PART I:
I want you to reflect on Paul Watzlawick’s famous quote, “You Cannot Not Communicate” – In a detailed response that is no less than eight substantive sentences, please explain why you agree, or disagree with Watzlawick.
PART II:
In our examination of the Communication Process, we learned that the Linear Model did not sufficiently depict human communication; thus, successfully ushering in the Transactional Model and the accompanying features.
I would like you to do the following:
First, watch Oprah Winfrey’s 2018 Golden Globes Award Acceptance Speech
Noticias de Venezuela (2018, January 7). Oprah Winfrey’s 2018 Golden Globes Award Acceptance Speech (Video file). Retrieved from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRjZ8ZKqVtI (Links to an external site.)
Next, after watching Winfrey’s speech, describe this public speaking event by analyzing EACH of the following features in the Transactional Model:
Communicators:
*Remember, in the Transactional Model we are both “sender” and “receiver” because we are simultaneously communicating.
- Speaker=Sender: To what extent do you find Winfrey to be an audience-centered speaker? Provide examples of how Winfrey gauges the effectiveness of her speech? In other words, how does she access her audiences’s verbal and nonverbal reactions.
- Audience=Receiver: To what extent does the audience’s perceptual filters (a.k.a., “field of experience”) contribute to understanding, and ultimately, embracing Winfrey’s message?
Message:
- What is the central message of Winfrey’s speech? How does Winfrey’s perceptual filters (a.k.a., “field of experience”) affect the message of her speech? According to your authors, “(t)he message in public speaking is the speech itself – both what is said and how it is said” (Beebe & Beebe, 2021). With Winfrey’s message in mind, how does what she said and how she said it influence the success of this speech?
Channel:
- In the lecture, channel is defined as the medium through which the message passes. In the transactional model, researchers discovered that our communication relies on multiple channels: Eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, the manner in which one dresses, posture, distance between people, and touch. Discuss how Winfrey uses these channels to communicate with her audience. Discuss how the audience uses these channels to provide positive feedback to Winfrey’s message.
Feedback:
- Beebe and Beebe suggest that “one way in which public speaking differs from casual conversation is that the public speaker does most or all of the talking – but public speaking is still interactive” (p.9). Feedback is the response to a communication message. As a public speaker, audience feedback lets the speaker know if the message was accurately received, and how it was interpreted. Provide specific examples of the feedback that Winfrey received from her audience. To what extent did the audience’s feedback encourage a successful message?
Noise:
- We know that anything that interferes with the communication message is referred to as noise. In the lecture we learned that there are several types of noise: Environmental, psychological, physiological and semantic noise. Discuss the type of noise that was present during this public speaking event. Did this noise negatively affect the audience’s understanding of Winfrey’s message?
Context:
From the lecture, we know that communication always takes place within a particular context. The context also influences not only what we say, but how we say it. Provide specific examples of how the context (Physical, Temporal and Cultural) influenced not only what Winfrey said, but also, how she said it. *Note: Your answer ought to include at least one of these contextual dimensions.
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