Alyssa Jensen
Interpersonal Communication
Assignment One
08/27/2014

Characteristics of Communication

The first characteristic of communication in Interpersonal Communication mentions is that communication is a process, not a thing. By that it means communication is a continuum, as in it will never end. As it states, "Communication is essentially cooperative; it succeeds only when we work in concert with others." (Trenholm and Jensen, 2013) and that I feel proves that communication is in fact a process. Without this process, there would be no communication. If I tried talking to a wall, I would always get the same result of nothing, but if I were to start up a conversation with a friend, even if they didn't have anything to add to the conversation verbally, I would still get some sort of response, whether it be a small gesture or even just eye contact. Therefore, concluding communication is always a ongoing process, that doesn't necessarily need words to continue on.

The second characteristic it states is that communication is uniquely human. Humans have a much stronger variety of ways to express themselves in communication versus anything else that can communicate. Communication in humans is defined by our expectations, perceptions, intentions and feelings, but is brought out not only by speech, but also by gestures, behaviors, body language, and writings. In example, if I were to give two people the same short story to read and then discuss what the story was about, both would be able to tell me, but neither one would use the identical summarization, word for word, to describe the story, likewise if I were to ask them to act the story out. We each interpret in our own way which only adds to the uniqueness of communication in humans.

The third characteristic in our text is communication is a collective activity, meaning communication is not possible with only one person. As Merloo stated, "Wherever the concept of communication comes into play, the emphasis is on the common sharing..." Anywhere you look, you will see the collective activity that communication is, because without one another there would be no communication. The basis of communication is to share with