Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 3-1 Chapter Three: Communication.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 3-1

Chapter Three:Communication


In the early 21st century, social media dominates the communications practice.

We live in a “wired” world.

Words and images flash to millions around the globe in real time.

The power of communication has never been greater.


Public relations practitioners are professional communicators.

They must be the best in the organization at:

writing speaking listening promoting counseling

Being understood and understanding others is crucial to this process.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

When communication is planned , as it should be in public relations, every communication must have a goal, an objective, and a purpose, if not, why communicate in the first place?

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All planned communication must have goals. Here are a few:

To inform To persuade To motivate To build mutual

understanding

In all efforts, an integrated, strategically planned approach is of key importance.


1. To inform : to inform or educate a particular public for ex. Before holidays association of America will release information providing advice on safe driving habits for long trips.

2. To persuade: to take certain actions, for ex. A mutual fund annual report that talks about the fund long history of financial strength and security may provide a persuasive appeal for potential investors

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3. To motivate : motivation of the employees to ( pull for the team) is a regular organizational communications goal.

4. To build mutual understanding: often communicators have as their goals the mere attainment of understanding of a group in opposition

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The point is whether written release , annual report, speech or meeting all are valid public relations communication vehicles designed to achieve communication goals with the key publics.

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Many theories exist from the traditional to contemporary about the most effective ways for a source to send a message through a medium to elicit a positive response. Here are but a few :

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Two-step flow theory: an organization beams its message to mass media, which delivers the message to mass audiences, readers, listeners and viewers. This theory may have given the mass media too much credit.

People today are influenced by a great many factors of which mass media maybe one but its not necessarily the dominant one.

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Concentric-circle theory: ideas originate with great thinkers and political leaders, then evolve gradually to the public in circular fashion.

Its developed by Pollster Roper. The theory suggests that people pick up

acceptable ideas from leaders, whose impact on the public opinion maybe greater than of the mass media

The overall study of how communication is used for direction and control is called (cybernetics)


Pat Jackson’s five-step process: 1. Building awareness2. Developing a latent readiness3. Triggering event4. Intermediate behavior5. Behavioral change


1. Building awareness: through all the standard communications mechanisms from publicity to advertising to public speaking to word of mouth.

2. Developing a latent readiness: this is the stage at which people begin to form an opinion based on such factors as knowledge, emotion, memory and relationships

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3. Triggering events: is something either natural or planned that makes you want to change your behavior

4. Intermediate behavior: this is what Jackson called the “ investigative” period when an individual is determining how best to apply a desired behavior

5. Behavioral change: the final step is the adoption of the new behavior.

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S-E-M-D-R communications process: the Source Encodes a Message, which is Decoded by the Receiver.

Source : who issues the message to the receiver

Encoding stage: is which the source’s original message is translated and conveyed to the receiver

Decoding stage: in which the receiver interprets the encoded message and takes action.


Spiral of Silence: communications depend on the silence and non-participation of a huge majority, which will often choose to “vote with the majority.”

Its developed by Elisabeth Neumann

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The complexity of communications in contemporary society has led to more “audience-centered” theories:*Constructivism: knowledge is constructed, not transmitted. The communicator must understand: the receiver’s beliefs, preferences, background how receivers think about issues, then work to

convince them to adopt a new point of view Its concerned with the cognitive process that

precedes the actual communication within a given situation rather than with the communication itself

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Is a theory of communications based on social interactions

This theory posits that when we communicate we construct out social realities of what is going on and what kind of action is appropriate

Each of us have his own stories of life experience which we share with others in the conversations

Coordinated Management of Meaning


When we interact , say the creator of this theory, we attempt to coordinate our own beliefs, morals and ideas of good and bad with those of others so that a mutual outcome might occur.

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Grunig-Hunt Public Relations Models: formulated by professor James Gruning and Todd Hunt they generate 4 models that define public relations communications which are:

Press agentry/publicity Public information Two-way asymmetric Two-way symmetric

What do each of these mean, and how can they work for the public relations practitioner?


1. Press agentry/publicity: is essentially one way communication that beams message from a source to the receiver with the express intention of winning favorable media attention

2. Public information: one way communication designed not necessarily to persuade but rather to inform, this and the press agentry have been lined to the common notion of (P.R propaganda) 3-21


3. Two way asymmetric: this is a two way communication approach that allows an organization to put out its information and to receive feedback from its publics about that information.

under this model the organization wouldn’t necessarily change decisions as a result of this feedback!!

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4. Two way symmetric: this preferred way of communicating advocates free and equal information flow between an organization and its publics based on mutual understanding. This approach is more balanced

Symmetrical : with the PR communicator serving as a mediator between the organization and the publics.

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Communication begins with words. They are among our most personal and potent weapons.

Words mean different things to different people depending on race, education, occupation and personal background.

Words significantly influence the message conveyed to the receiver.

The public relations professional must carefully understand and encode their client’s messages.


For example when Hillary Clinton in the heat of the 2008 democrat presidential nomination process labeled opponent Obama as Elitist, her rival lashed back in anger, the implication being that he couldn’t relate to the blue collar voters.

The study of what words really mean is called semantics, and the science of semantics is a necessary thing the one needs!!

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Another example: the semantics of the words may make no sense , take the word Fat in the American culture means the person who is generally not associated with the attractiveness!!!! But along Came 50 cent and hip hop became with new spelling (Phat) which means the baddest of the bad, the coolest of the cool …… what a word can do !!

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The true importance of words lies in framing key messages to move publics to action.


We can view messages according to these theoretical explanations:

The content is the message. The content of the communication constitutes the message. This is why accurate and truthful content is key in all public relations communications.


The real importance of a communication a message- lies in the meaning of an article or in the intent of the speech

Neither the medium through which the message is being communicated nor the individual doing the communication is as important as the content.

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The medium is the message. Here, the medium itself is the most important factor in communication.

Theorists argue that the content of a communication maybe less important than the medium in which the message is carried.

This theory is relevant in today’s hyper media society, where the reputation and the integrity of a particular media source may vary widely


for example: a story carried on the internet blog would generally carry less weight that one reported in the New York Times

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The person is the message. This view recognizes the power and personality of the speaker.

Today , we often refer to a leader’s Charisma, the charismatic appeal of a political leader maybe more important that what the individual says. Such was the historic appeal of Fidel Castro , Ronald Reagan could move the audience by the very inflection of their words 3-32


The point is the speaker’s words. Face, body, eyes, attitude, timing, all form a composite that as a whole influences the listeners.

In such cases the source of communication becomes every bit as important as the message itself.

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It is critical to understand the biases, preferences and knowledge of our message receivers.

Everyone is biased; no two people perceive a message the same way.

What factors can influence a receiver’s bias?

Let’s find out…


Personal biases are nurtured in many factors including Stereotypes, Symbols, Semantics, Peer Group Pressure and Especially in today’s culture the media, so lets define each one !!

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We live in a world of stereotypical figures. What images do the following names bring to mind?

Gen-Xer Feminist Computer geek Blue-collar worker Used-car salesperson

Like it or not, stereotypes influence communication.


For example: research indicates that a lecture delivered by a person wearing glasses will be perceived as more believable than the same lecture deliver before the same audience by the same lecturer without glasses.

The stereotyped impression of people with glasses is that they are trustworthy and more believable

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Consider the following symbols. What images do they create in your mind?

The Red Cross The Statue of Liberty The World Trade Center The Star of David The Pentagon

When properly used, symbols can be highly persuasive.

in September, 11,2001 the trade center was attacked by the terrorists , it was chosen cause of its symbolic value as American icons

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Words mean different things to different people.

Language and the meanings of words are always changing.


Debate buttressed by confusing semantics terms- pro Life to signify those against abortion and Pro-choice to signify those in favor of allowing abortions.

Because language and the meaning of the words change constantly. Semantics may handle with extreme care. Good communicators always consider the consequences of the words they plan to use before using them

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To frame effective messages, public relations professionals must understand intricacies of peer-group influences on attitude and action.

Recall the power of peer groups from your high-school days. Did they ever cause you to believe or do things that you normally wouldn’t?


In one famous study, students were asked to point out the shortest of the following three lines:

A)----------------------------B)----------------C)------------------ Although line B is the shortest, each

student in the class expect one was told in advance to answer that line C is the shortest.

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The object of this test was to see whether the one student would agree with his peers. Results indicated that , to a statistically significant degree , all students including the uncoached one , choose C.

Such an experiment is an example of how peer pressure prevails in terms of influencing personal bias.

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The media is a powerful agenda setter. It can tell us what issues are important.

The Agenda-Setting(1922) Hypothesis states that: the media does not reflect reality — it filters

and shapes it. media concentration on a few issues leads the

public to perceive those issues as more important.

By interesting the media in client-centered stories, public relations professionals also play a role in agenda setting.


The point is that people base perceptions on what they read or hear, often without bothering to dig further to elicit the facts.

This is a two edged sword: although appearances are sometimes revealing, they are also often deceiving.

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Communicators must get feedback from a receiver to know what messages are getting through, and how to structure future communications.

You aren’t really communicating unless your recipient: hears your message understands it reacts to it


Once the message is clearly understood, it may trigger one of several effects:

Change attitudes Crystallize attitudes Create a wedge

of doubt Do nothing at all


1. It may change attitude: this result, however, is very difficult to achieve And rarely happens.

2. It may Crystallize attitudes : this outcome is much more common, often a message will influence receiver to take actions they might already have been thinking about taking but needed extra push to accomplish.

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For example: a receiver might want to contribute to a certain charity, but seeing a child’s photo on a contribution canister might crystallize his attitude to trigger an action.

3. It may create a wedge of doubt: communication can sometimes force receiver to modify his point of view, a persuasive message on Cable Tv can cause viewers to question their original thinking on an issue.

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4. It may do nothing: at times, the best laid communication plans result in no action at all

For example: the expensive communication campaign to reduce cigarettes sales, yielded less than the required results. More recently the campaign started to pay off , with the number of smokers among U.S adults numbering 21% by 2008 down from 29% in the early 1980. changing attitudes take times

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Whether the objective of the communication have been met can often be assessed by such things as amount of sales, number of letters, number of votes obtained. If individuals take no action after receiving a communication, feedback must still be sought.

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Public relations professionals make their living by knowing how to communicate desired meanings. Hone your expertise in this area.

Performance must precede communication. Slick publications and winning websites many capture the public’s attention, but proper performance is the only key towards winning continued public support.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 3-1 Chapter Three: Communication.

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