The 28 Types Of Communication And Their Characteristics
Communication is the action of exchanging information, whether between two or more people, with the purpose of transmitting and receiving information (written, emotional, etc.). The person (or people) who sends the information is the sender, and the person who received it is the receiver. The medium through which the message is transmitted is the channel.
But this relatively simple scheme does not cover all the complexity of the process, because There are actually many types of communication, not just one In this article we will see its characteristics and what it means to know how to master them well.
Being a good communicator is key to personal relationships, in the success of your professional career and, also, the emotional health of people. In other words, being a competent communicator is necessary to function successfully in this life.
And if something characterizes the people who are happier, it is that they are competent communicators, which helps them face the situations of their daily lives in the most satisfactory way For example, when resolving an argument with your partner or when presenting her candidacy in a job interview. Luckily, communication skills can be learned.
However, to master communicative activity it is necessary that we be aware of all the different forms of communication that exist, because otherwise we will be sticking to a very reductionist definition of this concept and, therefore, we will miss opportunities to connect with others in an effective way This may occur because there are certain types of communication that are more popular or colorful than others, although that does not mean that those that fall outside that focus are less important or useful.
But… what are these communication skills? Good communicators are characterized by mastering these skills:
You can delve into these aspects in our article: “The 10 basic communication skills”. Now, to fully understand how you can take advantage of the act of communicating, it is necessary to know the types of communication.
Types of communication
As we have seen, beyond the basic scheme of the process of transmitting a message, there are different types of communication, since the senders can be different and the information that is sent and the channel through which it circulates as well. Below you can find the classification of the various forms of communication, according to various criteria.
Verbal and non-verbal communication
Two types of communication that are often talked about a lot are verbal and non-verbal communication This dichotomous classification refers to whether the message is verbalized or not.
verbal communication is characterized by the use of words in the interaction between the sender and the receiver. At the same time, it is believed that it is a type of communication exclusive to humans, since although there are animals that use sounds that can be associated with quite specific concepts of their environment (as occurs, for example, with prairie dogs) , they are not used following the rules of a grammar nor are they given new meanings depending on the context.
There are two types of verbal communication, since words or language can be expressed in spoken or written form:
Although verbal communication is the most explicit and obvious, given that it is regulated by a series of norms and signifiers (that is, the words that give shape to a language) that take us several years to learn and that allow us to transmit units of meaning relatively clear and often even concise, it must be taken into account that behind it there is also another one as or more important than this one that, in addition, can modify the meaning of the first. It is about non-verbal communication, which we will see below.
2. Non-verbal communication
This type of language is carried out without the use of words and, in many cases unconsciously. Body movements, postures, gaze, the way you sit or walk are some examples.
In most cases, both the issuance of messages and their interpretation are processes carried out automatically, even involuntarily. This is because this type of communication is the one that has had the most importance throughout our evolutionary history, in stages of evolution in which the use of words did not yet exist.
However, messages linked to non-verbal communication are relatively ambiguous and difficult to interpret, since unlike the previous type, it is not governed by consensual and explicitly learned rules.
Depending on the number of participants
The type of communication may vary depending on the people participating in the communicative interaction.
3. Individual
In this type of communication Only one sender and one receiver interact, That is, communication occurs from individual to individual. It is a framework of interactions characterized by privacy and the impossibility of attempting to impact an audience or a third person who observes.
4. Collective
This type of communication occurs when there are more than two people exchanging messages In these cases, the situation may arise that although one person addresses the other in his or her speech, the intention is to cause an effect not on him or her, but on the rest of the people.
This type of communication occurs when a person communicates with themselves. For example, when someone has to make a decision and reasons the solutions. It is debated whether it can really be considered communication.
6. Interindividual
Interindividual communication occurs when two people communicate, either verbally or non-verbally, basically expressing feelings
7. Intragroup
This type of communication occurs when two or more people belonging to the same group or collective communicate
8. Intergroup
Intergroup communication refers to the communication that exists between groups. For example, between the performers and a group of spectators.
9. Mass communication
Mass or mass communication refers to the interaction between a single sender and a massive receiver or audience The recipient must be: a large group of people, be heterogeneous and be anonymous.
According to the sensory channel
Depending on the sensory channel, it is possible to differentiate different types of communication:
10. Visual communication
In this type of communication, messages (for example, ideas) are transmitted through the visual medium and are perceived through sight
11. Auditory communication
It is a type of communication in which messages and information is perceived through the ear For example, music. Of course, it is one of the most used types of communication, since it can connect two people over a relatively wide distance and, in addition, it makes it easy to locate the source of the message, something that does not happen, for example, with olfactory communication.
12. Tactile communication
In tactile communication, information is perceived through touch generally through the skin or through writing in Braille.
13. Olfactory communication
The message that is received through the olfactory route shapes olfactory communication. For example, the act of perceiving the information that a person gives by their smell.
Like auditory communication, the message can travel long distances, but in this case it is not easy to locate the source or establish a sequence of information. However, the message remains in the environment much longer than what happens with the sounds.
14. Gustatory communication
It is a type of communication in which information is sent through taste For example, when a “chef” prepares a recipe for a group of diners. Unfortunately, in this type of communication the information is usually limited to the chemical properties of the element being tasted, and there are no precise data or chains of information.
According to the technological channel
Depending on the technological channel, the types of communication can be:
15. Telephone communication
It is the communication that It is done through the telephone device Whether fixed or mobile. It allows you to interact with people who are far away.
16. Virtual or digital communication
Virtual or digital communication is communication that It occurs thanks to the world connected through the Internet It includes both a Skype conversation and the sender writing and the receiver reading an article published on a blog.
Communication that occurs through the television It is television communication.
18. Cinematographic communication
It is the communication that occurs through the big screen and thanks to feature films or film productions.
Depending on the use or purpose
Depending on the purpose or objective of the communication, it can be:
19. Advertising communication
This type of communication occurs when a company sends a message, generally to a group of consumers, to publicize your brand or sell a product In this case, the main interested party is the issuer, who is the one who wants to sell something.
20. Journalistic communication
It is the communication that It is done through different media with the purpose of informing the recipient from a journalistic perspective.
21. Educational communication
The content of this communication class is educational in nature For example, when a student attends a class in which his teacher is teaching a subject.
22. Political communication
Information of this type is communication, it is political and the content usually has a strong ideological load. For example, when someone attends a debate in which the speaker is a politician who intends to win his vote. Unlike advertising, propaganda does not aim to encourage buying, but rather to change the mentality of the recipients.
Other types of communication
There are also other types of communication:
23. Sign communication
This type of communication refers to the one used by deaf and deaf-mute people and the people around them** to establish a channel of communication with their social circles, whether made up of other deaf people or people without hearing problems.
24. Organizational communication
Organizational communication refers to the communication that occurs within companies and from companies to the outside It is also called corporate communication.
25. Vertical communication
Vertical communication is a type of communication that occurs between different levels or hierarchical positions within an organization. There are two types:
26. Horizontal communication
Another type of organizational communication that occurs within the same level For example, between departments with the same hierarchical rank or between workers in the same office.
27. Sexual communication
Content the communication is sexual Either through verbal language or sending photographs through WhatsApp, what is known as “Sexting”.
28. Emotional communication
emotional communication refers to the fact that the content is emotional It can be verbal, when expressing feelings, or non-verbal, for example, when laughing or crying.
