| Abstract | words that refer to thoughts, ideas, or theories.
|
 |
|
|
| Accent | a nonverbal function that highlights, accentuates, or emphasizes verbal messages.
|
|
|
|
| Acceptance speech | a brief statement made upon the receipt of an award, gift, or special honor.
|
|
|
|
| Accommodation | an adaptation or adjustment.
|
|
|
|
| Accommodation | sacrificing, in whole or in part, your own preferences and points of view.
|
|
|
|
| Acronyms | words or names formed out of the first letter of words in a series (such as PUSH. for People United to Save Humanity).
|
|
|
|
| Active listeners | people who focus on the moment, are aware of interactions as they unfold, and respond appropriately, and are aware of distractions.
|
|
|
|
| Ad hoc groups | temporary groups created for the purpose of making a specific decision or solving a unique problem.
|
|
|
|
| Adaptors | nonverbal gestures that we use to adapt to our environment, such as fanning ourselves when we are hot.
|
|
|
|
| Adept | skilled.
|
|
|
|
| Affective | emotional or sentimental.
|
|
|
|
| After-dinner speech | a presentation that entertains or enlightens in an amusing way.
|
|
|
|
| Agenda | a written guide that lists the order of tasks to be accomplished and topics to be discussed by the group.
|
|
|
|
| Agenda-setting | the process by which media identify and structure important and meaningful issues for audiences.
|
|
|
|
| Alienation | to be unfriendly or hostile-to isolate someone from the group.
|
|
|
|
| Allness | the use of one aspect of our identity to describe our whole self.
|
|
|
|
| Ambient sounds | background noise in a particular context, such as the clatter of plates and murmur of people talking in a busy restaurant.
|
|
|
|
| Ambiguous | words that do not have a clear meaning.
|
|
|
|
| Ambushing | a barrier to listening by which listeners seek ways to respond to or attack the speaker.
|
|
|
|
| Amnesty | an official pardon or forgiveness for wrongdoing.
|
|
|
|
| Analogy | compares or contrasts one unfamiliar concept or object with something that the audience already knows or understands.
|
|
|
|
| Anchors | attitudes or beliefs that act as a personal standard for judging other messages.
|
|
|
|
| Anecdote | a brief story.
|
|
|
|
| Appeal to authority | a fallacy in which someone serves as a spokesperson outside his or her area of expertise.
|
|
|
|
| Appeal to popular opinion | a fallacy based on the premise that the listener should think or act the same way as a substantial group of people.
|
|
|
|
| Appreciation | the goal of listening for pleasure or enjoyment.
|
|
|
|
| Appropriate audience attention | focuses the audience's thoughts on the topic and purpose of the speech.
|
|
|
|
| Appropriated | take for one's own use.
|
|
|
|
| Appropriateness | responding in ways that fit the communication context.
|
|
|
|
| Arbitrary | words that have no direct connection to the objects they represent.
|
|
|
|
| Argot | the specialized language of a co-culture.
|
|
|
|
| Argument | a statement of belief, or claim, presented with evidence and reasoning.
|
|
|
|
| Artifactics | the use of objects to communicate nonverbally.
|
|
|
|
| Attending | the first stage in the listening process involves making the conscious choice to listen.
|
|
|
|
| Attention step | an explicit attempt by the speaker to gain the audience's interest.
|
|
|
|
| Attractiveness bias | the tendency to think better of attractive people than unattractive people and to make positive attributions about their behavior.
|
|
|
|
| Attractiveness | what we visualize as the "perfect look" or idealized physical attributes.
|
|
|
|
| Attribution | crediting or referencing the sources of information.
|
|
|
|
| Attribution | the assignment of meaning to the actions of ourselves and others.
|
|
|
|
| Audience centered | speakers adapt the speech to the audience's needs, level of knowledge, background, and interests.
|
|
|
|
| Audience expectations | what the audience believes is going to happen during the speech.
|
|
|
|
| Authoritarian leadership | the leader of the group makes all decisions for the group.
|
|
|
|
| Autonomy | the desire to retain independence.
|
|
|
|
| Avoidance | attempting to evade conflict.
|
|
|
|
| Back context | a private environment that requires a less conscious effort to manage the impression you project to others.
|
|
|
|
| Banal | dull or commonplace
|
|
|
|
| Biorhythms | recurring cycles of biological processes, such as alertness or hunger that peak at a regular time each day.
|
|
|
|
| Blind quadrant | the part of yourself that others know but you do not.
|
|
|
|
| Breadth | the number of contexts in which communicators interact in a relationship.
|
|
|
|
| Brief example | an illustration familiar to the audience, which therefore requires very little detail.
|
|
|
|
| Cause and effect speech structure | divides the speech into the causes of some phenomenon and the effects that result from it.
|
|
|
|
| Change | the need for novelty and new experiences.
|
|
|
|
| Changeable | words based on social, political, and cultural contexts, and the historical time in which they are located.
|
|
|
|
| Channels | the mediums that carry messages between communicators.
|
|
|
|
| Charisma | the ability to influence others in specific situations through personal dynamism, likeability, and vision.
|
|
|
|
| Chronemics | the use of time to communicate nonverbally.
|
|
|
|
| Chronological speech structure | organizes a speech around segments or sequences of time.
|
|
|
|
| Civic engagement | participating to create change, organizing others who share a common vision, and working to improve communities and organizations.
|
|
|
|
| Civility | accepting others as equal partners in reaching common goals.
|
|
|
|
| Claims of fact | statements about the truth or falsity of some assertion or statement.
|
|
|
|
| Claims of policy | statements that ask listeners to consider a specific course of action.
|
|
|
|
| Claims of value | statements that ask listeners to form a judgment or evaluation.
|
|
|
|
| Clichés | worn-out phrases used so often that they have lost their vividness.
|
|
|
|
| Co-culture | cultures within a culture.
|
|
|
|
| Code | a set of conventions or rules shared by members of a culture and which governs the use of words and symbols.
|
|
|
|
| Code-switching | the ability to adopt a preferred code based on the group with which you are interacting.
|
|
|
|
| Coercion | psychologically or physically forcing the other person to accept your point of view.
|
|
|
|
| Cognitive dissonance | the uncomfortable tension listeners experience when two ideas, concepts, or things that they believe, value, or do are related but contradictory.
|
|
|
|
| Coherence | the standard of evaluating narratives that asks whether a story makes sense based on the details, order of events, credibility of the storyteller, behaviors of the characters, and comparisons with similar accounts.
|
|
|
|
| Coherent | easy to follow; logical and consistent.
|
|
|
|
| Cohesion | a sense of attachment, solidarity, and camaraderie that binds a group together.
|
|
|
|
| Collaboration | working together to reach consensus.
|
|
|
|
| Collectivism | emphasis on the importance of group obligations, needs, and identity.
|
|
|
|
| Colloquial | informal language.
|
|
|
|
| Communal | relating to a community or group of people who share interests.
|
|
|
|
| Communication apprehension | fear of communication situations.
|
|
|
|
| Communication climate | the way people feel about their interactions with others, either in relationships or in groups.
|
|
|
|
| Communication | the process of creating and sharing meaning through the use of symbols.
|
|
|
|
| Comparison speech structure | organizes information around distinct points of similarity or difference.
|
|
|
|
| Complement | a nonverbal function that adds meaning to verbal messages.
|
|
|
|
| Complete sentence outline | uses full sentences, including standard punctuation such as periods, commas, and questions marks, to delineate the speaking information.
|
|
|
|
| Comprehension | the goal of listening for understanding.
|
|
|
|
| Compromise | giving up something in order to find an acceptable solution to the problem.
|
|
|
|
| Concrete | words that come as close as possible to an objective description of reality.
|
|
|
|
| Confirmation | when others accept our presentation of self and act in harmony with the image we are displaying.
|
|
|
|
| Conflict | a condition of disharmony and disagreement that exists when people who depend on one another see their needs, beliefs and values, or goals as incompatible.
|
|
|
|
| Connection | the need to be included in a relationship.
|
|
|
|
| Connotation | the meaning of words based on individual or cultural experiences or values.
|
|
|
|
| Construct | an idea or category of meaning.
|
|
|
|
| Constructive responses to conflict | communication characterized by cooperation, shared interests, flexibility, open discussion, and support of differences.
|
|
|
|
| Constructivism | theory that people interpret and act on experience based on a mental system of organizing knowledge.
|
|
|
|
| Contempt | disdain, scorn, or disapproval.
|
|
|
|
| Contentious | controversial or debatable.
|
|
|
|
| Continuous | a characteristic of nonverbal communication that indicates that nonverbal messages are streams of cues.
|
|
|
|
| Continuum | an uninterrupted range or field.
|
|
|
|
| Contradict | a nonverbal function that opposes, denies, or disagrees with a verbal message.
|
|
|
|
| Credibility | the audience's perception of the speaker's expertise, character, and goodwill.
|
|
|
|
| Crescendo | building toward a climax or highest point.
|
|
|
|
| Cultivation theory | an approach to media research which argues that media consumption has a cumulative influence in promoting a shared worldview.
|
|
|
|
| Cultural sensitivity | possessing the knowledge, awareness, and skills to communicate effectively and appropriately with diverse people.
|
|
|
|
| Culture | everything that makes up our "way of life," including shared values, knowledge, behaviors, and symbolic expression.
|
|
|
|
| Curriculum | a set of courses in a college or other school.
|
|
|
|
| Dating | a process that places observations in a specific time frame to suggest that change is possible.
|
|
|
|
| Decoding | the interpretation of a message by deciphering symbols into understandable and meaningful ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
|
|
|
|
| Deduction | reasoning that starts with a general statement and draws a specific conclusion.
|
|
|
|
| Defensiveness | acting protectively or as if one has been attacked.
|
|
|
|
| Deference | high esteem or respect.
|
|
|
|
| Definition | establishes the meanings of words or concepts.
|
|
|
|
| Demeanor | one's outward behavior or way of carrying oneself.
|
|
|
|
| Democratic leadership | The leader of the group allows all members to participate fully in the decision making process.
|
|
|
|
| Demographic characteristics | the age, sex, socioeconomic status, ethnicity or nationality, level of education, and professional interests of the audience.
|
|
|
|
| Denotation | the most concrete, specific, and objective meaning of a word.
|
|
|
|
| Depth | the amount of time communicators interact and the personal level of information they exchange in a relationship.
|
|
|
|
| Derived credibility | the credibility, or belief, in a speaker that is created by the content of the message and the manner in which it is presented.
|
|
|
|
| Despotic | a cruel and repressive leader.
|
|
|
|
| Destructive responses to conflict | communication characterized by competition, self-centeredness, hostility, and defensiveness.
|
|
|
|
| Dialectical tensions | ongoing, changing needs that are often opposite or contradictory.
|
|
|
|
| Disconfirmation | when others ignore our presentation of self and act indifferent to the image we are displaying.
|
|
|
|
| Discrete | separate and distinct.
|
|
|
|
| Disfluencies | vocal pauses such as "um," "aaa," and "and a."
|
|
|
|
| Disfranchised | alienated or excluded.
|
|
|
|
| Display rules | cultural expectations about the public display of emotions.
|
|
|
|
| Disruptive roles | satisfy member's needs at the expense of the group.
|
|
|
|
| Diversity | the value of distinct perspectives that membership in various groups can bring and understanding the process by which difference becomes meaningful and developing the competence to live, learn, and work within many cultures.
|
|
|
|
| Dogmatic | rigid and inflexible.
|
|
|
|
| Doublespeak | the use of language to intentionally obscure, confuse, equivocate, or deceive.
|
|
|
|
| Dyads | consist of two people communicating.
|
|
|
|
| Dynamism | energy and drive.
|
|
|
|
| Electronic society | the stage at which all forms of communication have been influenced, either directly or indirectly, by electronic media.
|
|
|
|
| Emblems | nonverbal gestures with specific and definitive meanings, often substituting for explicit verbal words.
|
|
|
|
| Emoticons | keyboard symbols used in e-mail or chat rooms to simulate facial expressions or voice qualities.
|
|
|
|
| Empathetic echo | a listening or response technique that paraphrases or repeats a message.
|
|
|
|
| Empathetic listening | establishes common ground between people by acknowledging the legitimacy of feelings and giving support to others.
|
|
|
|
| Empathy | the ability to accurately perceive the experience and behavior of another person.
|
|
|
|
| Encoding | the initiation and creation of a message as a communicator translates ideas, thoughts, and feelings into symbols.
|
|
|
|
| Enduring credibility | the impression of credibility that remains with your audience.
|
|
|
|
| Entertainment | the form of gratification we get when media function as a form of wish fulfillment, providing satisfying images and stimulating emotions.
|
|
|
|
| Enunciation | saying words clearly.
|
|
|
|
| Epithet | a negative label used to describe a person.
|
|
|
|
| Equivocate | use of ambiguous words to deceive.
|
|
|
|
| Estranged | no longer close or affectionate; unfriendly or hostile.
|
|
|
|
| Ethics | the principles that guide our decisions about what is good or bad, right or wrong.
|
|
|
|
| Ethos | the ethics or credibility of the speaker.
|
|
|
|
| Euphemism | a socially accepted word or phrase substituted for an uncomfortable or unacceptable one.
|
|
|
|
| Evaluation | the goal of listening to render an opinion or judgment.
|
|
|
|
| Examples | illustrations or stories that explicate a particular point.
|
|
|
|
| Explanation | clarifies some concept or idea by further identifying its source, explaining how it works, or relating it to other concepts.
|
|
|
|
| Expression | the need to be or have others be open, candid, and confiding.
|
|
|
|
| Expressive communication | verbally acknowledging how others feel and sharing experiences.
|
|
|
|
| Extemporaneous speaking | using a keyword outline to deliver a prepared speech.
|
|
|
|
| Extended example | a single illustration retold with detail and context.
|
|
|
|
| Eye contact | looking at the audience when delivering a speech.
|
|
|
|
| Facework | the act of presenting the self.
|
|
|
|
| Fallacy | an error in reasoning.
|
|
|
|
| False cause | a fallacy that implies a cause-and-effect relationship where none exists.
|
|
|
|
| False choice | a fallacy in which the speaker presents a false dichotomy between two choices.
|
|
|
|
| Feedback | a response or reaction to a message.
|
|
|
|
| Femininity | a emphasis on interdependence, quality of life, and variability in the roles that females and males are expected to perform.
|
|
|
|
| Fester | annoy, irritate, or aggravate to make something worse.
|
|
|
|
| Fidelity | the standard of evaluating narratives that refers to the truthfulness of a story based on the facts and relevance to personal experience or values.
|
|
|
|
| Figurative analogy | compares two or more concepts, objects, people, or places from different classes or categories.
|
|
|
|
| Flaming | impolite outbursts.
|
|
|
|
| Fluctuates | changes, varies, alternatives, swings back and forth, ebbs and flows.
|
|
|
|
| Foot in the door | the technique of starting with a small request and then following later with a more substantial one.
|
|
|
|
| Front context | a public setting where you actively manage the impression you project to others.
|
|
|
|
| Fundamental attribution error | the overestimation of the degree to which other people's behaviors are due to internal factors and underestimation of the significance of external forces.
|
|
|
|
| Gatekeepers | editors, producers, webmasters, and other media managers who decide which messages will get produced.
|
|
|
|
| Gender identity | the conception you have of yourself as a male or female, masculine or feminine.
|
|
|
|
| General speech purpose | the overall objective of the speech, such as to inform, to persuade, or to entertain.
|
|
|
|
| Generalized other | a composite view of society's reflection of yourself.
|
|
|
|
| Generic | general, standard.
|
|
|
|
| Gestures | significant body movements that convey a message.
|
|
|
|
| Gossip | talk about an absent third party.
|
|
|
|
| Gratification function | the active use of media to fulfill needs and desires.
|
|
|
|
| Group charge | the overall or main objective of the group.
|
|
|
|
| Group norms | expectations, established through interaction, about how members should behave.
|
|
|
|
| Group synergy | group members combine their abilities to produce an outcome greater than the sum of their individual abilities.
|
|
|
|
| Haptics | the use of touch to communicate nonverbally.
|
|
|
|
| Hasty generalization | a fallacy in which the speaker draws a conclusion about a group or general condition based on limited examples.
|
|
|
|
| Hearing | the act of perceiving sounds or other related stimuli.
|
|
|
|
| Hidden quadrant | those things that you know about yourself but others do not.
|
|
|
|
| High context | an interaction style in which people expect others to figure out implicit meanings based on the situation or the relationship between communicators.
|
|
|
|
| Homepage | the first document posted on a website and the doorway though which additional documents or information can be accessed.
|
|
|
|
| Homophobic | possessing irrational fear and/or hatred of homosexuality.
|
|
|
|
| Hypodermic needle model | explains direct media effects by suggesting that a specific message can be "shot" into an unsuspecting audience.
|
|
|
|
| Hypothetical example | an illustration that is not real, but imaginary.
|
|
|
|
| Identity | the conception of yourself as a member of a group or category.
|
|
|
|
| Idiosyncratic | personal, unique, individual, all your own.
|
|
|
|
| Illustrators | nonverbal gestures that accent or clarify verbal messages.
|
|
|
|
| Imagery | evoking a mental picture in the mind of the audience.
|
|
|
|
| Imaginary audience syndrome | tendency of teenage girls to think that other people are preoccupied with their appearance and behaviors.
|
|
|
|
| Imbue | invest with or permeate.
|
|
|
|
| Impervious | unresponsive to or incapable of being affected by what someone says or means.
|
|
|
|
| Impromptu speaking | delivering a speech with little or no preparation.
|
|
|
|
| Inclusive language | verbal communication that demonstrates respect for others by using language that values them as individuals.
|
|
|
|
| Indexing | a process that ties evaluations to a specific circumstance to make them unique.
|
|
|
|
| Indifference | a lack of interest in listening.
|
|
|
|
| Individualism | emphasis on the importance of individual rights over group rights, individual needs over group needs, and individual identity over group identity.
|
|
|
|
| Induction | reasoning from a particular instance to a generalization.
|
|
|
|
| Inference | a conclusion, projection, or interpretation based on facts.
|
|
|
|
| Inference | the interpretations or conclusions we draw based on specific statements or facts.
|
|
|
|
| Inflection | the vocal emphasis placed on each word when speaking.
|
|
|
|
| Information | when discussing media gratification, the desire for knowledge based on curiosity, personal investment, or need.
|
|
|
|
| Initial credibility | the credibility you bring to a situation by virtue of your reputation or accomplishments.
|
|
|
|
| Initiator | one who begins or advances the communication process by generating a message.
|
|
|
|
| Inspirational speech | a presentation that aims to motivate listeners and arouse their passions.
|
|
|
|
| Instrumental communication | listening or responding to help others solve problems or accomplish goals.
|
|
|
|
| Integrating topics | areas of common interest that members of a relationship enjoy discussing.
|
|
|
|
| Interim | an intervening or temporary step
|
|
|
|
| Internal summary | reviews concepts or ideas to help remind the audience of key points and to move the speech to the next important point.
|
|
|
|
| Interpersonal communication | interaction among a small number of people.
|
|
|
|
| Interpersonal communication | occurs when individuals treat each other as unique and interact in an individual or customized way.
|
|
|
|
| Interpersonal similarity | occurs when we share common attitudes, values, habits, and communication styles with other members of a relationship.
|
|
|
|
| Interpretation | stage of perception in which we determine the meaning of an event or interaction.
|
|
|
|
| Interpreter | one who perceives and attempts to understand a message.
|
|
|
|
| Interpreting | the second stage in the listening process involves giving meaning to sounds or related stimuli.
|
|
|
|
| Intimate interpersonal relationships | characterized by high levels of trust, warmth, and affection; nonintimate relationships are more impersonal, distant, and formal.
|
|
|
|
| Intrapersonal communication | an internal dialogue with ourselves; self-talk.
|
|
|
|
| Intrinsic | a characteristic of nonverbal communication indicating that nonverbal messages are inherently connected to our emotions and mental states.
|
|
|
|
| Intrinsically | inherently or fundamentally connected to something.
|
|
|
|
| Jargon | a technical language often associated with a particular profession.
|
|
|
|
| Johari Window | a model depicting an individual's degree of self-awareness.
|
|
|
|
| Key word outline | uses only a few important words from each sentence of a complete sentence outline to delineate the speaking information.
|
|
|
|
| Kinesics | the use of body motion to communicate nonverbally.
|
|
|
|
| Laissez-faire leadership | the leader of the group gives minimal guidance and allows group members work with little or no structure.
|
|
|
|
| Latitude of acceptance | the range of positions a listener is likely to accept or tolerate.
|
|
|
|
| Latitude of noncommittment | the range of positions a listener neither accepts or rejects.
|
|
|
|
| Latitude of rejection | the range of positions a listener is likely to reject or consider intolerable.
|
|
|
|
| Lavish | plentiful or extravagant.
|
|
|
|
| Lay people | individuals who are not part of the clergy.
|
|
|
|
| Leadership | the process of exerting positive influence over other group members.
|
|
|
|
| Leakage | a nonverbal cue that reveals emotions we are trying to conceal.
|
|
|
|
| Lexical recall | ability to remember a specific word.
|
|
|
|
| Linguistic relativity hypothesis | the idea that our thoughts are influenced by the words we know and the patterns of language that dominate our culture.
|
|
|
|
| Listening | the process of perceiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken or nonverbal messages.
|
|
|
|
| Literacy | ability to comprehend and use written symbols.
|
|
|
|
| Literal analogy | compares two concepts, objects, people, or places that are inherently similar to each other.
|
|
|
|
| Logos | arguments based on logic or reason.
|
|
|
|
| Low context | an interaction style in which communicators expect information to be direct and explicit.
|
|
|
|
| Luxuricating | to indulge oneself in a lavish or extremely comfortable manner.
|
|
|
|
| Main points | the most important ideas to be communicated to the audience and those that lead directly to the specific purpose of the speech.
|
|
|
|
| Maintenance roles | serve to build relationships within the group and to create a sense of teamwork.
|
|
|
|
| Manuscript speaking | delivering a speech from a script written out word for word.
|
|
|
|
| Masculinity | emphasis on power, assertiveness, independence, materialism, and rigid distinctions between expectations of males and females.
|
|
|
|
| Mass communication | the creation of meaning through messages sent to a large, unseen, and anonymous audience.
|
|
|
|
| Media literacy | ability to understand the language of media and critically assess the contribution of media to society.
|
|
|
|
| Media synergy | the use by media conglomerates of as many channels of delivery as possible for similar content.
|
|
|
|
| Media | the vehicles that carry messages.
|
|
|
|
| Mediated communication | occurs when communicators use some form of technology, including television, radio, film, newspapers, and the Internet.
|
|
|
|
| Memorized speaking | delivering a speech by writing out the speech, memorizing the content, and then delivering it word for word, without the use of notes.
|
|
|
|
| Message overload | occurs when communicators are overwhelmed with the number of messages; communicators who experience overload stop attending to or comprehending some or most of the messages they perceive.
|
|
|
|
| Message | a symbolic expression of ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
|
|
|
|
| Metacommunication | communication about communication; discussing the relationship dimension of messages is one type of metacommunication.
|
|
|
|
| Metaphor | a figure of speech that compares two objects, feelings, or concepts.
|
|
|
|
| Metaphor | comparing one thing, idea, or action to another.
|
|
|
|
| Misnomer | misnamed or inappropriate use of a name, label, or title.
|
|
|
|
| Monochronic cultures | cultures that view time as linear rather than circular.
|
|
|
|
| Moral relativism | the idea that there are no absolute moral standards.
|
|
|
|
| Motivated sequence | a persuasive speech structure designed to move audiences toward taking immediate action.
|
|
|
|
| Mundane | ordinary, routine, or unexceptional.
|
|
|
|
| Mythos | the use of myths, legends, and folktales as persuasive appeals.
|
|
|
|
| Name-calling | a fallacy based on attacking a speaker's physical or character traits rather than the content of his or her argument.
|
|
|
|
| Narrative speech structure | organizes a speech around one or more stories.
|
|
|
|
| Network society | the integration of several communication technologies into a new social system.
|
|
|
|
| Noise | anything that interferes with the creation of shared meaning between or among communicators.
|
|
|
|
| Nonlinguistic | a characteristic of nonverbal communication indicating that nonverbal messages are outside languages.
|
|
|
|
| Nonverbal communication | messages expressed through symbols other than words.
|
|
|
|
| Nonverbal communication | messages expressed through symbols other than words, including hand gestures, facial expressions, touching, vocal inflection, and clothing.
|
|
|
|
| Occasion | the time, mood, and setting of the speech.
|
|
|
|
| Olfactory | the use of smell to communicate nonverbally.
|
|
|
|
| Open quadrant | the part of yourself that is known both to you and to others.
|
|
|
|
| Oral cultures | cultures in which speaking and hearing are the dominant forms of communication.
|
|
|
|
| Organization | placing stimuli in a knowledge structure or category to give them meaning and aid retention.
|
|
|
|
| Outline | a concise synopsis that displays the structure and relationship of speech ideas and concepts.
|
|
|
|
| Pantomime | to act out or demonstrate without saying any words.
|
|
|
|
| Paradox | an apparent contradiction or inconsistency.
|
|
|
|
| Paraphrasing | listeners summarize messages in their own words.
|
|
|
|
| Participation | the level of communication where we accept others who are different as unique, valuable, and integrated into our lives.
|
|
|
|
| Passive aggression | indirect expression of hostility, often through the use of humor, guilt, or inconsiderate behavior.
|
|
|
|
| Passive listeners | people who expend little or no energy in the listening process.
|
|
|
|
| Pathos | arguments based on emotional appeals.
|
|
|
|
| Patterned | follows a regular order.
|
|
|
|
| Peer reviewed | experts in the discipline select only the best articles to publish in a journal.
|
|
|
|
| Penny press | inexpensive, mass-produced newspapers designed to appeal to the growing immigrant population in the United States.
|
|
|
|
| Perception check | tool that gauges the accuracy of your perceptions by engaging in conversations with others.
|
|
|
|
| Perception shifts | strategies for thinking creatively and managing different perspectives.
|
|
|
|
| Perception | process of assigning meaning to sensory information and experiences.
|
|
|
|
| Perceptual constancy | tendency to maintain the same perception of people and events over time.
|
|
|
|
| Perceptual field | the range of stimuli that the mind can apprehend.
|
|
|
|
| personal constructs | categories by which people and events can be differentiated.
|
|
|
|
| Perspective taking | the ability to consider behavior from someone else's point of view.
|
|
|
|
| Persuasion | attempting to get others to change their point of view.
|
|
|
|
| Physical attraction | occurs when we are attracted to someone's appearance through such attributes as facial features, height, body type, and hair color.
|
|
|
|
| Pithy | clever or noteworthy
|
|
|
|
| Plagiarism | using other people's ideas, methods, or words without proper acknowledgment.
|
|
|
|
| Polychronic | cultures that view time as circular rather than linear.
|
|
|
|
| Power distance | the relative value that cultures place on status and power in relationships.
|
|
|
|
| Predisposition | a tendency or inclination to think or behave in a particular way.
|
|
|
|
| Preliterate | the state of a people before acquiring the ability to read and write.
|
|
|
|
| Primary source | firsthand knowledge, testimony, or direct evidence from authors who created the information.
|
|
|
|
| Priming | audience use of conceptual categories that have been emphasized in the media.
|
|
|
|
| Privacy | the need to be or have others be restrained, circumspect, and distant.
|
|
|
|
| Problem/solution speech structure | organizes information in a speech around one or more problems and one or more solutions to those problems.
|
|
|
|
| Problem-solving agenda (PSA) | a standard approach to group problem solving that maximizes critical thinking while minimizing rash or impulsive decisions.
|
|
|
|
| Process speech | describes how to make or do something by listing the essential steps of the process in time order from the earliest to the latest.
|
|
|
|
| Pronunciation | saying words according to accepted standards of English and in accordance with the expectations of the audience.
|
|
|
|
| Prototype | a specific person, personality, or phenomenon that exemplifies a set of characteristics.
|
|
|
|
| Proverbial | having the characteristic of a well-known story or proverb.
|
|
|
|
| Proxemics | the use of space to communicate nonverbally.
|
|
|
|
| Proximity | the equality of being close to something, an object, person, or event.
|
|
|
|
| Pseudolistening | pretending to listen.
|
|
|
|
| Public communication | interaction with large numbers of people.
|
|
|
|
| Rate | how quickly or slowly a speech is delivered.
|
|
|
|
| Reciprocity | taking turns, responding in kind.
|
|
|
|
| Reconnaissance | to scout out a location beforehand.
|
|
|
|
| Recrimination | to seek revenge or punishment.
|
|
|
|
| Reference groups | groups with which we most strongly identify.
|
|
|
|
| Referential meaning | a meaning that can be indicated by pointing to an object.
|
|
|
|
| Regulate | a function of nonverbal communication that controls, adjusts, or alters the flow of verbal messages.
|
|
|
|
| Rejection | when others contradict the presentation of ourself and act inconsistently with the image we are displaying.
|
|
|
|
| Remembering | the final stage in the listening process involves the retention and recall of the messages.
|
|
|
|
| Repeat | a function of nonverbal communication that reiterates verbal messages.
|
|
|
|
| Repertoire | a range of effective and ethical communication behaviors from which to choose.
|
|
|
|
| Repugnant | extremely distasteful.
|
|
|
|
| Resilient | strong; able to recover quickly from injury, either mental or physical.
|
|
|
|
| Resistance | the level of communication where we judge others who are different and avoid or reject them.
|
|
|
|
| Respect | the level of communication where we begin to see value in the ways that others are different.
|
|
|
|
| Responding | the third stage in the listening process involves any discernable reaction including both verbal and nonverbal feedback.
|
|
|
|
| Rhetorical question | a question you want the audience to think about but not answer vocally.
|
|
|
|
| Role taking | the act of understanding the motives, interests, and actions of other people and adopting those actions, at least temporarily, in the self.
|
|
|
|
| Ruminating | mull over, ponder, and think about over and over.
|
|
|
|
| Salience | personal relevance or interest.
|
|
|
|
| Salience | prominent, important, or relevant.
|
|
|
|
| Scripts | guides to actions and expectations based on the categorization of perceptions.
|
|
|
|
| Search engine | software that searches homepages for key words and phrases.
|
|
|
|
| Secondary source | information based on other people's observation or research.
|
|
|
|
| Selection | focusing on some sensory stimuli rather than others.
|
|
|
|
| Selective exposure | people choose to watch or listen to media messages that confirm existing beliefs.
|
|
|
|
| Selective retention | people choose to remember media messages that confirm existing beliefs.
|
|
|
|
| Self | the total composite of a person's personality, experiences, and identity.
|
|
|
|
| Self-awareness | the consciousness of our existence and degree to which we understand ourselves.
|
|
|
|
| Self-concept | a relatively consistent image or set of perceptions that you have about yourself.
|
|
|
|
| Self-deprecating | criticizing or making fun of oneself.
|
|
|
|
| Self-disclosure | the intentional revelation of personal aspects of your self, including thoughts, preferences, feelings, and experiences, to another person within the context of an interpersonal relationship.
|
|
|
|
| Self-esteem | the value you attach to your self-concept.
|
|
|
|
| Self-fulfilling prophecy | the tendency to live up to the expectations created for us.
|
|
|
|
| Self-monitoring | the ability to see, think about, and act based on the consequences of your behavior.
|
|
|
|
| Self-serving bias | the tendency to attribute external causes to our own misfortunes, but not to those of others.
|
|
|
|
| Semantic noise | a barrier to listening triggered by a particular word or phrase used by a speaker.
|
|
|
|
| Sensations | perceptions of the body's condition.
|
|
|
|
| Shock talk | words or statements designed to horrify, outrage, or otherwise offend listeners.
|
|
|
|
| Significant others | people who are particularly important to you and with whom you share a close relationship.
|
|
|
|
| Signpost | tell an audience where they are and where they are going in a speech.
|
|
|
|
| Similarity bias | the attribution of our own motivations to someone else's behaviors.
|
|
|
|
| Simile | a type of metaphor that compares two things using the words "like" or "as."
|
|
|
|
| Simultaneous | occurring at the same time.
|
|
|
|
| Slippery slope | a fallacy based on the assumption that once a single step is taken, many other destructive ones are sure to follow.
|
|
|
|
| Small group communication | interaction among three to seven people who communicate over time to accomplish some goal or purpose.
|
|
|
|
| Small group | a limited number of individuals who communicate interdependently to achieve a common goal.
|
|
|
|
| Social comparison | when we understand our self by comparing it to others.
|
|
|
|
| Social identity theory | our identification with social groups is important for our self-concept, and the relative salience of a given identity depends on social context.
|
|
|
|
| Social judgment theory | evaluation of persuasive messages based on the beliefs we already hold.
|
|
|
|
| Social learning | the general theory that we learn new behaviors, customs, and routines by watching others.
|
|
|
|
| Social penetration theory | we disclose increasingly personal information about ourselves as the relationship develops, and we reserve discussion about our most private thoughts for our most intimate relationships.
|
|
|
|
| Social proximity | refers to "social closeness"; and we are often attracted to people who live near us, belong to the same groups or organizations, or attend the same school.
|
|
|
|
| Social utility | the function media serve when they provide common topics about social relationships and models for behavior.
|
|
|
|
| Socially ascribed | having characteristics attributed by others.
|
|
|
|
| Spatial speech structure | organizes a speech around familiar relationships in the environment, such as near and far, up and down, right and left, or east and west.
|
|
|
|
| Speaking aids | visual and auditory props which speakers use to develop a speech and help the audience conceptualize ideas.
|
|
|
|
| Specific speech purpose | the precise goal the speaker wants to achieve with the audience.
|
|
|
|
| Speech of introduction | a presentation that gives the audience information about the key speaker.
|
|
|
|
| Speech of tribute | a presentation that includes eulogies, toasts, and other speeches that commemorate special events such as national holidays.
|
|
|
|
| Speech that calls for action | persuasive speaking aimed to move the audience to a specific behavior.
|
|
|
|
| Speech that convinces | persuasive speaking that urges listeners to accept contentious facts, evaluate beliefs, or support actions.
|
|
|
|
| Speech that demonstrates | a presentation that shows audiences how to do something.
|
|
|
|
| Speech that describes | a presentation that provides details of an object or concept.
|
|
|
|
| Speech that explains | a presentation that teaches about or clarifies an event or development.
|
|
|
|
| Speech that narrates | a presentation that uses an extended story to make a statement.
|
|
|
|
| Speech that reinforces | persuasive speaking that attempts to strengthen existing attitudes, beliefs, or values.
|
|
|
|
| Speech to entertain | a speech whose overall objective is to amuse, enthrall, cheer, charm, or otherwise please an audience.
|
|
|
|
| Speech to inform | a speech whose overall objective is to explain a concept, idea, or process to an audience.
|
|
|
|
| Speech to persuade | a speech whose overall objective is to influence an audience to accept a belief, agree with a value, or take an action.
|
|
|
|
| Stability | the need to control our environment through safe and conventional routines.
|
|
|
|
| Stages of relationship development | patterns or life cycles that relationships pass through as they develop or deteriorate. Relationships have a beginning (or birth), middle (coming of age), and an end (death).
|
|
|
|
| Standing group | a group that has a broad mandate and works continuously on a variety of related problems.
|
|
|
|
| Statistics | numerical representations used to quantify ideas or concepts.
|
|
|
|
| Stereotypes | specific kinds of labels that characterize people based on the assumed traits of others in their group.
|
|
|
|
| Stimuli | things that evoke a reaction.
|
|
|
|
| Stonewalling | attempt to avoid or postpone discussion.
|
|
|
|
| Subpoints | ideas that amplify or develop the main points.
|
|
|
|
| Subsidiary | secondary or lesser importance.
|
|
|
|
| Substitute | a function of nonverbal communication that takes the place of verbal messages.
|
|
|
|
| Surveillance | the function of media to keep the public informed about social and political events.
|
|
|
|
| Syllogism | a form of reasoning that draws a conclusion based on two premises.
|
|
|
|
| Symbolic | the property of words that allows us to talk about things without being the things themselves.
|
|
|
|
| Symbols | the words, images, gestures, and expressions that we use to represent our thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and feelings.
|
|
|
|
| Sympathy | showing compassion for another person's feelings or situation.
|
|
|
|
| Synchronize | to coordinate activities and behaviors.
|
|
|
|
| Syntax | a characteristic of languages that prescribes a certain word order.
|
|
|
|
| Taboos | prohibited words or the behaviors that those words describe.
|
|
|
|
| Tangential | off the subject and unrelated to the main discussion.
|
|
|
|
| Task roles | facilitate the group goal or purpose.
|
|
|
|
| Task-avoidance | engaging in excessive socialization to postpone or forestall working on the group project.
|
|
|
|
| Technological convergence | the union of different, specialized media to meet the individual needs of users.
|
|
|
|
| Territoriality | the tendency of humans to mark and defend a particular space.
|
|
|
|
| Testimony | stated opinion in support of an idea.
|
|
|
|
| Third person effect | the belief that media influence others more than ourselves.
|
|
|
|
| Tolerance | the level of communication where we are willing to acknowledge that differences exist.
|
|
|
|
| Topic outline | uses brief phrases to summarize the major points of a presentation.
|
|
|
|
| Topical speech structure | organizes a speech around types or categories.
|
|
|
|
| Toxic noise | excessive environmental sound that distracts or pollutes the quality of life.
|
|
|
|
| Transactional communication | messages that communicators initiate and interpret simultaneously.
|
|
|
|
| Transcendent | surpassing human experience or beyond the material world.
|
|
|
|
| Transitions | verbal bridges that move the speech from one point or idea to the next.
|
|
|
|
| Trash talk | words or statements designed to insult perceived adversaries, usually involving name-calling or threats.
|
|
|
|
| Trite | worn out, clichéd, or trivial.
|
|
|
|
| Turning points | particular events, feelings, or interactions that change the direction or intensity of a relationship.
|
|
|
|
| Ubiquitous | everywhere, ever present.
|
|
|
|
| Ubiquitous | everywhere, ever-present.
|
|
|
|
| Uncertainty avoidance | the degree of uncertainty tolerated by members of a culture or group.
|
|
|
|
| Unknown quadrant | the category of things that neither you nor others know about yourself.
|
|
|
|
| Urban legend | an outrageous story that circulates in the tabloid press or on the Internet, such as stories of travelers who enjoy a drink in a lounge and awaken to find that their kidneys have been removed by criminal organ harvesters.
|
|
|
|
| Verbal language | the systematic use of words and symbols to create and convey meaning.
|
|
|
|
| Verbal communication | messages expressed through a formal language, using oral, written, or signed words.
|
|
|
|
| Visualization | a technique used to control communication apprehension by replacing negative thoughts and images with positive ones.
|
|
|
|
| Vividness | includes all sensations that seem to stand out from their surroundings.
|
|
|
|
| Vocal pauses | sounds speakers make while stopping to think of what they are going to say next, such as "ah," "a," "and a," "um," and "uh."
|
|
|
|
| Vocal variety | varying the rate, volume, and inflection in delivering a speech.
|
|
|
|
| Vocalics | the use of your voice to communicate nonverbally.
|
|
|
|
| Volume | how loudly a speech is delivered.
|
|
|
|
| Voyeurism | the practice of obtaining enjoyment or sexual gratification from the observation of others in private settings.
|
|
|
|
| Web browser | software that allows you to go from one site to another on the Internet and view Web pages.
|