receiver won’t be able to decode it.

So why is this relevant? Here are three ways engineers can leverage the transmission model:

1. Remember that your objective is to communicate your idea. To do so effectively, your audience will need to decode the message. If they don’t understand the language, your idea won’t get across. Consider what the audience already knows and craft your message accordingly.
2. Cut through the noise. Reduce the noise around your message however possible. Think about each transmission medium you use and how that might interfere with your message being received. A poor cell phone connection could drop a few words along the way. A multitasking coworker on Zoom might not pay attention to your message. An email message could get missed. If you want your idea to get across, it’s up to you to reduce the noise.
3. Think about how you encode your idea. The words you use convey your message. Some words will do this more effectively than others. Keep your language as simple as possible. Get to the essence of your message so you minimize the impact of noise.

I hope these tips help you to get your message across!

References:

(2016) Communication in the Free World. University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing Edition

https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/what-is-communication.html

OpenAI (2024). ChatGPT v2 (Jan 2022 version) [Large language model] https://chat.openai.com/chat

?