Communication competence is the concept or framework that defines communication as we know it. It covers the all of the bases of communication, from talking to a person individually, to specific cases where logistics and demographics come into play. In order to be able to communicate over a large contextual area, such as group, interpersonal, public, mass media or intrapersonal, a person must have at least a standing knowledge of communication competence. Drawing back to the time of Plato and Aristotle, we can find instances where communication competence has drawn its rots.
These are the ten principles of communication competence that are most intertwined in our society today. These principles, if used singularly, are incredibly useful but when used together extremely potent.
[...] The appropriate time for a person to go into certain types of communication certainly shows their competence when it comes to a particular situation. There is a time and a place for everything. The difference is small but valid. For instance, according to Dainton's Applying Communication Theory to Real Life, a potential employee may lie on their job resume and get a job over a truthful person, which in turn looks effective, but in fact is it really appropriate? Of course not! [...]
[...] This is where it gets sticky: It is not so much the equivocal information that is a principle of communication competence; it is the making sense out of the equivocal information that is so important. Life throws equivocal information at us all the time and we are forced to decide between alternative situations in order to figure out the more rational solution. When these cases come up, communication competence beckons that we decide on the right situation Uncertainty: Uncertainty is a part of communication that could be considered on the fence in terms of effectiveness or not. [...]
[...] It is important to keep in mind that effective and appropriate communication aren't always seen hand-in-hand but instead can be conflicting depending on who it is doing the communicating Effectiveness: I saved effectiveness for last on this list of communication competence principles because I believe that it underlies all of the above principles. In order for a person to communicate truly in a good way their communication must have some degree of effectiveness. Case in point; if two people are conversing and one cannot even remotely connect with the other person there will be little effectiveness in the conversation- almost like speaking gibberish. [...]
[...] There are four different distances which deflect into our decisions (Griffin, Intimate space (0-18 inches) Personal distance (18 inches to 4 feet) Social distance (4-10 feet) Public distance (10 feet to infinity) Each of the four distances affect us differently and while they are not set in stone for everyone, they do act as basic guidelines to monitor how effective we are in communicating with people within our personal space restrictions Truth: Truth really has to come down as one of the most important aspects of communication competence because with it, it always seems to come back to bite you. [...]
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