Abby Allen

11/27/2017
DP12

Summary:

This chapter was titled What Should a Communicator Do?. This is the final chapter of our book and
ultimately ties together all of the information we have learned thus far and takes it to the next step. The
chapter concludes the intrapersonal/cognitive as well as the individual/social approaches to
communication, and summarizes the interpersonal, intercultural, group, persuasion, organizational,
mediated communication, mass communication, and mass communication theory. The chapter then goes
into how understanding the entirety of these concepts can enhance professional communication as well as
your own personal communication competence. Our goal as communication majors is to take all of these
chapters and all of these concepts and be able to not only define and understand them, but apply them to
our everyday lives in a way that is meaningful. It is evident that there are countless benefits to being a
strong communicator, and this chapter ties together all the previous chapters to prove just how influential
this skill can be.

Application:

This book and this class overall did a great job of tying together information I learned from my prior
communication courses, as well as information I missed in my 4 years as a communication student, to
really make me a well-rounded communication student. There are obviously some topics that interest me
more, and it was cool to dig deeper into these topics and being able to discuss these ideas with my peers
in class was not only beneficial to my understanding of the material but made the class fun.
One topic that really resonates with me is the Politeness Theory. I think its interesting to compare, as this
chapter did, the idea that everyone had positive as well as negative face needs to the uses and
gratifications theory that states people select particular media forms to meet particular needs. This shows
two different ideas how we perceive and understand needs. I personally see more emphasis on
maintaining positive and negative face in my life to control my needs, but everyone is different. I often
see myself naturally thinking about my needs from a positive and negative face point of view.
Understanding these differences is important to competent communication, as the key isnt simply
knowing how to meet your own needs but those of others as the received.
Another theme that is played with in many concepts in this book is that of power and control.
Communication plays a central role for exerting power in both a large and small scale role. In a large
scale role, you can see a connection between how much a culture tolerates power distance and how that
effects appropriate communication strategies. This is a huge topic in my intercultural communication
class currently, as we are learning about the major communication differences between cultures with a
small power distance influence (such as the U.S) and a culture with a large power distance (such as
China). This has major effect on the appropriate way to communicate, and understanding this is key in
making sure you do not offend anyone which is key information to know traveling or getting to know
another culture. In a smaller scale sense, theories in Interpersonal communication like Politeness theory
and communication accommodation theory suggest that people are more inclined to change their behavior
if they are on the less power end in their relationship. This is also important to think about when looking
at persuasion as a persons perceived power over a situation plays a key role in how likely they will be
persuaded.
The last biggest influencer I would like to discuss is social networks. This chapter talks about how many
theories highlight the importance of both the relationships we have with others and the patterns of
relationships. Growing up, my mother as an HR consultant has always talked to me about the power of
networking and making as many connections as possible. It can never hurt to have someone as a
connection, and I really enjoy meeting new people and hearing about their lives and goals/aspirations.
The network approach talks about how we tend to understand social media through links with others, and
this influences that way we view others. I think my interests in networking in everyday life ties has been a
factor of my love for social media.
Discussion Questions:
1. How does being a communicator set you up to be better able to handle conflict? Particularly when
it comes to a question of morals and vales
a. Ex. A situation where something you see as wrong is happening in your workplace.
2. The chapter talks about the final component of competence to be skill? What are some examples
of solid skills we can take away from our education?
3. Our communication competence sets us up to influence others and make the world a better place.
How can we as communication majors born as digital narratives use social media as a positive
outlet for change?