It’s 8:45 A.M. in New York City. A woman walks up to a street vendor’s cart, smiles and nods quickly at the vendor, and says, “Regular.” The man promptly prepares her a small coffee with milk and two sugars. He hands her the coffee; she hands him a dollar, says, “Thanks,” and continues on her way.
With only two words spoken, an entire business transaction has been carried out to the satisfaction of both parties. But what exactly occurred? The characteristics of communication can explain.
Keep a log of all the different channels (face to face, written, computer mediated, telephonic, and others) you use to communicate during the course of one morning or afternoon. Do you regularly communicate with a particular person via a specific channel (for example, stay in touch with your mother mostly over the phone, with your romantic partner through text messages, and with your childhood best friend via Facebook postings)? What channels do you prefer to use when sending different types of messages (a long or a short message, a positive or a negative message, a business or a personal message, and so on)?