LECTURE 4 PURCOM

COMMUNICATION FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES

Introduction

Communication takes place in all settings we could ever imagine or in whatever situation we
are into. It appears on different forms and being used with different purposes. People communicate
because of certain purpose. This module deals with several aspects of an effective communication.
It includes topics intended for communication for various purposes. It starts with the identification of
reasons why we communicate. The purpose, audience, message structure, and channel are to be
considered in order to achieve an effective communication. It also presents an important aspect of
communication which is the purpose. The purposes of communication are to
obtain/provide/disseminate information, and to persuade/argue. Moreover, this part introduces
communication in the workplace. It emphasizes communication that takes place either inside or
outside the workplace. It also identifies the common communication materials in a workplace such
as minutes of the meeting, memorandum, letters, and reports. Furthermore, this part prepares the
students to become effective communicators through the activities prepared at the end of the
chapter.

Learning Content

Generally speaking, people communicate to inform, persuade or argue. Having an aim is what
defines communicating with a purpose. While this might sound simple enough in theory, it is the
application that becomes rather complex since there are many considerations that can come into
play. West (2015) identifies these as follows:

1. Purpose: Many people find it difficult to communicate well because the first thing they think
about is what they are supposed to say. A better strategy however is to determine your
purpose: why do you want or need to communicate?

2. Audience: After identifying your purpose, what you need to identify next is your audience
or who is going to receive your message. It is vital that your message is specifically tailored to
your audience so as to ensure effective communication.

3. Message structure: How are you going to convey your message? There are two ways you
can use: the direct and indirect approach. The direct approach is deductive. This means that
you state your main idea first then follow it up with supporting statements. You can use this
approach if you are emphasizing a result rather than the steps you took to arrive to that idea.
The indirect approach on the other hand is inductive. This means that you start your message
with a background and lead your audience to the main idea. This is the traditional approach
and you can use this if you want to establish a common ground with your audience first.

4. Channel: After creating the message, you now have to choose an appropriate channel to
send it through. Will it be a written communication or a verbal one? If it is verbal, will it be done
face-to-face or through the telephone? Remember, the channel you choose has a large impact
on the effectiveness of your message that is why it is important to consider its
appropriateness.
 Now that you know the things you have to consider in communicating effectively, you now
have to master the identification of the most important aspect of communication: the purpose.

Communication Purpose 1: Obtain/Provide/Disseminate Information

Most definitions of ‘communication’ probably mention the exchange and sharing of

information between two parties. The etymology of the word itself, ‘communis’(common)
belies what it is primarily about so basically, the main aim of communication is the passing
and receiving of information from one party to another.

One mark of literacy is the ability to seek out and understand information from various
channels of communication. These channels may be formal or informal. Furthermore, the
21st Century has ushered in so many information sources that getting information can be as
easy with a few taps or clicks in a gadget.

Considering the richness of your information source is also important. You have to
know which channel of communication can provide you with the best and the most
information. Traditionally, channels that are done through physical presence such as meetings
can give the most reliable and richest information source. This is followed by personal
interactive such as communication done through the telephone or through the internet such as
webinars. The leanest information sources on the other hand come from impersonal
interactive channels such as e-mails and social media as well as impersonal static channels
like letters, reports, news updates and newsletters.

Communication Purpose 2: Persuade/Argue

Influencing others is another purpose of communicating. A resource from the

University of Minnesota (2018), when we communicate to persuade or argue, we aim to
influence the beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors of those who we are communicating to.
This is achieved mainly through the presence of three components: the claim, the evidence
and the warrant.

The claim is the statement that you want to be accepted by your audience. It is the
thesis statement that overarches everything else you will say. It is in turn supported by
evidence which is also called grounds. The evidence is vital in ensuring that you will
persuade your audience to believe your claim. And finally, you have the warrant which is the
underlying justification connecting the claim to the evidence. For a clearer understanding of
these three components, look at the example:

Claim: Night curfews should be applied for minors in the community.

Evidence: Police reports have shown that many crimes are committed at night
and a lot of them involve the youth. Gang wars are common as well as
petty robberies.

Warrant: Ensuring that minors should be home at a specific time at night will
prevent them from getting in trouble in the streets.
 While persuasion and argument is done in both informal and formal set-ups in your
everyday life, the most common channel by which this is done is through public speaking.
Now when you engage in public speaking to persuade, the first thing that you have to clearly
define is your proposition.

The proposition is the overall direction of your content and it can be classified into
three as follows:

1. Proposition of fact: This focuses on a belief whether something is or is not.

Ex. Most juvenile-committed crimes take place when idle youth get together at nights in the
streets, police reports indicated.

2. Proposition of value: This focuses on persuading others that something is good or bad or
right or wrong.

Ex. It is wrong for parents to allow their children to go out at night unsupervised.

3. Proposition of policy: This focuses on advocating whether something should or should not
be done.

Ex. Implementing night curfew ordinances can help alleviate juvenile crimes.

After setting your proposition, you now move on to organizing your speech. You may
use the following as your discussion templates:

a. Problem-solution

b. Problem-failed solution-proposed solution

c. Cause-effect

d. Cause-effect-solution

When you are brainstorming for your content, it is helpful if you remember these three
points: (1) if your audience already agrees with your proposition, work on intensifying their
agreement and trying to move them into action; (2) if audience is neutral, give them a
background of the issue so that they will see the relevance of your argument; and (3) if your
audience disagrees with your proposition, emphasize on establishing your credibility, point out
some common grounds to establish rapport with them and add counterarguments to refute
their opposing belief.

Communication in the Workplace

Any workplace would not ‘work’ at all without communication. After all the transactions to keep
everything running would not be possible without communication between the employees.
Nonetheless one of the challenges in the workplace still lies in the communication level. This is
because there are many types of communication styles used depending on your purpose. Basically,
however, organizational communication is the most used and the style you should master in the
workplace.
Principles of Communication in the Workplace

For workplace communication, the following should be observed:

1. Efficiency and promptness

2. Truth and validity

3. Reliability and confidentiality

4. Conciseness and clarity

Types of Communication in the Workplace

A. Internal

This refers to the exchange of communication within the organization. Again, there are
various channels from which these are exchanged in such as telephones, e-mails and hard
copy of documents such as memorandums and letters. Internal communication is organized in
the following manner:

1. Vertical (Communication between employees with different hierarchical

positions)
 Downward (From employees of higher positions going to employees with lower
positions)
 Upward (From employees of lower positions going to employees with higher
positions)
2. Horizontal (Communication between individuals having the same hierarchical
positions)

B. External

This refers to the exchange of communication from the organization to the outside world. It
can be formal and informal.

Common Communication Materials in the Workplace

A. Minutes of a Meeting
Meeting minutes are the written documentation used in informing employees (both
attendees and non-attendees) on what was discussed during a meeting. Usually, it includes
(Heathfield, 2012):
1. Participants’ names
2. Agenda
3. Decisions made by the participants
4. Follow-up actions committed to by the participants
5. Any other discussions worthy of documentation

B. Memorandum
 The memorandum is used for communicating policies, procedures and other related
official business within an organization. It is composed of the following (University of
Minnesota):
1. Header
2. Date
3. Subject line
4. Message (Declaration, Discussion and Summary)

C. Letters

These are brief messages that are usually sent outside the organization. The business
letter type is used in the workplace and it contains the following elements:

1. Return address: This is usually indicated in the letterhead or the footer and it
indicates where someone could send a reply.
2. Dateline: Placed on top of the page, five lines from the top of the page or the
letterhead.
3. Inside Address: This indicates the name of the person you are sending the
letter to. Include the title or position of the person as well as the name of
his/her organization.
4. Salutation: This must always be formal. Do not use the word “Dear”, instead,
address it Sir or Madam depending on your need.
5. Body: Written in text form, the paragraphs must be separated by a line in
between.
6. Complementary Close: This should be formal and the most appropriate is
“Respectfully yours”.
7. Signature line: Skip two lines after the complementary close and indicate your
complete name.

D. Reports
The reports done in the workplace usually compose of evaluation or assessment of an
issue or a set of circumstances of operations relevant to the organization. It is written in an
abbreviated style which allows the reader to go through it as quickly as possible.

Headings and subheadings are used to indicate the different sections and if necessary,
bullet points, tables and diagrams are also included. Meintjes (n.d.) states that the main
function of any report is to deliver information quickly, clearly and efficiently.

On the other hand, a resource from the Online Writing and Learning Link (2010) gives a
more comprehensive list on the purposes of the report:
 Examine possible solutions to a problem, situation or issue
 Apply business and management theories to practical situations
 Demonstrate analytical reasoning and evaluation skills in formulating possible
solutions and outcomes
 Identify conclusions to a problem or issue
 Provide recommendations for future actions
 Demonstrate concise and clear communication skills
 More or less, the report generally contains the following elements:
1. Title: In formulating your title, you can simply base on the essentials of what your
report is all about.
2. Summary/Abstract: This is a paragraph that sums up the main points of your report.
This part is not always obligatory however and it is usually reserved for long reports.
3. Introduction: In this part, you can describe the details of your report and state the
rationale.
4. Procedure: Here, you must describe the method of information-gathering you used.
5. Findings: This is the presentation of your data in a concise and logical way. You can
present opinions and statements from relevant people or sources and include
graphics if appropriate.
6. Conclusions: This part sums up your assessment of what you have found out.
7. Recommendations: You may give suggestions or call to action for the future based
on your conclusions.
8. Bibliography: This should be listed in alphabetical order in a referencing style
recommended by your organization.

Prepared by:

PROF. MARIBEL F. MALANA, PhD